There are a handful top-notch MLB free agents still available (Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and Jack Flaherty), as well as a bunch of 'next-tier' pitchers still looking for a new home (Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana and Nick Pivetta, among others). Throw in the ever-present possibility of a big-time trade (Dylan Cease? Nolan Arenado?? Luis Robert Jr.???) and offseason improvements are still very much ongoing, even with the start of spring training just around the corner.

Given what we've witnessed thus far, though, some teams have made serious improvements while others seem to have missed the memo that they've been allowed to sign free agents for the past three months.

The New York Mets certainly got that memo, investing nearly $1 billion this winter. The Juan Soto $765M contract was obviously the largest chunk of that, but at just under $180M in other signings, they'd still be top-five in spending even without that megadeal.

But who else has made the biggest strides this offseason?

It should be noted that we're not concerned with payroll/budget or whether the team is set up for success for 2026 and beyond. This is purely a question of who has done the most in the past three months to improve their chances of winning the 2025 World Series.

For several of these teams, we're talking about an improvement from "no chance in hell" to "well, you know, who saw Arizona coming in 2023, right?" But the teams in our top six spots have further solidified themselves as championship contenders with their series of offseason roster moves.

Honorable Mention: Toronto Blue Jays

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Anthony Santander, Jeff Hoffman, Yimi García, Max Scherzer

Trade Acquisitions: Andrés Giménez (via CLE), Myles Straw (via CLE)

Just so we're clear up front, this wasn't an "Oh shoot, I forgot about the Blue Jays" situation. Toronto might be the most interesting/curious team of them all.

It's simply not clear whether trading for two overpriced Gold Glovers who can't hit while signing a pair of relievers, an old ace who probably can't stay healthy and a slugger who doesn't have a good glove actually makes the Blue Jays any more likely to contend in Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s walk year.

In fact, the futures markets suggest Toronto is in even worse shape than it was at the beginning of the offseason.

The Blue Jays were +6000 (on DraftKings, per CBS Sports) to win the 2025 World Series right after the 2024 World Series ended, but now DraftKings has them at +7500.

That's not a byproduct of the rest of the AL East looking better, either. The Red Sox have definitely improved and rank in our top five, but the Yankees dropped from +700 to +850, the Orioles slipped from +1100 to +1400, and the Rays remained stagnant at +6000.

That latter part might be the most damning of all.

Toronto and Tampa Bay were neck-and-neck in the World Series odds three months ago. Since then, the Rays traded away a borderline ace in Jeffrey Springs as well as what was their primary centerfielder in Jose Siri, in their place adding a much-needed-but-nothing-special catcher (Danny Jansen), a DH on a minor-league deal (Eloy Jiménez) and an infielder who likely won't play until at least May (Ha-Seong Kim).

At best, Tampa Bay broke even in that series of moves, and its line didn't move.

But Toronto signed a top-10, top-20, and top-50 free agent and traded for a Platinum Glove second baseman while not losing much, only for its World Series odds to slide from an implied 1.64 percent to 1.32 percent.

One other comparison before we move on: The St. Louis Cardinals also opened the offseason at +6000 to win the World Series and now sit at +8000 after doing literally nothing for the past three months.

So, by investing $92.5M in Santander, $33M in Hoffman, $15.5M in Scherzer and taking on the final $96.5M of Giménez's contract, Toronto has evidently just barely done better than nothing.

Woof.

10. Tie Between the Angels and Athletics

Los Angeles Angels

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Yusei Kikuchi, Kyle Hendricks, Travis d'Arnaud, Kevin Newman

Trade Acquisitions: Jorge Soler (via ATL)

Athletics

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Luis Severino, José Leclerc, Gio Urshela, TJ McFarland

Trade Acquisitions: Jeffrey Springs (via TBR)

Fresh off a season battling each other for the dubious title of "Worst AL Team Not Named Chicago White Sox," both the Angels and the Athletics entered the offseason with guns a-blazing.

Los Angeles trading for Jorge Soler was darn near the first move of the entire offseason. By Thanksgiving, the Angels had signed all four of the free agents noted above.

