A Bunch Of MLB Teams Aren't Even Trying
Spring training games are well underway, marking an official end to the 2024-2025 Major League Baseball offseason. The Los Angeles Dodgers "won" the free agency period, the New York Mets arguably came in second, and the Red Sox made some sneaky good acquisitions too.
But there are a number of other teams that not only didn't "win" the offseason, they signaled to fans that they don't even remotely care about trying.
The Pittsburgh Pirates signed free agent pitcher Andrew Heaney. Brought back 38-year-old Andrew McCutchen, signed second baseman Adam Frazier and reliever Caleb Ferguson. And that's about it.
Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Brian Reynolds and starting pitching prospect Bubba Chandler. It's the makings of a solid, relatively competitive team. The Pirates chose to build around that core by doing essentially nothing. They're hardly the only ones.
The Miami Marlins made the postseason as recently as 2023. Sandy Alcantara is set to return after missing a season with arm surgery. Their offseason acquisitions list is effectively empty. They traded quality major leaguers, like Jake Burger and Jesus Luzardo for some prospects. And that's it.
The Cleveland Guardians made the ALCS in 2024, have superstar infielder Jose Ramirez on a team-friendly contract, one of the best bullpens in baseball, and some promising young players. What did they add? 38-year-old Carlos Santana. That's about it.
What are we doing here?
Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins delivers a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at loanDepot park on April 4, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
MLB Teams Have Stopped Pretending To Care
The Chicago White Sox are coming off a historic, 121-loss season. They then got worse, trading Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox for prospects. It's hard to fault them too much for accepting they have no chance of competing, but their offseason acquisitions were Martin Perez, Austin Slater, Josh Rojas, Michael A. Taylor, Bryse Wilson, and a handful of minor league contracts.
The Milwaukee Brewers once again won the NL Central, have an exciting young core with Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell and William Contreras. And followed up a stellar season by…doing basically nothing.
They traded away star closer Devin Williams, lost Willy Adames to the Giants, and traded for Nestor Cortes. Sure, why not?
The list goes on and on. Team after team, telling their fans they have no interest in building the best possible roster, only providing enough profit for owners to lock up their 5th yacht, or 15th vacation home. This is what's "ruining baseball," teams being skilled or lucky enough to find solid young talent, then refusing to build around it out of fear of spending a few dollars more on payroll. It's a joke.
The Rockies are effectively a vehicle for selling beer at Coors Field. The entire NL Central is crying poor, including the literal Chicago Cubs. The Athletics, while at least trying to add some level of talent, are once again almost certainly spending less on payroll than they take in in revenue sharing.
Welcome to modern baseball.
This isn't about market size, it's about will to win. The San Diego Padres play in one of baseball's smallest markets, yet they're spending at least $200 million on payroll this season. That's more than the Guardians, Marlins and Pirates combined. Again, the Guardians made the ALCS, and the Pirates have arguably the best pitcher in baseball.
If these owners don't care about winning, why do they own baseball teams in the first place? Why hasn't Pirates owner Bob Nutting sold the team, since it's such a bad business that he can't afford to invest in? Why isn't he in the toaster or microwave industry instead?
Sadly, too many owners in MLB view their teams as a way to pay themselves exorbitant salaries while acting as if there's no money left to pay players. And it's punishing fans in the process.