MLBTR’s annual Offseason In Review series breaks down what each of the 30 teams did (or didn’t) do this winter to build their 2025 rosters. This landing page will contain the links to all 30 of our posts, for easy reference and to track when your favorite team’s post is online. The full articles are available to MLBTR’s Front Office subscribers.
NL West
NL Central
NL East
AL West
AL Central
AL East
On the heels of a huge extension in San Diego, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Dodgers, Braves streaking:
The reigning World Series champions are off to a phenomenal start, having won their first seven games in a row. After sweeping the Cubs out of Tokyo last month, the Dodgers then swept the Tigers out of Dodger Stadium and since then have taken two of three from the Braves. As noted by Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the 7-0 start to the season matches the 1933 Yankees for the strongest start to a season of any reigning World Series champion in history, and is also the Dodgers’ best start to the regular season since they relocated to Los Angeles in 1958.
On the other side of things, Atlanta can’t buy a win. They’re the only club that’s yet to win a game this season, and their nine runs scored across six games is tied for the fewest in the majors. The Dodgers will attempt to keep the good times rolling at 5:38pm local time tonight with lefty Blake Snell (3.12 ERA in 2024) on the mound, while Atlanta will counter with righty Bryce Elder (6.52 ERA in 2024) as they try to stop the bleeding.
2. Padres also streaking:
Phenomenal as the Dodgers’ start to the 2025 campaign has been, they’ve not been able to put away their division rivals. The Padres have gotten off to almost as strong of a start, winning all six of their games to this point in the season. They were the beneficiaries of Atlanta’s struggles for the first four games of the year, and since then have taken the first two games of their series against the Guardians to run up a 6-0 record on the season. They’ll be going for their second consecutive sweep today at 1:10pm local time in San Diego with right-hander Dylan Cease (3.47 ERA in 2024) on the mound. Cleveland, meanwhile, will counter with righty Ben Lively (3.81 ERA in 2024). Fortunately for the Guardians, they’re not in as dire straits as the Braves are after taking two of three in their opening series against the Royals.
3. Tucker looks to continue homer streak:
There’s a fourth noteworthy streak going on in the National League at the moment, although this one isn’t about the club’s records. After scuffling during the Tokyo Series, newly-acquired Cubs star Kyle Tucker has looked more like himself at the plate since the club returned stateside. Overall, he’s hitting an incredible .353/.450/.853 in 40 trips to the plate across eight games. He leads all of baseball with 12 hits, five doubles, 11 RBI, and 29 total bases, but the streak in question has to do with the long ball.
Tucker’s homered in four consecutive games after hitting a long ball off newly-minted A’s starter Luis Severino last night, and he’ll go for a fifth straight homer against A’s lefty Jeffrey Springs at 12:35pm local time in West Sacramento this afternoon. He’d become just the fifth Cubs player in history to have five games in a row with a homer, joining Sammy Sosa in 1998, Ryne Sandberg in 1989, and Hack Wilson in 1928… as well as teammate Michael Busch, who accomplished the feat just last year.
Max Scherzer received a cortisone shot to treat the inflammation in his right thumb, the future Hall of Famer told reporters (including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). The Jays will have a better idea of when he could return after they see how he responds.
Scherzer’s thumb has bothered him back to last summer, when it was linked to some kind of nerve problem in his hand. The injury resurfaced this spring. Scherzer opened the season on the active roster but departed his first start in a Jays’ uniform after three innings and 45 pitches because of lat discomfort. The three-time Cy Young winner said postgame that the thumb was the cause of his other issues. “My arm is making adjustments because of that. That’s a recipe for disaster,” he told reporters on Saturday.
The Jays placed Scherzer on the injured list the next day. It’s a frustrating situation for the righty. Scherzer acknowledged on Tuesday that he has had conversations with doctors about the potential for surgery, but he said they’re “not even close to that” scenario right now (via Hazel Mae). He added that he’s hopeful he can begin playing catch again as soon as Friday.
Toronto has an opening in their rotation around Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Bowden Francis. It initially seemed that Yariel Rodríguez would step into the starting five after beginning the season in the bullpen. Rodríguez has continued working in a leverage role since Scherzer’s injury. He fired a scoreless inning to earn a hold on Sunday. He came on tonight in relief of Berríos and tossed another inning (allowing one run) to pick up his second hold.