The artists formerly housed in Oakland weren't quite that immediately aggressive, but Luis Severino was the second-biggest signing behind only Blake Snell when the A's got that deal done. Trading for Jeffrey Springs about a week later further solidified them as a team that is actually trying to win in 2025.

Did either one improve enough, though, to make the type of single-season leap that the Kansas City Royals made last year?

Of the two, the A's arguably added more—and unarguably subtracted less—from last year's roster.

While the Angels traded away Griffin Canning, lost Patrick Sandoval to Boston and still have Brandon Drury, Kevin Pillar and Matt Moore available in free agency, the A's biggest loss was, what, Scott Alexander? And the A's finished last season six games ahead of the Angels.

That said, the Angels already had massive wild cards in the form of Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, plus Robert Stephenson returning from Tommy John surgery. If those three eight-figure-salary assets, who collectively amounted to pretty much nothing in 2024, provide some real value this year, it's plausible the Halos at least make a run at what would be their first .500 or better season since 2015.

Between this two-team basement getting stronger and the Astros indisputably looking less formidable at the moment, the A's and Angels have at least made the AL West a more interesting division. Still feels like (and bets like, both listed at +700) a bit of a longshot that either one will make the postseason, though.

9. Washington Nationals

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Michael Soroka, Trevor Williams, Josh Bell, Amed Rosario, Jorge López

Trade Acquisitions: Nathaniel Lowe (via TEX)

Non-tendering Kyle Finnegan was a very strange start to the offseason for the Washington Nationals. MLB Trade Rumors did project his salary in his final year of arbitration eligibility at $8.6M, but simply tossing aside a 2024 All-Star who saved 38 games last season was certainly a decision.

Washington then gave $9M to Michael Soroka in what was Washington's first notable addition this winter. Soroka received $3M from the White Sox last year and logged just 79.2 innings with a 4.74 ERA. I'm not sure who they thought they were bidding against in that spot, but spending more on Soroka than the projected amount to keep Finnegan was a befuddling sequence.

But then they traded for Nathaniel Lowe. They re-signed Trevor Williams for another two years. They scooped up Josh Bell for $6M, who, along with Lowe, should drastically improve what was a horrendous 1B/DH situation last season. They got a cheap utilityman in Amed Rosario who can play virtually anywhere. And maybe most intriguing of all was the signing of Japanese LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara on a no-risk, all-reward two-year, $3.5M deal just barely before his 45-day posting window closed.

No, they aren't likely to be contenders in the loaded NL East. But this is now an intriguing team with almost too many options for its starting rotation—granted, mostly "No. 4 starter" options—and a pretty solid lineup/defense aside from third base, where 2021 first-round pick Brady House might become the answer.

After a half-decade of rebuilding—posting a sub-.440 winning percentage in each of the past five seasons—Washington just might be a .500 team in 2025.

8. Arizona Diamondbacks

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Corbin Burnes

Trade Acquisitions: Josh Naylor (via CLE)

From a quantity perspective, Arizona has done very little adding and quite a bit of subtracting.

The Diamondbacks traded 2020 first-round pick Slade Cecconi to get Josh Naylor, and only after losing both Christian Walker and Josh Bell to free agency, leaving them in rather desperate need of a first baseman. They also lost their DH platoon of Joc Pederson and Randal Grichuk, utilityman Kevin Newman and a trio of relievers, most notably former closer Paul Sewald.

But they landed Corbin Burnes in one of the biggest and easily the most stunning move of the offseason.

Was literally anyone making that connection before the news dropped just before New Year's?

If anything, we were waiting for news of Arizona trading away an expensive pitcher in Jordan Montgomery (which still hasn't happened). We didn't think there was any chance they were in the market for a $210M addition.

Truly, when that push notification hit my phone, it was a bigger shock-inducing moment than when Jacob deGrom signed with the Rangers out of seemingly nowhere two offseasons ago.

And it sure makes the Diamondbacks a more realistic contender in 2025.

