Trade Deadline 2020

I must admit that I've paid very little attention to baseball in 2020. Not only are there more dire and important things going on in this country - a still-raging global pandemic, an ever-increasing number of police brutality cases, which our governments are unable/unwilling to address, white supremacy-motivated violence in the streets, incited by the president, and the upcoming battle for the future of our nation's democracy in November. And while all those things are still at the forefront of my mind (and probably those of most Americans), I still can't help but be fascinated by the MLB trade deadline. Sure, it's happening a month later than usual, which happens to be just less than two-thirds of the way through the 60-game 2020 season. But player movement gives us a chance to check in on which teams are surging, which teams are struggling, and who is primed to make the most impact in the most unique MLB playoff push in history.

Here's a position-by-position lineup of the top players who changed teams at or near this year's deadline, evaluated by my favorite fantasy point system. They're also listed with some fun color-coded information, including offseason acquired status (first name highlighted in Yellow, to go with the Cyan that indicates a midseason acquisition), and my personal favorite bit of triviality: each player's astrological sign.

After making his MLB debut last year, Austin Nola emerged as Seattle's top catcher when Tom Murphy went down with a foot injury. The Capricorn Nola was acquired by the Padres, moments after they also picked up lefty-swinging Jason Castro (120 points, 6.7 points-per-game) from the Angels, solidifying their backstop platoon. When you consider that the Friars sent Luis Torrens to the Mariners as part of the return for Nola, and also traded Austin Hedges to Cleveland in a blockbuster trade, San Diego was involved in four of the five catchers to change teams during the 2020 deadline. (The only outlier was Robinson Chirinos, who went from the Rangers to the Mets.)

Speaking of San Diego, they also scored the top overall fantasy point-scoring trade deadline acquisition in Mitch Moreland. After years of languishing in the bowels of the Virgo depth chart behind the likes of Paul Goldschmidt, Joey Votto, and Freddie Freeman, the 34-year-old Moreland finally found his power stroke during his fourth year playing for the Red Sox. Again, he's only had about 80 plate appearances this year, but Moreland's career-high marks in batting average, on-base, and slugging percentages earned him a trade to a contender out west.

The next two infielders on the lineup also qualified at first base, but they'll be occupying second and third base, respectively, for the purposes of this project. In addition to positional eligibility, another thing that Tommy La Stella and Todd Frazier have in common is that they're both Aquarians, which has historically been the worst performing fantasy sign of the baseball zodiac (at least over the last 30 years, which is as far back as my comprehensive astrology baseball database stretches). Rounding out the infield is Jonathan Villar, who was traded from one surprise contender (the Marlins) to another (the Blue Jays). Miami's plan to play the Taurean infielder in center field this year didn't exactly pan out, but perhaps he'll become a backup outfielder in Toronto Buffalo after he's done filling in for the injured Bo Bichette at shortstop.

Libra has had a crazy strong outfield alignment for the last ten years, from Andrew McCutchen, Jose Bautista, Carlos Gonzalez, and Matt Kemp from the early 2010s, to Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, and Starling Marte of today. Marte's time in the desert was brief, having been acquired by the D-Backs during the offseason, and now he should solidify Miami's outfield as they unexpectedly push for a playoff berth. The other two outfielders also have center field eligibility dating back to 2019, but both Kevin Pillar and Brian Goodwin have spent their 2020 seasons in the corners flanking some pretty high-level defenders: Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mike Trout, respectively. Rounding out the starting nine, infielder Ty France is neck-and-neck with outfielder Jose Martinez (186 / 7.8) for the DH spot, the universal adoption of which is one of the only positive developments I can see coming out of the debacle that is the 2020 MLB season.

In terms of 2020 stats, Taijuan Walker is the top performing starting pitcher to change teams at the deadline. The Leo starter, who was drafted and developed by Seattle, returned to his original team in the offseason after three years in Arizona, before the Mariners shipped him off to the Blue Jays. But the top pitcher moved in terms of star power is Mike Clevinger, who went to the ever-active Padres from the Indians. The Sagittarius starter known as "Sunshine" made headlines (and missed time) earlier in the season for violating the team's COVID protocols, but I guess he was given a clean bill of health prior to his trade to sunny California. Clevinger's Sagittarius teammate Ross Stripling joins him on this All-Acquired team, after the Dodgers were finally able to deal him. (Remember, they tried and failed to send "Chicken Strip" to the Angels as part of the first iteration of the Mookie Betts deal.)

Neither of the two lefties that round out the rotation have had very impressive 2020 seasons, although  to be fair, Mike Minor has a recent track record of excellence, and Tommy Milone's allowed less than 4 runs per 9 innings with the Orioles until his disastrous first start with the Braves (7 runs allowed in 2 1/3 innings) pushed his ERA to 5.68. In the opposite circumstance, Minor's last start with Texas, before he joined the Athletics, was a masterpiece against the Dodgers... although he still failed to pick up his first win of the season (0-5, 5.60 ERA). I feel like I should mention Cal Quantrill in this section, since he served as a starter in his debut year of 2019, but he has pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen with the Padres, before going to Cleveland as part of the return for Clevinger.

Trevor Rosenthal finally gets to star in the big comeback story that he has been trying to author since 2017, his last season as the closer for the Cardinals. The Gemini known as Big T is yet another player heading to the Padres, and he'll be joined by Cancer cusper Taylor Williams, who emerged as the Mariners' closer, after being picked off waivers from the Brewers during the offseason. The next two relievers on this list are both Leo closers: Archie Bradley, who went from Arizona to Cincinnati, and Brandon Workman, who joined the Phillies from Boston. Speaking of the Phillies, they also acquired David Phelps (185 / 15.4) from Milwaukee, and also Heath Hembree (110 / 6.9) in the same deal as Workman. Other honorable mentions are a pair of relievers traded from the Orioles: Miguel Castro (187 / 11.7) to the Mets, and Mychal Givens (152 / 12.7) to the Rockies.