The Jays list left-hander Easton Lucas as their probable starter for tomorrow’s series finale against the Nationals. They’ll push Gausman to Friday, giving him six days rest early in the season. They’re off on Thursday but will begin a stretch of 13 consecutive game days between April 4-16. They’ll probably want a fifth starter by the middle of next week.
Tomorrow’s start will be the first in the big leagues for the 28-year-old Lucas. He has 18 1/3 career innings across 14 relief appearances between the A’s, Tigers and Jays. Lucas worked out of the bullpen for all but four of his 38 Triple-A outings last year. He combined for an impressive 2.75 earned run average with a 26.2% strikeout rate over 68 2/3 innings. Lucas worked mostly 1-2 inning stints, but he made a five-inning start during his final Triple-A appearance. He topped out at 2 2/3 frames in a game in Spring Training, so they’ll likely lean heavily on the bullpen behind him tomorrow. Rodríguez, Jake Bloss and non-roster veteran Eric Lauer are alternatives if the Jays want to turn to a more traditional fifth starter next week.
The Diamondbacks and Padres are in discussions with MLB about playing a regular season series in Mexico City next year, report Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The league has yet to make that event official.
MLB and the Players Association agreed to the establishment of the “World Tour” series to promote international play in the 2022 collective bargaining agreement. The CBA provides for a possible Mexico City event in May 2026. It also includes the possibility for a London series in June and one in San Juan in September, but MLB has not proceeded with every World Tour series contemplated in the bargaining agreement. The CBA permitted 2025 events in Mexico City, Paris and San Juan — none of which will happen for economic reasons.
Arizona and San Diego were scheduled for a two-game series in Mexico City on April 18-19, 2020. Those games were canceled for obvious reasons. MLB played its first regular season games in the city three years later. The Padres and Giants met for two games on April 29-30, 2023. The Rockies and Astros played there on April 27-28 last season.
There will not be any regular season contests in Mexico this year, though the Red Sox played a pair of Spring Training games against a Mexican League team in Monterrey. The only regular season action outside the U.S. and Canada this season was the season-opening Tokyo Series between the Dodgers and Cubs.
Infielder Buddy Kennedy is sticking with the Phillies after being designated for assignment last week. The Phils announced that he went unclaimed on waivers. Kennedy elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment but promptly re-signed with Philadelphia on a minor league contract. He’ll head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Kennedy landed in Philadelphia last June in a DFA trade with the Tigers. He appeared eight times in the big leagues, going 2-11 with a couple walks. Kennedy played very well with the IronPigs, hitting .294/.400/.500 with 10 homers and nearly as many walks as strikeouts across 67 games. He held his 40-man roster spot all winter but entered a crucial Spring Training. Kennedy is out of options, so he needed to break camp or go on waivers.
The 26-year-old’s spring numbers weren’t good. Kennedy hit .150 over 22 exhibition games. He connected on three homers with a solid 10:12 walk-to-strikeout ratio, but he only managed six hits in 40 at-bats. The Phils opted for Edmundo Sosa and Kody Clemens, each of whom was also out of options, as their backup infielders.
No other team was willing to carry Kennedy on the major league roster. This is his second career outright, which gave him the ability to elect free agency. He chose that path but only to rework his deal with the Phils. It’s relatively common for players to do that, as it’s possible the new contract contains a different minor league salary or opt-out chances that he would not have gotten had he simply accepted the outright assignment. The former fifth-round pick returns to Triple-A, where he has a .281/.392/.435 slash in 300 career games.
The Rays made some notable trades and signings this offseason but so much focus was on the stadium drama, as hurricanes blew in and threw the entire trajectory of the franchise off course.
Major League Signings
2025 spending: $21.5MM
Total spending: $37.5MM
Option Decisions
Trades and Claims
Notable Minor League Signings
Extensions
Notable Losses
The Rays played their final game of the 2024 season on September 29. A 3-1 loss to the Red Sox sealed a losing record of 80-82. It was a relative disappointment, the club's first time under .500 since 2017. In typical Rays fashion, they made the most of it. At the deadline, they traded away some players who were getting more expensive and closer to free agency, such as Zach Eflin, Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes and Jason Adam.
Going into the winter, there was some decent stuff in place for the future. The long-term payroll was fairly clean and the farm system was in healthy shape. The big league roster seemed to be in decent position to bounce back in 2025, thanks in large part to the return of several pitchers who were injured in 2024.