Going from Walker to Naylor at first base and from Pederson/Grichuk to a pretty big question mark at DH—probably Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Pavin Smith splitting the LF/DH jobs?—it's unlikely that Arizona will repeat as the MLB leader in runs scored.

However, with Burnes now anchoring a rotation that still features Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and perhaps Montgomery in some capacity, they should be excellent in that department.

Health permitting, Arizona's rotation in 2025 could be every bit as good as Seattle's was in 2024.

Though that still might not be enough to get within shouting distance of the Dodgers in the NL West, it does more than maintain the Diamondbacks as one of the top candidates for a wild card spot.

7. Cincinnati Reds

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Nick Martinez (accepted qualifying offer), Austin Hays

Trade Acquisitions: Gavin Lux (via LAD), Brady Singer (via KCR), Taylor Rogers (via SFG), Jose Trevino (via NYY)

Frankly, the biggest singular splash the Reds made this offseason was in early October when they announced the hiring of Terry Francona as manager.

But in sort of drips and drabs, they've had a nice little offseason in what is arguably still a winnable division for them.

To get Brady Singer from the Royals, they gave up both Jonathan India and Joey Wiemer. However, they ended up getting Gavin Lux from the Dodgers in exchange for their third-round pick in last summer's draft and a second-round, competitive balance pick in the 2025 draft.

And if they get the version of Lux who could actually hit the ball in the second half of last season (.304/.391/.508) and either the 2022 or 2024 version of Brady Singer, in which he logged a combined total of 333 innings with around a 3.50 ERA, what a phenomenal pair of trades for the Reds.

They also acquired left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers, who was an All-Star in 2021 and had a 2.40 ERA last season with the Giants. As a bonus, San Francisco retained half of his salary in the deal.

Jose Trevino was also an underrated pickup. Although not much of a hitter, he was a Platinum Glove catcher in 2022 and could be a huge asset behind the plate for a pretty young rotation, aside from Nick Martinez.

Even Austin Hays on a $5M flyer was a nice move for a team with a limited outfield.

All told, the Reds kind of sneakily put together a great offseason. And don't forget about Matt McLain returning from a season lost to shoulder surgery. If he's anything close to what he was for those 89 games as a rookie in 2023, the Reds should be in business.

6. Philadelphia Phillies

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Jordan Romano, Max Kepler, Joe Ross

Trade Acquisitions: Jesús Luzardo (via MIA)

After all the talk of this team perhaps wanting to make a change at third base, the Phillies have (thus far) kept the status quo at the hot corner, presumably prepared to give Alex Bohm all the reps he can handle, once again.

They didn't move Nick Castellanos, either. They did sign Max Kepler, who has played right field for the vast majority of his career. However, he figures to mostly play left field, which was a revolving door for the Phillies in 2024.

They also added Jordan Romano, at least somewhat addressing the losses of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez in free agency. If he recovers from a brutal 2024 campaign to regain his 2020-23 form, Philadelphia will be in great shape at closer.

The biggest move, though, was the acquisition of Jesús Luzardo, turning what already was a strong rotation into a borderline juggernaut.

For a lot of teams, Luzardo would've been no worse than No. 2 in the rotation. But in Philadelphia, he might be No. 5 behind Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez—with top prospect Andrew Painter likely to be in the mix at some point.

The moves made have brought their tax payroll to the brink of $300M, but there is a growing "now or never" feeling with this nucleus.

Both Romano and Kepler were one-year deals. Suárez is in his final year before free agency, as are both JT Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber. And the core of Wheeler, Nola, Bryce Harper and Trea Turner isn't exactly getting any younger.

They set out this offseason to improve their chances of winning in 2025, and they appear to have done just that.

5. Chicago Cubs

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Matt Boyd, Carson Kelly, Colin Rea, Caleb Thielbar, Jon Berti

Trade Acquisitions: Kyle Tucker (via HOU), Ryan Pressly (via HOU), Cody Poteet (via NYY), Eli Morgan (via CLE)

If the Chicago Cubs are markedly better this season and win the NL Central to make the postseason for the first time since 2020, can we send the Houston Astros some sort of participation trophy for their hand in this roster construction?

