All-Acquired 2019-20 - National League

In my last post, I went over the top new players acquired by American League teams during the 2019-only portion of the 2019-20 offseason. Today I'll continue with the National League version, after which I will lock myself in my room for as long as it takes to update my team-by-team baseball database with rosters current as of New Year's Day.

Going by both 2019 fantasy points and by prior MLB track record, the top free agent starting pitcher to sign with a new NL team this winter was Madison Bumgarner. The big lefty jumped ship within his division, going from the Giants (with whom he won three World Series titles as part of the even-year dynasty) to the Diamondbacks (presumably because of their hitter-friendly ballpark). In terms of contract size and future upside, the top acquisition was Zack Wheeler, who easily topped $100MM in his five-year deal with the Phillies. Continuing down the list of MLB Trade Rumors's top-ranked free agents (Stephen Strasburg of course being ineligible because he re-signed with his former team), we have veteran lefty Cole Hamels, who will take the Braves' rotation spot vacated by veteran lefty Dallas Keuchel who finds himself in the AL version of this list. Another veteran lefty, Wade Miley, will round out a quite strong 2020 Reds rotation, despite the fact that he was left off Houston's playoff roster in 2019.

The Brewers have three names in the All-Acquired starting pitcher pool, headlined (at least in terms of 2019 fantasy points) by Brett Anderson, who somehow managed to stay healthy enough to put up a full season's worth of starts for the A's. Milwaukee grabbed a second new southpaw starter, Eric Lauer, in a trade with the Padres, for whom they sent out righty Zach Davies. The third Brew Crew acquisition appears in the below image, since Josh Lindblom pitched 2019 in the Korea Baseball Organization. The former Dodgers prospect will try to follow in the footsteps of fellow KBO-returnee Eric Thames in Milwaukee, except for the part where the latter unceremoniously had his contract option declined after the past season. Speaking of imports from the KBO, the Cardinals picked up Kwang-hyun Kim (it's spelled "Gwang-hyun" if you're looking for his baseball-reference page), whose former team will receive a posting fee equal to 20% of his contract with St. Louis. The only team other than the Brewers with multiple starter acquisitions is the Mets, who picked up both Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha, with one of them presumably headed to the bullpen to start the year. 

At this point in the offseason, the NL has been much more active than the AL on the relief market, with two pitchers who served as their teams' closers for at least part of 2019 having changed hands already. The Braves are supposedly planning to have Will Smith act in a setup role in front of Mark Melancon (another pitcher late of the Giants), but I'm hoping for the sake of the Cancer Crabs Fantasy Astrology team that they change course and Smith gets to rack up saves all year. Speaking of the Cancer Crabs, Blake Treinen followed up his historic 2018 season with a total dud in 2019, although that didn't stop the Dodgers from taking a one-year flier on the hard-throwing sinkerballer. Former starter Drew Pomeranz blossomed into a star reliever after a midseason trade to the Brewers last year, and the Padres are hoping that improvement will be sustainable in his second stint with the club. And Dellin Betances was a bastion of excellence for the Yankees until an injury-ruined 2019, but his track record led the crosstown Mets to take a chance on a return to glory.

It's a curious coincidence that the NL All-Acquired first base pool includes both the new Brewers first baseman and the old Brewers first baseman. Justin Smoak hasn't been able to replicate a breakout 2017 with the Blue Jays, but a switch-hitting power hitter with plate discipline is always good to have around. Jesus Aguilar's own unsustainable breakout came in 2018, and his fall from grace saw him get traded to the Rays at the 2019 deadline, and then picked up on waivers by the cross-state Marlins this winter. Speaking of the Marlins, they also picked up middle infielder Jonathan Villar, after the Orioles let their top fantasy-scoring player go via the waiver wire. He's followed on the second base depth chart by a couple of intriguing possibilities: Jurickson Profar was traded from the A's to the Padres after failing to capitalize on his own 2018 breakout with Texas, while Eric Sogard (another former Athletic) found a statistically unsustainable power stroke in 2019 (who here is a believer in exit velocity?), but the Brewers brought him back into the fold as part of their infield mix.

Speaking of second base, the Reds signed Mike Moustakas to play there, giving the longtime third baseman the type of deal that he has arguably deserved during the last two offseasons. However, if I was building a lineup out of these players, I would put Moose at his customary position, given the depth of second base talent, and my complete lack of faith in Ryon Healy's ability to hold down the hot corner. It's questionable how much the Giants expect Zack Cozart to play at any position next year, as his trade was effectively a way for the Angels to clear some salary space for Anthony Rendon. Didi Gregorius was one of the handful of players whose astrological sign I had been misrepresenting over the past several years, but whatever his star sign, he'll be locking down the shortstop spot in Philadelphia, pushing his erroneous former Pisces teammate Jean Segura over to second base. Luis Urias was one of four players involved in the above-mentioned Milwaukee-San Diego trade, and he'll battle with Sogard for playing time in the Brewers infield. Jake Cronenworth didn't make it into the show in 2019 (the blue highlight in his Bats/Throws column indicates he was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training last year), and we'll explore the trade that sent him from the Rays to the Padres...