The club also had a deal in place with local government agencies to fund a new stadium. The plan was to play at Tropicana Field through 2027, with the Trop to be knocked down and replaced by a new ballpark/commercial real estate complex by 2028.
But barely a week later, the whole stadium situation plan was altered. In late September and early October, Hurricanes Helene and Milton both passed through the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. The Trop sustained significant damage, particularly from Milton on October 9. Most notably, the roof was essentially gone. This was a big problem because the Trop had no drainage system in place, making it suddenly unusable.
At that time, it wasn't known exactly what would happen next. But in the following months, the club's short-term and long-term stadium plans would be shifted dramatically. They are going to play their 2025 homes games in a minor league park. They could be back in the Trop next year, but that's not clear. The deal for the new stadium is now dead and relocation talk has retaken a seat at the table.
The Braves are sending Reynaldo López for an arthroscopic procedure on his injured shoulder, manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Mark Bowman of MLB.com). The team won’t have a timetable for López’s return until after the surgery, as that will reveal whether there’s any structural damage. Snitker said the Braves are hopeful that the All-Star righty will return at some point this season.
While it’s not quite the worst-case scenario, it’s clearly concerning. Initial imaging on López’s shoulder has only revealed inflammation. Even in an ideal situation where the scope confirms that diagnosis, it’s going to be a long-term absence. Any kind of midseason procedure on a pitcher’s throwing shoulder is going to cost him a good chunk of the year.
Atlanta signed López to a three-year, $30MM free agent deal during the 2023-24 offseason. While he had worked in relief for the preceding three seasons, the Braves stretched him back out as a starter. When he’s been healthy, the results could hardly have been better. López managed a 1.99 earned run average across 26 appearances spanning 135 2/3 innings. He and Paul Skenes were the only pitchers to reach 100 innings while posting a sub-2.00 ERA. López deservedly earned an All-Star nod and placed 11th in NL Cy Young balloting.
López’s arm health unfortunately became a story in the second half. Forearm inflammation knocked him out for a couple weeks after the trade deadline. He returned relatively quickly from that issue but went back on the injured list in mid-September. The second placement was the result of shoulder inflammation. It was again a relatively brief IL stay, but it proved a precursor to this year’s shoulder discomfort.
The 31-year-old made his 2025 season debut in Atlanta’s second game of the season. He worked five innings of three-run ball in Friday’s loss to San Diego. López only recorded one strikeout and all of three swinging strikes. His velocity was fine — his 95.6 MPH average fastball speed was the same as it had been last season — but it was a tough outing. The Braves placed him on the 15-day injured list yesterday.
Atlanta recalled Bryce Elder to go opposite Blake Snell in Wednesday’s series finale against the Dodgers. Chris Sale will take the ball tonight against Dustin May as the Braves try to break a five-game losing streak. Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver and Grant Holmes occupy the other rotation spots for the moment. Spencer Strider is on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett and could be back in the majors by the middle of next week. That’d likely push one of Elder or Smith-Shawver back to Triple-A. Strider’s return should be a huge lift, but the López injury is testing Atlanta’s already questionable depth beyond their top four starters.
The Braves reworked López’s contract at the beginning of the offseason. The pitcher agreed to trim this year’s salary from $11MM to $8MM in exchange for the club preemptively triggering an $8MM option for 2027.
The Braves and Angels announced a trade sending reliever Michael Petersen to Atlanta for cash considerations. The Halos had designated the righty for assignment yesterday when they acquired Jake Eder from the White Sox. Atlanta optioned Petersen to Triple-A Gwinnett. They already had an opening on the 40-man roster after placing Jurickson Profar on the restricted list following his PED suspension.
Petersen, 30, has kicked around the league over the past few months. He made his big league debut with the Dodgers last summer. Petersen pitched 11 times with L.A. before they lost him on waivers to Miami. He made five appearances with the Marlins before the end of the season. Miami waived him at the beginning of the offseason. Petersen went to the Blue Jays and then the Angels on offseason waiver acquisitions.
The Halos had optioned him to Triple-A to begin the year. Petersen pitched once for their affiliate, allowing two runs in 1 1/3 innings. He had good numbers at that level a season ago. Petersen fanned more than 35% of opponents while working to a 1.64 ERA across 33 innings for the Dodgers’ top affiliate. That didn’t translate into much MLB success, as he gave up 14 runs over his first 19 2/3 big league frames. He recorded 14 strikeouts while issuing 11 walks.