They were separate trades, but getting one year of Kyle Tucker and one year of Ryan Pressly for Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski, a borderline top 100 prospect and a lottery ticket type of pitching prospect was—at least for 2025 purposes—highway robbery.

Pressly figures to immediately supplant Porter Hodge at closer. And going from Cody Bellinger to Tucker in the lineup figures to be an upgrade, with the Cubs even saving a significant chunk of money in the process—Tucker is getting $16.5M; Bellinger could cost up to $47.5M for the next two seasons if he exercises his 2026 player option, while Paredes and Wesneski are at a combined $7.5M for 2025.

Those two additions alone were huge, but Chicago also snagged Matt Boyd and Colin Rea for what might be a six-man rotation, got a trio of relievers who could be in the mix for holds and got some inexpensive veteran depth in Carson Kelly and Jon Berti—the former a backup catcher until Moises Ballesteros is ready for the bigs; the latter a candidate to serve as the primary backup at really every position other than catcher.

The Cubs were already the favorite to win the NL Central, so their odds didn't change much for these additions. But they were also already the favorite because everyone rather expected them to be more aggressive than anyone else in the division. And they've been just that.

4. Boston Red Sox

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Walker Buehler, Aroldis Chapman, Patrick Sandoval, Justin Wilson

Trade Acquisitions: Garrett Crochet (via CWS)

Do you suppose Boston finally got the memo about its pitching woes?

Despite still employing nine of the 11 pitchers who made multiple starts for them in 2024—not to mention having Lucas Giolito, who missed all of last season—the Red Sox aggressively revamped their pitching staff. They traded a significant number of prospects for Garrett Crochet before signing both Patrick Sandoval and Walker Buehler in free agency.

Sandoval figures to be a long reliever, but Crochet, Buehler and Giolito should all be fixtures in the rotation, along with Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello.

That's not quite 'Los Angeles Dodgers good,' but that's one heck of an upgrade from what they were using last season.

Hard to imagine the rotation will be the source of this team's demise for a fourth consecutive year.

Adding Aroldis Chapman to flank Liam Hendriks at the back of the bullpen could be a great move, too. There were stretches of last season (as well as previous seasons) where it looked like Chapman had completely lost his touch. But even at 37 years old by the start of the upcoming season, when he's not in a rut fueled by walks and wild pitches, he's still one of the most unhittable flamethrowers in the game.

Coupled with the Yankees losing Juan Soto and the Orioles just kind of treading water with their offseason acquisitions, the Red Sox seem to have gained some serious ground in the AL East over the past few months.

3. Texas Rangers

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Nathan Eovaldi, Joc Pederson, Kyle Higashioka, Chris Martin, Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong, Jacob Webb

Trade Acquisitions: Jake Burger (via MIA), Robert Garcia (via WAS)

Texas lost basically its entire bullpen to free agency, not to mention Max Scherzer, Andrew Heaney and (before re-signing him) Nathan Eovaldi from its rotation.

Thus, we knew they were going to need to put in some serious work on the pitching front, even with the assumption they're going to get a whole lot more than 35 combined innings of work out of starters Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle and Kumar Rocker this year.

Lo and behold, they've added five relief pitchers, as well as a nice trio of sluggers who combined to hit 69 home runs in 2024.

The big question is whether any of those relievers can be the ninth-inning guy.

Rotation? Looking great. Retaining Eovaldi was huge, and beyond him and the three guys mentioned, they still have Jon Gray, Cody Bradford, Dane Dunning and Jack Leiter. Plenty of options, most of them proven to be solid.

Lineup? It's looking even better than the rotation, perhaps the best in baseball. It never came together like they wanted it to last year, but if everyone is healthy, Texas is likely to have Kyle Higashioka, Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran and Leody Taveras as its pinch-hitting options on Opening Day. Comically, Jake Burger might bat eighth for the Rangers. And their catcher tandem of Higashioka and Jonah Heim could combine for 25+ home runs from the 9-hole.