Those are the lineups: now a few words about some further Astrology implications. Of the 66 players traded at the deadline, 47 of them have appeared in the majors in 2020. Of those 47, the relative majority (8) were Leos. However, curiously, five other signs had exactly 5 players represented: Gemini, Libra, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. One of these, Pisces, is one of only two signs to not have a player in my "starting lineup" pictured above. The other is Aries, which had only one player traded this deadline season (outfielder Cameron Maybin (88 / 6.3) who went from Detroit to the Cubs). This is also particularly curious because Aries has been the top scoring sign of the last several years - when taking into account a similar "starting lineup" configuration (although with just three relievers). I'll be going into some more big picture detail later, but until then, stay safe, practice social distancing, and hope that your favorite team doesn't get any(more) positive COVID tests.

 

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.

All-Acquired Teams 2019 - Spring Training Update

Since we've reached the episode that serves as the "midseason finale" (and beyond) of my Return to Arkham City Let's Play videos, I've decided to take  a break from the blog recaps to jump into a little baseball. Spring Training games started nearly two weeks ago, on February 21, but it's taken me since then to update my patented baseball database with rosters and rankings as of that day. And with that endeavor, comes the opportunity to update another one of my patented offseason lists: the All-Acquired Teams. I had been keeping track of each league's roster on a semi-regular basis, but since I haven't updated that in a while, we can see some of the more wholesale changes. So here's the first look at my newly updated 2019 database, with a few extra columns, and MLB.com's 2019 fantasy rankings!

My previous posts were last updated as of Christmas 2018, so most of the main contributors in this lineup were previously covered, including Paul Goldschmdit, Jean Segura, Andrew McCutchen, Josh Donaldson, and Yasiel Puig. Since that time, both J.T. Realmuto (traded from the Marlins to the Phillies) and Yasmani Grandal (signed as a free agent with the Brewers) supplanted Wilson Ramos behind the plate. Also A.J. Pollock (signed by the Dodgers to what was at the time the winter's biggest free agent contract for a position player) solidified a center field mix that had been mostly populated by minor league signees. At seconds base, Daniel Murphy barely beats out Robinson Cano (ranked 128), probably because Murph is slated to play his home games at offensive haven Coors Field.

Because this version of the list had a "pencils down" cutoff of 2/20 (the day before Spring Training games officially started), two of the NL's biggest acquisitions aren't covered here. There are a couple of different ways to get the Padres' newest infielder Manny Machado (ranked 9 overall) into the lineup. One is to simply have him replace Josh Donaldson at his projected 2019 position of third base, but that's taking away a lot of upside from a former league MVP looking for a bounceback season. The other is to put Machado at short and move Jean Segura to second base, where he has played in the past, even though he didn't qualify there based on 2018 positional eligibility. That would take Daniel Murphy's left handed bat out of the lineup, but this team stands to add another one in the form of new Phillie Bryce Harper (ranked 14), which would push either Puig or McCutchen to the DH spot.

In the pitching staff, Patrick Corbin (signed by the Nationals), Alex Wood (traded from the Dodgers to the Reds), and Luke Weaver (involved in the above-mentioned Goldschmidt trade) were already accounted for, along with closer Edwin Diaz (who was traded, along with Cano, from the Mariners to the Mets). The two new members of the rotation were added by teams that had already appeared on this list, as Sonny Gray was traded from the Yankees to the Reds (by way of the Mariners) and Anibal Sanchez joins Corbin as a free agent signing by the Nats. Andrew Miller was already in the all-acquired pool as of my last updates (having been signed by the Cardinals on 12/21/18), but since I was going by 2018 fantasy points rather than 2019 rankings, he was placed behind Jeurys Familia. Newcomers David Robertson (signed by the Phillies) and Greg Holland (signed by the Diamondbacks) both have a decent shot to accumulate saves with their new teams, which is why I put Holland on the list ahead of Trevor Rosenthal (yet another pitcher signed by the Nats) even though the latter was ranked slightly higher at 250 overall.

Would you believe that Nelson Cruz (signed by the Twins the day after New Years) was the only position player added to this roster after the previous Christmas Day '18 update? Even Mike Zunino was in the pool (he was traded for Mallex Smith), but he amassed fewer 2018 fantasy points than Robinson Chirinos. I'm admittedly bending the rules a bit by placing Carlos Santana at third base, as he only played the hot corner during a brief experiment for the Phillies last year, but otherwise the best option there would have been Asdrubal Cabrera (ranked 228), who was signed by the Rangers. Come to think of it, if we're willing to sacrifice defense, I might as well have put Mallex Smith in center field and had Jake Bauers (ranked 181) line up in one of the outfield corners, despite the fact that he too is a first baseman by trade. But either way, the American League has pretty seriously lagged behind their National League counterparts in terms of bringing in new players during this offseason.

Like the NL, the one, two, and five spots in the rotation had already been accounted for before the holidays - James Paxton was traded from the Mariners to the Yankees, Charlie Morton was signed by the Rays in rare outlay of free agent dollars, and Trevor Cahill was plucked from the open market by the Angels. Yusei Kikuchi will be making his MLB debut when he starts first for Seattle, but his Japanese league stats last year were very impressive: 1,869 points and an average of 81.3 points per game pitching for the Seibu Lions. Shelby Miller is a bounceback candidate in a Rangers rotation full of them, but if he follows the same path that Mike Minor took last year, he could be in line for a more successful trip through free agency next year.

