Determine your weaknesses and do what you’ll be able to to repair them. That is what each MLB membership tries to do through the offseason. The 9 groups under did it higher than most by way of free company and the commerce market.
Designated hitter: Rangers2024 WAR rank: twenty ninth || 2025 projected WAR rank: fifth
The Rangers have acquired below-league-average manufacturing from the DH spot for 5 straight seasons, however final yr’s minus-2.7 WAR was a brand new low. Solely the Reds had been worse in that statistic, and Texas’ 15 dwelling runs by a delegated hitter tied for the second-fewest in MLB, forward of solely the Angels’ 11.
So the Rangers went out and signed Joc Pederson, the most effective designated hitter on the open market this winter, to a two-year deal. The 32-year-old Pederson is coming off a season with the D-backs during which he hit 23 homers and posted a career-best 151 wRC+ — tied for tenth amongst hitters with a minimum of 400 plate appearances. He completed with 3.0 WAR and is projected to have a 134 wRC+ and a pair of.0 WAR in 105 video games for Texas this yr.
First base: Astros2024 WAR rank: twenty eighth || 2025 projected WAR rank: sixth
Whereas the Rangers hope Pederson generally is a difference-maker at DH, their in-state rivals wish to one other former D-backs slugger to unravel their downside at first base. The Astros have been the worst staff by WAR at that place for the reason that begin of 2022 (minus-2.0). Enter Christian Walker, who signed a three-year contract with Houston in December and has recorded 10.4 WAR over the previous three seasons, fourth-best amongst first basemen.
Walker crushed a minimum of 25 homers and registered an .800-plus OPS in every of these seasons, and he ought to assist Houston within the discipline as a lot as on the plate. A 3-time Gold Glove Award winner, Walker recorded the second-most outs above common final season amongst first basemen (13). Would you wish to guess which staff had the fewest OAA at first base final yr? Yeah, it was the Astros, with minus-13.
Second base: Crimson Sox2024 WAR rank: thirtieth || 2025 projected WAR rank: ninth
Who’s Boston’s second baseman? FanGraphs initiatives that will probably be Bregman, which is a giant purpose why the membership’s 3.6 projected WAR is inside the highest 10 at that place. Nonetheless, that is an undecided concern. The staff would favor for Bregman to play third base, his pure place, however Rafael Devers seems unwilling in the intervening time to maneuver off of the new nook. Irrespective of if Bregman is at second or that place is claimed by somebody in Boston’s present three-man competitors for the job, it would possible signify a major improve from final yr. Crimson Sox second baseman compiled a .532 OPS, a forty five wRC+ and minus-2.3 WAR in 2024. That was the worst WAR by any staff at any defensive place (not together with designated hitter) final season.
Past Bregman, a reputation to observe in Crimson Sox camp is Kristian Campbell, MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 prospect for 2025. He’s projected to have 1.2 WAR on the keystone place as a rookie.
Beginning pitching: Dodgers2024 WAR rank: T-Twentieth || 2025 projected WAR rank: 1st
Even when the Dodgers hadn’t made a headline addition to their beginning rotation through the offseason, their projected WAR would’ve nonetheless been fairly good simply primarily based on the variety of arms they’re getting again into the fold this yr. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow missed massive chunks of final season on account of damage and are actually wholesome. They may even get again Dustin Could, Tony Gonsolin and Shohei Ohtani, none of whom threw a pitch final season. Ohtani ought to return to two-way responsibility in Could. Clayton Kershaw re-signed with the membership and might be able to contribute round midseason. Bobby Miller is one other weapon assuming he bounces again from taking a line drive off his head throughout a Spring Coaching sport final week.
However the Dodgers did insert two-time Cy Younger Award winner Blake Snell and Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki into this group, giving them the components for a potential all-time nice rotation. It’s projected to be the most effective rotation in baseball, and it isn’t notably shut. The Dodgers’ projected beginning pitcher WAR of 17.9 is a full win forward of the No. 2 staff, the Phillies.