Atlanta had a free roster spot after the Profar suspension. Petersen is in his second of three option years, so the Braves can keep him in Triple-A for a while if he holds his 40-man spot. This is the fifth trade the Braves and Angels have made since the start of the offseason and their third deal of the past two weeks. Atlanta traded Angel Perdomo to the Angels in mid-March, and the teams lined up on the Ian Anderson/José Suarez swap a few days later.
The Padres announced that Tyler Wade was outrighted to Triple-A El Paso after going unclaimed on waivers. As a player with five years of major league service, Wade could have declined the minor league assignment while retaining his $900K salary. It seems he’s comfortable enough with the organization to report to Triple-A instead of pursuing other opportunities.
San Diego designated Wade and Eguy Rosario, both of whom are out of minor league options, for assignment on Opening Day. Teams have seven days to resolve DFA limbo. Waivers take 48 hours, so teams have five days after a DFA to line up a trade. President of baseball operations A.J. Preller said the team was trying to find a trade partner on Rosario, but he’d presumably end up on waivers tomorrow if they don’t make a trade this evening. Wade hit waivers more quickly, as he was less likely to get an MLB roster spot from another team.
The lefty-hitting Wade held a spot on San Diego’s big league roster for all of 2024. He appeared in 90 games, hitting .217/.285/.239 without a home run through 156 plate appearances. It’s an incredibly light bat, but Wade is a plus runner who can play anywhere aside from catcher. The Padres guaranteed him $900K on a deal with a $1MM club option to buy out his final arbitration season. That gave him a decent chance to win another bench job entering Spring Training, but he was jumped on the depth chart in camp.
Wade had a poor spring, hitting .209 with one homer in 19 games. San Diego brought in Jose Iglesias on a minor league contract with a $3MM base salary that made him a strong candidate to win the backup shortstop job. Iglesias, Yuli Gurriel and Gavin Sheets all made the roster as minor league signees. Brandon Lockridge had a great Spring Training to take the fourth outfield role. Lockridge runs very well himself, so he can replace Wade as Mike Shildt’s top pinch-running option.
The lack of flexibility on the bench obstructs Wade’s path back to the big leagues. He’s versatile enough to serve as injury insurance or an alternative if Iglesias isn’t performing well.
The Mariners announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Jhonathan Díaz. The club already had an open 40-man roster spot, so no corresponding move was necessary there. In terms of the active roster, right-hander Emerson Hancock has been optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com noted earlier that Díaz was in the clubhouse with Hancock headed out.
As of a month ago, the Mariners were set to open the season with a strong front five of Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, George Kirby, Bryan Woo and Luis Castillo. Unfortunately, Kirby was shut down in early March due to some shoulder inflammation and started the season on the injured list.
That opened an opportunity for Hancock but his start in yesterday’s game against the Tigers could hardly have gone much worse. He didn’t make it out of the first inning, recording just two outs, one of which was a caught stealing. He allowed six earned runs on seven hits, forcing the bullpen to cover 8 1/3 innings.
Of the club’s eight relievers, four of them pitched last night, each of them recording at least four outs and throwing at least 31 pitches. Out of the four guys who didn’t pitch last night, three of them appeared in Sunday’s contest.
They have brought up Díaz presumably for a multi-inning option out of the bullpen soon. Last year, he made five appearances in the majors for Seattle but spent most of his time in the Triple-A rotation. He logged 117 2/3 innings for Tacoma over 22 starts and one relief appearance. His 4.36 earned run average wasn’t bad in the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He struck out 22.9% of batters faced, gave out walks at a 9.9% clip and got grounders on 54.1% of balls in play.
The lefty was outrighted off the roster in February and elected free agency but returned via a minor league deal. He still has options, so the M’s could perhaps shuttle him to Tacoma and back throughout the year, recalling him whenever a situation like this arises.
In the short term, it’s unclear what the M’s plan to do with the rotation. They are in the midst of a seven-game stretch to start the season, with two more to go. But thanks to having five off-days in April and some at the start of May, they don’t play more than six games in a row again until the second half of May. Perhaps they could survive for a while with a four-man group of Gilbert, Miller, Woo and Castillo. Optionable arms like Hancock, Díaz and Blas Castano could perhaps make spot starts or take bulk work in occasional bullpen games over the next six weeks or so.
Photo courtesy of Steven Bisig, USA TODAY Sports
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