By contrast, all four relief pitchers on this list are new additions. Cody Allen, another free agent signing by the Angels, will likely have the first crack at save opportunities with his new team, after taking a step back from his dominant closing career with the Indians in 2018. Kelvin Herrera might be engaged in a camp battle with fellow newcomer Alex Colome (ranked 286) for the ninth inning role on the south side of Chicago, as he recovers from a season-ending knee injury. Adam Ottavino might have the best raw stuff of any all-acquired reliever, but his low placement in a deep Yankees bullpen depth chart affects his ranking here. I really wanted to put a lefty in this last bullpen spot, but I couldn't get past Zach Britton's fantasy rank of 426, even though his ranking was suppressed for the same reason as Ottavino.

2019 National League All-Acquired Roster

UPDATE #1, as of 12/16/18:

All three of the changes to this lineup were reported last week, but only just became official as of the MLB.com transaction page. The addition of Andrew McCutchen (1,756 fantasy points / 11.3 points per game) to the Philadelphia outfield pushes Johnny Field into the center field platoon picture, even though he only technically qualified as a corner outfielder in 2018. Tanner Roark (1,163 / 37.5) hasn't been a top of the rotation pitcher since 2016, but at this early point in the offseason, he's got a good shot to stick in this rotation. And Jeurys Familia (1,329 / 19.0) will return to his original team in New York, but he won't reprise the closer's role he had for them since 2015, but rather will continue in the setup capacity for which he pitched in Oakland after his mid-2018 trade.


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As I set up in my last post highlighting the American League All-Acquired Roster, the cutoff point for inclusion in this particular update of the 2019 All-Acquired rosters was prior to the week beginning 12/10/18, which will allow us to focus entirely on pre-Winter Meetings action. I don't think I mentioned that I'm using only transactions that have been reported on MLB.com's Transaction page, so let me just clear that up now. With all that said, let's check out the top players having been acquired by National League teams this offseason!


STARTING PITCHER

Image from Arizona Sports

Like its AL counterpart, the NL All-Acquired squad boasts a top of the rotation lefty, although the senior circuit's version came via free agent signing rather than blockbuster trade. The consensus top starting pitcher on the free agent market, Patrick Corbin (2,213 fantasy points / 67.1 points per game) turned in a stellar season with the Diamondbacks, which he parlayed into a six-year, $140 million contract with the Nationals. We'll see whether this financial outlay from the Lerner family prevents homegrown superstar outfielder Bryce Harper from returning to Washington (which would keep him out of the All-Acquired landscape altogether), but at least the Nats have a loaded rotation, even after trading away Tanner Roark in a swap that occurred after the cutoff point.

Unlike its AL counterpart, the NL All-Acquired player pool doesn't even include enough healthy starting pitchers to staff a full rotation, even including the above-mentioned Roark. Going by 2018 fantasy points, the next pitcher on the list is Garrett Richards (696 / 43.5), who the Padres signed to a two-year deal typical for hurlers recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he likely won't be a factor until 2020 at the earliest. Former potential ace in the making Luke Weaver (683 / 22.8) went from the Cardinals to the Diamondbacks in a huge trade that we'll talk about later on. But after those two we have another TJ victim Artie Lewicki (120 / 9.2 with the Tigers, before going to Arizona via waiver claim) and Triple-A starter Mike Hauschild (60 / 30.0 in one start and one relief appearance for the Blue Jays - he signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals).


RELIEF PITCHER

Image from New York Post

In addition to an ace starter, the NL also acquired a star closer in Edwin Diaz (2,672 / 36.6), the top-scoring reliever in all of baseball in 2018. Arguably the key piece in a Mariners/Mets blockbuster that went down right after the start of Hanukkah, Diaz will give New York NL just one year of cheap production before his ludicrous save totals drive his price up in arbitration. In the very first trade of the offseason (or rather of the "post-2018 season," since the playoffs were still going on), the Marlins sent power reliever Kyle Barraclough (625 / 10.2) to the Nationals, in a prelude of pitching acquisitions to come. I'm listing Barraclough above lefty Jose Alvarez (717 / 9.4), who went from the Angels to the Phillies in a curious one-for-one swap, not just due to the slight points-per-game advantage, but also because left-handed specialists with unimpressive peripheral stats just aren't that exciting. Speaking of which, lefty James Pazos (520 / 8.7) went from the Mariners to the Phillies in yet another blockbuster, alongside bounceback candidate Juan Nicasio (189 / 4.1).

Although he doesn't appear on my new truncated database, having missed the entire 2018 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery of his own, it's worth mentioning that Washington signed former St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal. And looking ahead to deals announced after the start of the Winter Meetings, this already-impressive bullpen will be filled out further by the likes of Jeurys Familia (back to the Mets), Joe Kelly (Dodgers), and Alex Claudio (Brewers).


CATCHER

Sticking with the Nats, they're responsible for both of the top two NL All-Acquired backstops. First, they signed late-blooming Kurt Suzuki (1,015 / 9.7) for his second stint with the team, after he was granted free agency from the Braves, and then they traded for defensive specialist Yan Gomes (1,053 / 9.4) from the Indians. While they both hit right-handed, and thus aren't well suited for a traditional platoon role, the differing skillsets each of them brings to the table should complement each other well. Elsewhere in the NL East, Atlanta reunited with a familiar face in Brian McCann (408 / 6.5) after he had his 2019 option year declined by the Astros.


