As the offseason begins to wind down, most of the teams in the league made a statement on their plans for the 2015 season. A shocking amount of teams took steps towards contending, while some pumped the brakes a little bit and decided to rebuild for the long-term future. However, some teams didn’t make much of their winter, and are still hanging out in no man’s land. Other teams also had clear objectives on their to-do lists, and failed at checking all of the boxes. These are the teams that failed the most at doing what they needed to do this offseason.
Baltimore Orioles.
Baltimore won the AL East last season in a walk over the competition, but while the Blue Jays and Red Sox both considerably improved this offseason, the Orioles stagnated. Nelson Cruz, Nick Markakis, and Andrew Miller all walked as free agents. The Orioles replaced those three guys on their roster by…acquiring Travis Snider from the Pirates, signing Wesley Wright, and bringing back both Alejandro de Aza and Delmon Young for the 2015 season. Baltimore will be placing a lot of faith in Chris Davis regaining his form from 2012-13 after a disappointing 2014. The team is also banking on both Manny Machado and Matt Wieters having healthier years this season. On the bright side for the Orioles, they didn’t panic and make a signing like last winter’s disastrous looking deal with Ubaldo Jimenez, and the club kept their great rotation fully intact for 2015.
DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 21: Wilin Rosario #20 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates in the dugout after he and Josh Rutledge #14 of the Colorado Rockies scored on a two RBI double by Brandon Barnes #1 of the Colorado Rockies off of Wade Miley #36 of the Arizona Diamondbacks to give the Rockies a 3-0 lead in the third inning at Coors Field on September 21, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Colorado Rockies.
We pick on the Rockies a lot here, but this winter, I think it’s justified. They lost 96 games a year ago, and proceeded to add…well, they added backup catcher Nick Hundley and utility infielder Daniel Descalso. Brett Anderson, Matt Belisle, Michael Cuddyer, and Franklin Morales all walked, though the Rockies did end up bringing back a compensation pick for Cuddyer. Colorado didn’t move any of their best assets, including (but not limited to) Charlie Blackmon, Carlos Gonzalez, Wilin Rosario, Drew Stubbs, or the one that they seemed least inclined to move, Troy Tulowitzki. The Rockies’ plan for 2015 essentially appears to be…hope that CarGo and Tulo stay healthy, the pitching staff doesn’t stink, and that Justin Morneau remains hooked up to the Lazarus machine. Sounds like a surefire plan to *maybe* fourth place in the NL West!
Kansas City Royals.
Dayton Moore and company had a great opportunity to build on their shocking 2014 World Series run this winter, and they didn’t exactly do that. Three key players from that 2014 squad, Nori Aoki, Billy Butler, and James Shields, all left town as free agents. There’s still a conceivable chance that Shields could come back, given the way his market has stagnated this offseason, but the Royals essentially filled his spot in the rotation with former Pirate Edinson Volquez. Butler was replaced by former Mariners DH Kendrys Morales. Aoki’s spot was filled by Alex Rios on a one-year deal for an eye-popping $11 million guaranteed. Kansas City guaranteed $48 million over the next two seasons to those three players, all of whom are 31 or older and none of which were worth even a win in 2014. There’s a very distinct chance that given the other improvements in the AL Central, Kansas City could fall to fourth or fifth in the division.
LOS ANGELES, CA – AUGUST 22: Wilmer Flores #4 of the New York Mets turns a double play in front of Justin Turner #10 of the Los Angeles Dodgers to end the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on August 22, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Mets.
The Mets have needed a shortstop since Jose Reyes left town following the 2011 season. This winter, they didn’t add one, and are apparently still content with either Wilmer Flores or Ruben Tejada getting the bulk of the playing time at the position in 2015. The club also made the bizarre situation to sign Michael Cuddyer and forfeit their first round pick when there were plenty of better, cheaper options on the market that wouldn’t have cost the club a draft pick. And aside from signing the Cuddyer, the club essentially stood pat – their biggest other move was replacing Eric Young Jr. on their bench with John Mayberry Jr. There’s nothing wrong with standing pat, but when you’re a large market club that hasn’t finished above .500 since 2008, bringing back essentially the same team (plus a healthy Matt Harvey) that lost 83 games doesn’t do a lot to inspire confidence.
San Francisco Giants.
I close with the defending champions, who could have done whatever they wanted this winter without getting much criticism. But San Francisco was faced with some major free agent decisions this offseason, and underwhelmed when it came to making those decisions. Mike Morse and Pablo Sandoval, two of the team’s key hitters in 2014, both walked as free agents. The Giants replaced them with Nori Aoki, a very similar player to fourth outfielder Gregor Blanco, and Casey McGehee, whose 2014 success was masked by a high BABIP and some pretty strong left/right splits. San Francisco also failed to improve their rotation, and will be rolling the dice with the same top six starters from a year ago after bringing back the aging Jake Peavy and Ryan Vogelsong. Considering how much the Dodgers, Padres, and even the Diamondbacks improved in the NL West this offseason, it wouldn’t come as a shock to me if San Francisco struggled to contend this year.