But the bullpen? Still looking shaky. Maybe Martin or Garcia will thrive in a closer role, but there is not a pitcher on this roster with more than 14 big league saves. Thought for sure they'd sign Tanner Scott or Carlos Estévez to put a nice bow on this offseason, but alas. This could be what keeps them from overtaking the Astros in the AL West.

2. New York Mets

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Juan Soto, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes, Frankie Montas, AJ Minter, Jesse Winker, Ryne Stanek, Griffin Canning, Dylan Covey, Justin Hagenman, Jared Young

Trade Acquisitions: Jose Siri (via TBR)

It's laughable that the Mets are only No. 2 on this list after having spent nearly a billion bucks, but they are edged out for the top spot by a certain supervillain obsessed with deferred contracts.

Here's a fun fact about the Mets offseason, though: Did you know they have only *officially* lost one player from their NLCS roster? Plenty of free agents remain unsigned, most notably Pete Alonso and Jose Quintana, but the only player who was on the Mets roster in October who is now on a different roster is Luis Severino.

They do look a whole lot different, though, headlined, of course, by Juan Soto.

The $765M right fielder will join Francisco Lindor in the heart of what will be a mighty fine order even if they don't re-sign Alonso. (Which explains why they've been reluctant to increase their offer to the Polar Bear.) There are question marks at both third base and center field, though not for lack of options or money.

But the pitching staff is what really got revamped.

They did re-sign both Sean Manaea and Ryne Stanek, but they've inked a combined total of eight pitchers this offseason, including the intriguing planned transition of Clay Holmes from closer to starter.

If it's a successful conversion and he gives the Mets the type of year that Seth Lugo had for the Padres when he made the reliever-to-starter switch in 2023, there's a good chance they'll win the NL East. But if it goes as poorly as A.J. Puk's conversion attempt did for the Marlins last year, well, there's still a good chance the Mets will win the NL East, but they would need to call some midseason audibles.

(St. Louis Cardinals and Sonny Gray on line one...)

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Free-Agent Acquisitions: Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Teoscar Hernández, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Michael Conforto, Hyeseong Kim, Blake Treinen

Trade Acquisitions: N/A

Who needs trades when you can keep convincing guys to sign for deferred money?

In case you're wondering when all these deferred payments will finally catch up to the Dodgers, can you hold your breath until 2034?

There are a few deferred payments due before then, but Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith are both signed through 2033, after which time those two, Blake Snell, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Tanner Scott, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández will be collectively owed—Ready for this one?—between $91.45M and $100.45M each year from 2034-43. (Plus another $11M for Betts in 2044, $2.5M for Edman in 2044 and $5.5M for Snell in each year from 2044-2046.) It's $990.7M total.

Between now and 2034, though, how many more World Series are they going to win?

It is absurd that the reigning champions signed seven of the 40 or so best free agents available in this year's class while losing (comparatively) very little in the process.

The Dodgers did lose Walker Buehler to the Red Sox, traded Gavin Lux to the Reds and still have half a dozen free agents who haven't signed—Jack Flaherty, Clayton Kershaw, Joe Kelly, Brent Honeywell, Zach Logue and Kiké Hernández.

But between all that they've added/re-signed this offseason and what they're getting back from injury (Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Ohtani's pitching arm), it's pretty unlikely they'll be missing those previously employed players in the slightest.

Here's the real question: If everyone they have under contract/team control is healthy on Opening Day, who doesn't make the 26-man roster?

They already DFA'd Ryan Brasier after signing Kirby Yates. Either Andy Pages or James Outman is almost certainly getting left out, and they may well have a Triple-A rotation of May/Gonsolin, Bobby Miller, Landon Knack, Emmet Sheehan, Nick Frasso and Justin Wrobleski, plus Gavin Stone and River Ryan recovering from the surgeries likely to keep them out for all of 2025.

There's a reason it feels like what they're doing is unfair, a reason they are the clear favorite to repeat as champs, and a reason that people who aren't fans of the Dodgers will be united in rooting against this team, unlike anything we've seen since the Yankees from 1996-2000.