FIRST BASE

Remember that D-Backs/Cardinals trade I mentioned earlier? The one with Luke Weaver? Well, he was the primary piece going to Arizona in exchange for Paul Goldschmidt (2,196 / 13.9), one of the top first baseman, not just in the last year, but in the last DECADE. Goldy does it all, averaging 31 homers, 105 RBI, and 18 steals per season over his eight-year career, with a .930 OPS (45 percent above league average), six consecutive All-Star appearances, four Silver Slugger awards, and three Gold Gloves. Sure he'll be a free agent after next season, so he's unlikely to make a huge impact to the St. Louis franchise, but adding that type of production to an already-solid lineup makes the Cards a force in an already-crowded NL Central division in 2019.


SECOND BASE

Image from WFAN Radio

Remember when I said that Edwin Diaz was "arguably" the key piece in that Mariners/Mets blockbuster? The main argument against him is Robinson Cano (1,033 / 12.9), who returns to a familiar city, having started his career with the Yankees. Cano has some red flags, as he's playing out the decline years of a megadeal (which was negotiated by Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen back when he was still Cano's agent at CAA), and he's fresh off an 80-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs. But as his solid per-game numbers indicate, he still has plenty left in his bat, and his defense isn't as bad as people give him credit for, as he's only posted a negative dWAR (according to Baseball Reference Wins Above Replacement) once in the last 10 seasons.


SHORTSTOP

Sticking with middle infielders shipped out by Seattle, the new shortstop in Philadelphia will be Jean Segura (1,749 / 12.1). Why would Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto trade away a 2018 All-Star just one year after signing him to a five-year extension? You mean, beyond Dipoto's compulsion with making any and every trade proposed by an opposing GM? Maybe it has to do with reports of some bad clubhouse chemistry on Segura's part, which would fit with Philly's pursuit of admitted non-hustler Manny Machado. Or maybe it's just a full commitment to the rebuild on the part of the Seattle front office. Either way, Segura is a clear upgrade at SS over incumbent All-Acquired utility infielders Greg Garcia (332 / 2.9) and Erik Gonzalez (331 / 4.1).


THIRD BASE

Image from Meridian Star

If there was ever a candidate for a one-year "pillow" contract it was former AL MVP Josh Donaldson (603 / 11.6), who suffered through an injury-plagued last couple of years with the Blue Jays (and briefly the Indians). With third base prospect Austin Riley waiting in the wings in Atlanta, Braves GM Alex Anthopolous did a good job picking up a near term upgrade at the hot corner while not blocking the path of a youngster who could become a core piece sooner rather than later. Although he only racked up fewer than twice as many points as former Orioles DH/sometimes third baseman Pedro Alvarez (331 / 7.4), the superior talent level on both sides of the ball is clear. As things stand, however, Alvarez is the leading non-catcher candidate to serve as DH if this team were to play in an AL ballpark.


CENTER FIELD

It's a good thing this team has such a star-studded infield mix, because there's nothing much doing at all in the NL outfield market (at least up to my cutoff point). There is the makings of a low-impact platoon situation in center field with two players signed to minor league pacts. Switch-hitting Abraham Almonte (219 / 4.4) signed on with the Diamondbacks following an early trip to free agency (he was released by the Royals during the 2018 season). Meanwhile, Ryan LaMarre (348 / 4.6) was picked up by the Braves after splitting last year between the Twins and the White Sox.


CORNER OUTFIELD

As of the start of the Winter Meetings, the most accomplished MLB outfielder to be acquired by an NL team was Lonnie Chisenhall (255 / 8.8) formerly of the Indians. He'll serve as a stopgap in Pittsburgh until injured regular right fielder Gregory Polanco is ready to return. The best bet to see time on the opposite side of the grass is Johnny Field (507 / 6.1), who split his debut 2018 season between Tampa Bay and Minnesota, before joining up with the Cubs. Of course, looking forward to deals that were announced up to yesterday, the Phillies helped out the cause by signing Andrew McCutchen, who will get a chance to help out the in-state rival of his former team.


That's it for the NL roster! Return to the 2018-19 All-Acquired Hub page to see the starting lineup/rotation represented in graphical form and to link to the American League roster!

2019 American League All-Acquired Roster

UPDATE #1, as of 12/16/18

We'll see how long these weekly updates continue, but as of now, this project is still fresh in my mind, and there are some new developments, especially on the AL side, so I want to go over the new developments. As always, you can return to the All-Acquired Rosters Hub page for a visual representation of both lineups (with new additions highlighted in yellow in the "Movement" column at the far left), but here's the analysis:

First things first, the rotation is starting to come into focus after the previously reported deals for Ivan Nova (traded from the Pirates to the White Sox) and Tyson Ross (signed as a free agent with the Tigers) have been officially announced. While these two pitchers had similar fantasy point production last season, they have decidedly different outlooks for 2019: Nova (who checked in at 1,113 points and 38.3 points per game) profiles as a solid innings-eater type, while Ross (who finished with 1,056 and 34.1, split between the rotation and the bullpen of San Diego and St. Louis, respectively) has considerably more upside if he can harness his electric stuff and stay on the field.

Speaking of the Tigers, on the offensive side, Jordy Mercer (894 / 7.6) solidifies the middle infield, allowing Aledmys Diaz to shift over to third base. But the real story here is at DH, where Edwin Encarnacion (1,800 / 13.1) will essentially swap places with Carlos Santana in Seattle, as Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto continues his crazy dealing. Luckily, since Santana was dealt within the league, he can remain on the same All-Acquired team in a 1B/DH rotation with his former teammate. The other player heading to Cleveland in this three-team trade, Jake Bauers (930 / 9.7) is a first baseman by trade, but given the presence of two outstanding defenders in the outfield in Mallex Smith and Billy Hamilton (1,251 / 8.2, whose contract with the Royals was also reported last week), it's OK to sacrifice some defense at one spot in favor of a little more pop... at least until some bigger moves come along.