Proper discipline: Mets2024 WAR rank: Twentieth || 2025 projected WAR rank: 2nd
Hmmm, did the Mets add a star proper fielder to their staff this winter? Unsure we heard an excessive amount of about that.
OK, all jokes apart, Juan Soto is projected to accrue 5.9 WAR with no consideration fielder this season. That may surpass the mixed WAR from Mets proper fielders over the previous three seasons (5.7). Their main contributor final yr at that place, Starling Marte, had a .397 slugging share in proper, and the staff acquired solely 14 dwelling runs from that spot, the fifth-fewest in MLB.
By comparability, Soto is projected to bash 34 homers and log a .529 slugging share this yr. The one proper fielder with the next projected slugging or WAR is Soto’s former teammate, the Yankees’ Aaron Choose (.590 slug, 7.0 WAR).
Aid pitching: Yankees2024 WAR rank: nineteenth || 2025 projected WAR rank: third
Soto wasn’t the one outstanding Yankee who bolted for the Mets in free company. Clay Holmes did as nicely, and though he misplaced his job because the Yankees’ nearer late final season, the departure of a two-time All-Star reliever left the Yanks with a transparent void on the again finish of their bullpen. They took care of it with two notable trades.
First base: Nationals2024 WAR rank: twenty third || 2025 projected WAR rank: tenth
The Yankees are additionally projected to make a giant leap at first base, the place they ranked twenty seventh in WAR final season. This yr, they’re projected to complete Eleventh. However the Nationals are anticipated to make almost as massive of a vault at that place after bringing Nathaniel Lowe aboard in a commerce with the Rangers. The lefty-hitting Lowe has compiled a 127 wRC+ and eight.6 WAR for the reason that begin of 2022. Though his 16 homers in 2024 had been a four-year low, that also exceeded the dinger whole from all Nats first basemen final yr (14, tied for the second-fewest in MLB).
Lowe has additionally labored exhausting on his protection, and he’s seeing the outcomes of that. After posting minus-10 OAA at first base in ’22, he has tallied 12 OAA over the previous two seasons.
Beginning pitcher: D-backs2024 WAR rank: T-Twentieth || 2025 projected WAR rank: eighth
Contemporary off their run to the 2023 World Collection, the D-backs’ beginning rotation seemed formidable on paper getting into final season. Nationwide League Cy Younger finalist Zac Gallen headed a bunch that included Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and two key free-agent pickups in Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery.
However nearly nothing went as deliberate. Gallen and Kelly missed vital time on account of accidents. Rodriguez and Montgomery did too, however additionally they produced a 5.96 ERA over 154 mixed innings. A part of the top-10 projection for Arizona’s rotation is predicated on the belief that these veterans will merely be higher in 2025.
Oh, after which there’s Corbin Burnes. The highest beginning pitcher accessible in free company stunned the baseball world when he agreed to a six-year cope with the D-backs. Burnes, who has completed inside the highest 10 in Cy Younger voting in 5 straight seasons, is projected to have 3.7 WAR this season, matching his whole from 2024 with the Orioles.
Second base: Blue Jays2024 WAR rank: T-Eleventh || 2025 projected WAR rank: third
Second base wasn’t an enormous weak level for the Blue Jays final season. However with the acquisition of Andrés Giménez in December, Toronto could possibly be elite at that place in 2025. The winner of three Gold Gloves and a Platinum Glove, Giménez is a magician within the discipline. He led all gamers with 21 OAA final yr, and his 51 OAA at second base for the reason that begin of 2021 is essentially the most on the place. That protection mixed with Giménez’s plus baserunning — he has notched consecutive 30-steal seasons — is why he ranks fifth amongst second basemen in WAR over the previous two seasons regardless of a 90 wRC+.
The massive query is whether or not Giménez can return to being the hitter he was in ’22. That season, he slashed .297/.371/.466 and recorded a 141 wRC+ over 557 plate appearances. If he rediscovers that type, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette play as much as their potential, Toronto will undoubtedly boast one of the productive infields within the Majors.