...now! Tommy Pham had a better overall season than Hunter Renfroe in 2019, but as an aging player whose earnings are slated to approach his actual value via the arbitration process, he was not the type of asset that a penny-pinching organization like the Rays prefers to keep on hand. Thus Tampa Bay sent Pham and Cronenworth to San Diego in exchange for younger, cheaper outfielder Hunter Renfroe and a pair of prospects. Such is life! Speaking of outfielders acquired by the Padres, Trent Grisham went over to southern California in the twice-above-mentioned Brewers-Padres deal, where he'll join a somehow still-crowded outfield picture in San Diego. A pair of lefty-swinging corner bats also changed hands via free agency, with longtime Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun landing with the Diamondbacks, and journeyman Corey Dickerson settling in Miami (at least until the 2020 trade deadline. 

While Avisail Garcia got some time in center field with the Rays last year, his true calling is as a corner outfielder, where he'll play opposite Christian Yelich in Milwaukee next year. The Mets picked up Jake Marisnick in a trade with the Astros to replace their former glove-first fourth outfielder Juan Lagares. But the biggest fish in the center field pond is Japanese import Shogo Akiyama, whose deal with the Reds hasn't yet been formally announced. As far as catcher is concerned, Omar Narvaez, Milwaukee's replacement for Yasmani Grandal is also the top catcher acquired by an NL team this winter... the top hitting catcher, at least. And the fact that he's left-handed makes him a perfect platoon partner with new Braves backstop Travis d'Arnaud. As with the American League, possible backup backstops abound: former A's folk hero Stephen Vogt follows MadBum from SF to ARI, Francisco Cervelli is going to try to stave off concussion-related retirement for one more year in Miami, and Luke Maile still plays Major League Baseball.

So that's how the two leagues' All-Acquired teams look as the calendar flips to 2020. In short: the AL had the more splashy acquisitions, while the NL has the edge in terms of depth (especially in the bullpen and the outfield). These rosters will surely look a lot different by the time MLB 20: The Show hits shelves in the spring, so we won't get to see an accurate simulation with these players as headliners. But it's fun to take stock of the baseball roster landscape, even as the worldwide political landscape hurtles into scarier and more unstable territory day by day...

All-Acquired 2019-20 - American League

With the 2019-20 MLB offseason moving quicker than the last two combined, the New Year's Day update of my All-Acquired rosters features more complete teams than I expected. With the calendar recently having flipped to a new decade*, let's start by taking a look at the top players acquired by American League teams (new teams only) after the conclusion of the 2019 World Series:

* Some might say the new decade won't technically start until 2021, but I think I made a pretty good argument for starting baseball decades with year zero when introducing the previous version of my All-Decade Teams project.

The most impactful free agent signing of the offseason was also one of the most predictable. Many assumed that the presence of bona fide ace Gerrit Cole on the open market would prompt the Yankees to return to the "financial powerhouse" status that they displayed in the G. Steinbrenner era, and they did not disappoint. Coming off a season where he probably should have shared AL Cy Young award honors with his former Astros teammate (and eventual winner) Justin Verlander, Cole signed a record deal for a pitcher, in terms of both overall guarantee and average annual value. Following Cole in the All-Acquired rotation is Korean lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu, who signed with the Blue Jays, meaning AL East teams have acquired the the ERA leaders from both leagues: Cole paced the junior circuit with a 2.50 mark, while Ryu led the NL with a pristine 2.32 while pitching for the Dodgers. Sticking with Toronto for a second, Canada's only remaining team completely revamped their rotation, also signing Tanner Roark, trading for Chase Anderson, and scooping up Shun Yamaguchi from the Japanese League (you can see his NPB stats on the next image).

Going by 2019 MLB fantasy points, the next pitcher on the list would be onetime Braves future ace Julio Teheran, who signed a one year deal to play in Anaheim, after they missed out on Cole, a southern California native and known Angels target. The Halos also picked up Dylan Bundy via a trade with the Orioles, although he's unlikely to make a hypothetical All-Acquired starting five. Another organization that went for multiple value adds, rather than one big ticket acquisition, is the Twins, which snuck under the end-of-year deadline by signing righty Homer Bailey and lefty Rich Hill in the same day. (This feature doesn't count Minnesota's re-signings of Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda.) The Rangers were also active on the free agent market, picking up Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles for their rotation, but their biggest acquisition (in name brand value, if not 2019 production) was a steal of a trade for Corey Kluber from the Indians. The two-time AL Cy Young winner had a lost 2019 after a fluke line drive broke his forearm in May, but he was not very effective when healthy, and who knows if such a key body part for a pitcher will make a clean recovery, but the price was right from Texas's perspective to take a shot.