===

As of the first week of December (my somewhat arbitrary cutoff point), AL teams have been significantly more active in the transactional space than their NL counterparts, by a score of 63 to 43. Although, as we'll see, that doesn't necessarily correlate to the amount of high impact players acquired. I thought about going chronologically, so we could watch these lineups unfold in real time, but if you want to follow along with the calendar, you can check out MLB.com's Transactions page. With that in mind, here's a position by position look at the AL All-Acquired Team!

STARTING PITCHER

Image from The Ringer

The biggest pitching acquisition for the AL came when the Mariners traded lefty starter James Paxton (1,719 fantasy points / 61.4 points per game) to the Yankees for a package centered on twice-traded prospect Justus Sheffield (-25 / -8.3 in his limited debut season), who would also likely make this early-December rotation given the lack of options. In fact, the only other starting option with more than 200 fantasy points was Jefry Rodriguez (212 / 15.4), who started eight of his first 14 MLB games in 2018 with the Nationals, before being sent to the Indians as one of two players in exchange for catcher Yan Gomes.

Digging deeper, just to get to a full starting five, the Tigers signed Matt Moore (143 / 3.7) after his abysmal season with the Rangers led to a move to the bullpen and a subsequent declining of his contract option for 2019. Parker Bridwell (-71 / -14.2) had a decent season for the Angels in 2017, but was (effectively) non-tendered last month and picked up by the Yankees on a minor league deal. And Dillon Peters (31 / 4.4) looked to have a shot in the Marlins rotation last year, but ended the season in the minors and was shipped to the Angels in a minor trade. It's also worth noting that Drew Smyly, who will miss the start of 2019 recovering from the Tommy John surgery that took his entire 2018 season, went from the Cubs to the Rangers in a cost-saving move, and he could be a factor by mid-season.

However, this will be the last time we hear about many of the pitchers in the above paragraph, since some fairly notable rotation moves have come to light after my cutoff point for this post, which happened to be the start of the Winter Meetings (12/10). Suffice it to say, names like Tyson Ross, Ivan Nova, and maybe even Charlie Morton and Lance Lynn will be showing up in my next update.


RELIEF PITCHER

Remember when Jesse Chavez (1,201 / 19.4) hinted that he would retire if the Cubs didn't want him back in 2019 after he pitched like a lights-out relief ace there following a trade from the Rangers? Well, they didn't end up re-signing him, but he did return to the club that made his opportunity in Chicago possible, agreeing to a two-year deal to go back to Texas. While Chavez had a heck of a season, if you'd rather headline your bullpen with someone who has more closing experience, look no further than Alex Colome (1,101 / 15.7), who spent most of 2018 as a setup-pitcher in Seattle, after coming over from Tampa Bay midseason, but now finds himself on the White Sox thanks to Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto's wheeling and dealing.

Speaking of Dipoto, veteran middle reliever Anthony Swarzak (188 / 6.5) came TO Seattle as a means of offsetting some salary in a different blockbuster deal (see the upcoming NL section for more info on that one). In a head-scratcher of a move, the Angels acquired hard-throwing-but-struggling righty Luis Garcia (303 / 5.1) from the Phillies in exchange for a quality lefty (Jose Alvarez). And Oliver Drake (258 / 5.9), who set a major league record by pitching for five (5!) different teams in 2018, has already been claimed twice off waivers during the offseason: once by the Rays (from the Twins) and then again by the Blue Jays. If I were a gambler, I'd say the odds are infinitesimal that he remains in Toronto to start the 2019 season.


CATCHER

The first two AL All-Acquired catching options, chronologically speaking, came courtesy of (you guessed it) Jerry Dipoto. First, he shipped out previous starter Mike Zunino (794 / 7.0) to the Rays in one of his lesser blockbusters, then he picked up Omar Narvaez (736 / 7.6) from Chicago AL in the above-mentioned Alex Colome trade. However, both of those two were eclipsed (offensively speaking) by Robinson Chirinos (1,055 / 9.5) who was picked up by the Astros after surprisingly being non-tendered by their cross-state rival Rangers.


FIRST BASE

Image from MarinersBlog

In yet another Dipoto-centered acquisition, the Mariners picked up Carlos Santana (1,820 / 11.3) from the Phillies, although his inclusion was mostly to offset salary and free up first base for Philadelphia rather than any desire for a switch-hitting power hitter on Seattle's part. In fact, it's rumored that Jerry DEAL-poto might be looking to flip Santana for prospects in a continuation of this epic roster tear-down. "Slamtana" unseats C.J. Cron (1,537 / 11.0), who the Twins claimed off waivers from the Rays, although he will keep a spot in the starting lineup as the DH (his primary "position" in 2018).


SECOND BASE

Sticking with the Twins, they are the unexpected beneficiaries of some poor planning on the part of the Brewers last year. Milwaukee acquired Jonathan Schoop (1,179 / 9.0) at the trade deadline, even after making the decision to shift starting third baseman Travis Shaw to the keystone to make room for Mike Moustakas (another midseason acquisition). But the former Orioles second baseman never panned out for the Brew Crew, and GM David Stearns decided to non-tender Schoop rather than pay him an estimated $10mm+ in arbitration. That's when Minnesota swept in and picked up the Curacao native for $2.5mm less than his projected arb salary, in hopes that Schoop will return to his 2017 form that landed him on the AL East Divisional All-Star squad.


SHORTSTOP

Continuing around the horn (rather than going numerically), the top shortstop acquired by an AL team is Aledmys Diaz (1,211 / 9.3). After breaking out with an All-Star season for the Cardinals in 2016, he lost some of his luster the following year, and was then shipped to Toronto prior to 2018. While north of the border, he filled in for both the injured Troy Tulowitzki and the injured Josh Donaldson, so he's got eligibility in both left-infield spots. Despite having big time talents at both of those positions, the Astros acquired Diaz in a minor swap, where he figures to fill a utility infield role next season.


THIRD BASE

The third base situation is the most volatile for the AL All-Acquired team as it stands right now, with several imperfect options looking at some kind of timeshare. The only one who technically qualified at third base was Tommy La Stella (385 / 3.1), who was recently shipped from the Cubs to the Angels after Chicago NL acquired Ronald Torreyes (183 / 4.5)... who was subsequently non-tendered and picked up by the Twins. While still billed as a shortstop prospect, J.P. Crawford (305 / 6.2) played a handful of games at third base for the Phillies, and it's unclear where he'll play after coming over to Seattle along with Santana. Then further down into straight-up utility territory, we have Chris Owings (569 / 5.4), who was primarily an outfielder last year, but does have experience at 2B and 3B as well.


CENTER FIELD

Image from MarinersBlog

Remember that first Jerry Dipoto blockbuster I mentioned? The one that sent Mike Zunino to Tampa Bay? Well, the return going back to Seattle was headlined by Mallex Smith (1,545 / 11.0), a speed-and-defense center fielder who was once briefly a member of the Mariners, when he stopped through on his way to the Rays in what was essentially a three-team deal. While there's no one who approaches Smith's level of production in the pre-cutoff talent pool, Billy Hamilton's deal with the Royals just went through yesterday, so there is at least some depth, beyond honorable mentions Tim Locastro and Jake Smolinski.


CORNER OUTFIELD

Carlos Santana was not the only veteran bopper to make his way to Seattle for monetary reasons: Jay Bruce (735 / 7.8) came over from the Mets as a way to offset some salary due to the most accomplished player in that particular blockbuster (tune in next post to find out who that is!), but he instantly steps in as the top AL acquired corner outfield option. Playing opposite Bruce is someone who was sent away from Seattle in the Mallex Smith trade, the defensively gifted Guillermo Heredia (561 / 4.5) who figures to fill the same role as Smith did last year in Tampa Bay. The only other outfielder in this pool with more than 100 fantasy points last year is Jordan Luplow (227 / 6.1) who went from the Pirates to the Indians in a swap of low-level, future-minded pieces.


That's it for the AL roster! Return to the 2018-19 All-Acquired Hub page to see the starting lineup/rotation represented in graphical form and to link to the National League roster!

2019 All-Acquired Rosters HUB

UPDATE #2, as of 12/25/18 (MERRY CHRISTMAS!)
 
2018-19 American League All-Acquired Roster

^^ CLICK THE ABOVE LINK FOR IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ^^

AL All-Acquired roster, as of 12/25/18

2018-19 National League All-Acquired Roster


^^ CLICK THE ABOVE LINK FOR IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ^^

NL All-Acquired roster, as of 12/25/18

===

UPDATE #1, as of 12/16/18:

2018-19 American League All-Acquired Roster

^^ CLICK THE ABOVE LINK FOR IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ^^

AL All-Acquired roster, as of 12/16/18

2018-19 National League All-Acquired Roster

^^ CLICK THE ABOVE LINK FOR IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ^^

NL All-Acquired roster, as of 12/16/18

===

This past weekend, I experienced some technical difficulties that led to a profound sense of loss for me: the Excel spreadsheet that I had been using to keep track of updated MLB rosters for the past five years or so somehow became corrupt and stopped functioning. I encountered the same problems with all the various backup versions I tried, so I'm assuming the issue happened many months ago - possibly due to passing the document across different computers using Dropbox, or too much copy-pasting of cells with too many different formats, or maybe it just fell victim to the general bad luck that seems to befall every electronic device I come into contact with. In any event, while it was frustrating to lose the past 2+ months worth of work I did to keep it up to date since the end of last season, I now get the chance to step back, take stock of the situation, and decide what's really important for me and my database needs.

But unfortunately, the hot stove season won't wait for my soul searching, and the transactions are piling up. Luckily, after the 2018 season, I uploaded a truncated version of my database to Google Drive, where it still lives in all its color-coordinated glory. I haven't decided whether to use that document as a starting point for 2019, or if I want to start completely from scratch (possibly using the player pool from the next MLB: The Show video game as a baseline, since my workbook was getting rather crowded with obscure free agents and inactive players who I couldn't bring myself to delete). But for now, I'm going to use this Google Drive version to bring back a feature that I like to do every year (sometimes twice!): All-Acquired Teams!

Obviously, with the offseason still in the rather early stages, these lineups won't pack a whole lot of punch, but the benefit to starting this early is that we can see a representation of how the transaction market develops. As with previous offseason versions of this feature (as opposed to the trade deadline versions), I'm going to make separate rosters for the AL and NL, and as with my 2018 Fantasy Astrology Recaps, I'm going to use this post as a hub with links to both rosters and also some charts taken from my database. Enjoy!

2018-19 American League All-Acquired Roster

^^ CLICK THE ABOVE LINK FOR IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ^^

AL All-Acquire Roster, as of 12/09/18

2018-19 National League All-Acquired Roster

^^ CLICK THE ABOVE LINK FOR IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ^^

NL All-Acquired Roster, as of 12/09/18

All-Acquired 2018 Pitchers - Christmas Update

Well, the gifts have been exchanged, the traditional Christmas hams / lasagnas / Chinese takeouts have been consumed, and the Scrooge-like world of business is preparing to start up again.  So what better time to continue my dive into baseball's All-Acquired landscape and examine the top pitchers who have landed with new teams so far this offseason.