The White Sox signaled that their rebuild is coming to an end in six distinct ways this offseason, but the two that involve the pitching staff center on veteran lefties Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez. Keuchel was famously a victim of the great 2018-19 free agent freeze, as qualifying offer-related draft compensation prevented him from signing a contract until June, but he made up for his long stay on the market with a three year deal (plus an option) heading into 2020. The last starter of note to change teams before the new year was the bargain-basement signing of Martin Perez by the Red Sox... unless you count the Mariners' pickup of Kendall Graveman, who signed a two-year deal to recover from Tommy John surgery with the Cubs, who surprisingly cut him loose after just two minor league rehab appearances.

The market for starting pitchers has moved a lot quicker than that of relievers, with Tyler Clippard being the most experienced setup arm who has changed teams, when he signed a one-year deal with the Twins. However the award for the most upside has to go to Emmanuel Clase, the main return for the Indians in the Corey Kluber trade. While a reliever might seem like a light return in exchange for an ace... it is, even given that this reliever throws a nasty 101-mph cutter. The Rangers replaced Clase in their bullpen with Joely Rodriguez, a former Ranger who spent most of the last two seasons as an elite pitcher in Japan. The only other notable relievers to change hands this winter were both acquired by the Mariners and both share names with their fathers: multi-inning threat Nestor Cortes Jr. (traded from the Yankees) and former Cubs World Series contributor Carl Edwards Jr.

Starting with the infield, we have the third win-now move made by the White Sox: the signing of first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion. EE has been one of the premier power hitters of the last decade, but it's generous to call him anything other than a bat-first player at this point, which makes this move all the more curious, since the Sox also extended defensively-limited slugger Jose Abreu. If you don't trust Edwin in the field, you could always hand 1B over to C.J. Cron, who will be playing for his fourth team in four years, having bounced from the Angels to the Rays (via trade) to the Twins (waiver claim) to the Tigers (signed after being non-tendered). I did most of my research for this feature using this extensive article from MLB.com, although it's curious that Mike Petriello did not include an entry for the Indians signing Cesar Hernandez after he was non-tendered by the Phillies. I would pick Hernandez over Jonathan Schoop as the All-Acquired starting second baseman, even though it would be a nice story to have the right side of the infield filled with two players who moved from the Twins to the Tigers.

While I tabbed Cole as the most impactful free agent signing this winter, he's closely followed by the Angels' pickup of Anthony Rendon, fresh off a World Series win with the Nationals. As an A's fan, I must say I'm worried about what the Halos are capable of doing with a true superstar to plug into the lineup next to Mike Trout - I'm not counting Albert Pujols (who was past his prime at his signing) or Josh Hamilton (whose success was a bit of a flash in the pan). Behind Rendon on the depth chart is Maikel Franco, another infielder to latch on with an AL Central team after being non-tendered by Philadelphia. But the wild card here could be Travis Shaw, who had two great seasons with the Brewers before falling flat in '19 and signing a make-good deal with the Blue Jays to play first base. Shortstop is the weak spot on this team, with the only fantasy eligible all-acquired player there being light-hitting Jose Peraza, who was brought in by the Red Sox in case Dustin Pedroia's injury troubles continue.

If shortstop is this team's weakest link, the outfield is a close second, with barely enough players to fill the three spots. Left field belongs to Hunter Renfroe, a defensively gifted power hitter who was acquired by the Rays (along with a prospect) for a superior but more expensive outfielder Tommy Pham (and another prospect). The only qualifier in center field is Delino DeShields, the other piece that Texas sent to Cleveland for Kluber, although it's unlikely Delino Jr. will be anything more than a fourth (or fifth or sixth) outfielder for the 2020 Tribe. In right field we have the second-to-last big acquisition by the White Sox: Nomar Mazara. The lefty swinging former top prospect had run out of time to prove himself with the Rangers, but will look to capitalize on his potential on a promising Chicago team that just locked up their future centerfielder Luis Robert to a long-term extension today. I should also mention Yoshitomo Tsutsugo along with the outfielders, although based on what I've read about the Japanese slugger, he's best suited for DH duties.

To round out the lineup - and to cap off the White Sox's winter shopping spree - we have Yasmani Grandal, who wasn't just the best catcher available on the open market this year, but is arguably the best catcher in baseball right now. He can hit for average, hit for power, provide good defense behind the plate (unless it's with the Dodgers in the playoffs), and can even play a little first base, although he's unlikely to get a lot of time there based on Chicago's other moves. There's a plethora of catchers on the depth chart behind Grandal, headed by Austin Romine, who will vacate his spot behind Gary Sanchez in New York to back up a decidedly less exciting catching contingent in Detroit. There's also Alex Avila (who replaces fellow left-handed-hitting backup Jason Castro in Minnesota), Sandy Leon (a defensively-oriented backup to defensively-oriented starter Roberto Perez in Cleveland), Dustin Garneau (a bargain-basement signing by the reigning AL champion Astros), and Austin Allen (acquired by the A's based on his prodigious power in Triple-A).


Apart from a couple of slugging corner infield pieces, starting pitching ruled the day for the American League's pre-New Years acquisitions of new players. We'll see if that's enough to win the day in a potential exhibition series against the National League's All-Acquired team, which I will explore sometime in the future.