* STARTING PITCHER #1

- AL: Shohei Ohtani (Angels, posted from Japan, minor league deal)
The market for starting pitchers has been notably slow this year, due in no small part to the time it took for the Shohei Ohtani situation to develop.  The particularities of the rules governing both how players from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball can transition to the Major Leagues and the signing of international amateurs ensured that pretty much all 30 MLB clubs were on fairly equal financial footing when it came to signing this two way superstar.  After narrowing the field down to seven (mostly west coast) teams, Ohtani ultimately decided to sign with the Angels, because of Anaheim's relative proximity to his home country and for the chance to play on the same team as (arguably) the best player in the world, Mike Trout.

All the hype surrounding Ohtani doesn't mean that he's without question marks.  An ankle injury limited him to just five starts on the mound and just over 200 at bats in NPB last year, although he played well in limited duty, posting a 3.20 ERA and a .942 OPS (which translates to 55.4 fantasy points per game as a pitcher and 10.6 PPG as a batter).  It was also revealed (i.e. leaked) that the 23-year-old (24 in July) has a sprained UCL in his pitching elbow, but apparently this information was known to teams during the negotiating process and hasn't impacted his value.  It'll be interesting to see if Ohtani gets the opening day start for the Angels over a more established option such as Garret Richards, or if they instead choose to utilize him as the DH in his first MLB appearance.

- NL: Jhoulys Chacin (Brewers, 2-year deal)
Earlier in the offseason, MLB Trade Rumors published a piece suggesting that the Brewers were in a good position to make a play for some of the top pitching talent on the free agent market, but to this point, the biggest action they've been involved in was this relatively modest mid-rotation pickup.  After bouncing around the league over the last three seasons, Chacin rebuilt his value in the pitcher's haven of San Diego last year, earning himself a deal worth twice the length and nearly nine times the dollar amount than the one he signed with the Padres last year.  Even though Chacin pitched notably worse outside pitcher friendly PetCo Park in 2017, let's not forget that he had good success in the first half of his career pitching for the Rockies.


* STARTING PITCHER #2

- AL: Mike Minor (Rangers, 3-year deal)
Mike Minor broke into the big leagues as a starting pitcher with the Braves, and had a couple of really solid years, culminating in a Divisional All-Star appearance in 2013.  But then shoulder problems derailed his career, until he resurfaced in 2017 with the Royals as a shutdown reliever, even taking over as the team's closer late in the year.  Given the fact that the market for relief pitching has been robust this offseason, Minor might have been able to maximize his earnings had he chosen to sign in that role, but he apparently preferred the opportunity to compete for a rotation spot.

- NL: Tyler Chatwood (Cubs, 3-year deal)
With the addition of Chatwood, it appears that the Cubs now have a full rotation (if you count swingman Mike Montgomery, who also reportedly prefers to start), but I wouldn't say that has necessarily taken them out of the running for the winter's top free agent starters.  Quite the contrary, in fact, since Chatwood also spent some time pitching out of the bullpen in 2017 and could return to that role next year in a worst case scenario situation.


* STARTING PITCHER #3

- AL: Mike Fiers (Tigers, 1-year deal)
Fiers struggled through the worst full season of his career in 2017 pitching for the World Champion Houston Astros, and then was not tendered an arbitration contract after being left off the playoff roster.  The rebuilding Tigers took a shot at the hard thrower, undoubtedly with the hope that he'll improve his performance enough that he'll draw the attention of a contender and fetch back some useful prospects at the trade deadline.

- NL: Brandon McCarthy (Braves, trade with Dodgers)
McCarthy represented the main return for the Braves when they shipped Matt Kemp to the Dodgers in a piece of luxury tax payroll manipulation.  The lanky mid-rotation arm with a silver tongue on Twitter is also controllable through the 2019 season via on option on the deal he signed with Los Angeles back in 2015.




* STARTING PITCHER #4

- AL: Matt Moore (Rangers, trade with Giants)
In acquiring Moore, Texas was able to buy low on a promising rotation option while also helping San Francisco clear some payroll from their books for more acquisitions of their own.  The lefty's disappointing 2017 season was still enough for the Giants to exercise their $9mm club option over Moore, and if he performs well, he will be controllable through 2019 through yet another club option left over from the 2012 extension he signed with his original team the Rays.

- NL: Yovani Gallardo (Brewers, 1-year deal)
Based on the incentives built into Gallardo's contract, it's not clear whether Milwaukee will use him as a starter or as a reliever next year.  (For what it's worth, Roster Resource has the homegrown Brewer in the fourth spot of their projected 2018 rotation as of this writing.)  It's all but certain that Gallardo won't approach the heights he reached during his first stint with the Brewers, but the club is in need of rotation depth, as they'll be without staff ace Jimmy Nelson for the early part of next season due to injury.


* STARTING PITCHER #5

- AL: Doug Fister (Rangers, 1-year deal w/club option)
In yet another move by the Texas Rangers, Fister was the first notable free agent to be signed during the 2017-18 offseason, inking his deal two days before the close of November.  Fister hasn't put up good numbers since a brilliant 2014 campaign with the Nationals and his velocity has been steadily declining for years, but you could definitely do worse as a flier on a low-risk, back of the rotation option.
Honorable Mention: Asher Wojciechowski (Orioles, minor league deal)

- NL: Albert Suarez (Diamondbacks, Rule 5 Draft from Giants)
Suarez served as an unremarkable rookie swingman for San Francisco in 2016, starting 12 of 22 games and racking up 84 innings.  But after posting an ERA over 5.00 in 18 relief appearances last year, the Giants non-tendered him and re-signed him to a minor league deal, only to see him get plucked by Arizona in the Rule 5 Draft.  It's far more likely that the Diamondbacks will use Suarez out of the bullpen than as a starter, but like I said, the market for starting pitching has been extremely thin this year.
Honorable Mention: Jacob Turner (Marlins, unspecified deal, unconfirmed)


* CLOSER

- AL: Fernando Rodney (Twins, 1-year deal w/club option)
The arrow-shooting veteran reliever surprised many when he emerged as a solid ninth inning option for the playoff bound Diamondbacks last year, but even at the age of 40, Rodney shows no signs of slowing down.  The three-time representative for the Dominic Rebublic in the World Baseball Classic will now head to another 2017 Wild Card team in hopes of anchoring the bullpen of a Minnesota team that has aspirations on becoming a perennial contender.

- NL: Yoshihisa Hirano (Diamondbacks, 2-year deal)
I don't know if Hirano will begin his MLB career by closing games for Arizona, but the 33-year-old has occupied that role for the NPB's Orix Buffaloes for the last six years.  While he's a distant second in the hype department as far as players coming over from Japan this offseason, Hirano actually had a superior season to Shohei Ohtani in 2017, posting a 2.67 ERA over 57.1 relief innings and racking up 29 saves in the process.


* RELIEF PITCHER #1

- AL: Yusmeiro Petit (Athletics, 2-year deal w/ club option)
Even as multi-inning bullpen weapons are becoming more popular than ever, Petit garnered precious little attention while leading all relief pitchers with 90.1 innings over just 60 appearances in 2017 (which includes one start).  The Venezuelan long man was one of the first relievers to come off the board, signing just one day after Fister, and one can't help but wonder if he could have earned a larger payday by waiting until the veritable run on relief pitchers that took place during the Winter Meetings in December.

- NL: Anthony Swarzak (Mets, 2-year deal)
After signing what could only be described as one of last offseason's most successful minor league deals (for team AND player), former Twins swingman Anthony Swarzak not only netted the White Sox a decent prospect from Milwaukee at the 2017 trade deadline, but he also earned himself a pretty good free agent contract in the process.  Mets ownership has taken some flak recently for not communicating a clear offseason plan to their front office, but bringing Swarzy into the fold seems like a pretty strong way to start this offseason.


* RELIEF PITCHER #2

- AL: Jim Johnson (Angels, trade with Braves)
Given his history as a closer, the sinkerballing Johnson won't come close to filling the multi-inning hole left in Anaheim by Yusmeiro Petit's departure, but he should definitely... throw some innings for the Angels in 2018.  Interestingly enough, it was also Johnson's part time role as Atlanta's ninth inning man last year that placed him so high on this list, since I've arranged it by 2017 fantasy points, and we all know how much saves tend to pad point totals.

- NL: Pat Neshek (Phillies, 2-year deal w/ club option)
This offseason marks the second consecutive year that Neshek has been acquired by Philadelphia, only last year it was via a trade with the Astros.  He qualifies for the All-Acquired team once again because the sidearmer was traded to Colorado at the 2017 deadline, where he pitched excellently and appeared in the NL Wild Card game before hitting the open market.  With a couple of other win-now acquisitions to Philly's name so far this offseason, it's distinctly possible that Neshek could be a part of Philadelphia's next contending roster.

* RELIEF PITCHER #3

- AL: Juan Nicasio (Mariners, 2-year deal)
Juan Nicasio has the rare distinction of signing a contract worth fewer years than the number of teams he played for in his platform year.  In his first successful season as a full time reliever, Nicasio was curiously shipped from the Pirates to the Phillies, since Pittsburgh ownership reportedly didn't want to see him help a fellow NL Central playoff contender, but he nevertheless was flipped to the Cardinals, despite the fact that it was too late for him to be eligible for the playoffs.  Nicasio likely won't challenge the electric Edwin Diaz for Seattle's closer position, but his live arm definitely makes for a plus bullpen piece.

- NL: Brandon Morrow (Cubs, 2-year deal w/ vesting option)
After the way Morrow was abused in the 2017 playoffs by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, I'm surprised any team was willing to offer him anything longer than a one-year, make-good, let's-see-if-your-arm-doesn't-fall-off contract.  But the former reliever turned swingman turned starter turned back to reliever will have another chance to pitch near the top of a playoff contender's bullen in 2018 on the north side of Chicago.


* RELIEF PITCHER #4

- AL: Joe Smith (Astros, 2-year deal)
After performing very well for both the Blue Jays and the Indians in 2017 - completing a two-year stretch where he pitched for four different teams - the sidearming Smith has latched on with the defending champs to help bolster a bullpen that lost such supporting pieces as Luke Gregerson, Tyler Clippard, and Francisco Liriano.

- NL: Bryan Shaw (Rockies, 3-year deal w/ vesting option)
Shaw is one of those pitchers whose great stuff for some reason doesn't translate well to fantasy points.  From 2014 thru '16, he averaged 1.4 rWAR per season (Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference), yet he averaged just 8.8 fantasy points per year during that span.  Either way, his real world talents were recognized by the Rockies, and rewarded by the longest contract bestowed upon a relief pitcher so far during this offseason.


* RELIEF PITCHER HONORABLE MENTIONS

- AL
Hector Rondon (Astros, 2-year deal)
Emilio Pagan (Athletics, trade with Mariners)

Zack Duke (Twins, 1-year deal)
Jhan Marinez (Orioles, minor league deal)
Josh Edgin (Orioles, minor league deal)


- NL
Tommy Hunter (Phillies, 2-year deal, unconfirmed)
Steve Cishek (Cubs, 2-year deal)
Chase Whitley (Braves, waiver claim from Rays)
Luke Gregerson (Cardinals, 2-year deal w/ vesting option)

Jared Hughes (Reds, 2-year deal w/ option)
Brad Boxberger (Diamondbacks, trade with Rays)