Kuzul

Last winter, the Chicago Cubs signed Jason Heyward to an eight-year, $184 million contract. Less than 11 months later, they won their first World Series since the Teddy Roosevelt administration.

Here’s the rub: They did it as much in spite of Heyward as because of him.

Heyward played 142 games in his first season on the North Side and won a Gold Glove for his work in right field. His exploits in the batter’s box, however, defined abysmal.

He hit .230 and set career lows in on-base percentage (.306) and slugging percentage (.325). It’s not as if his stat line was undone by one cold stretch, either.

Heyward spread his mediocrity across the season, hitting above .250 in only one calendar month (June, when he hit .257) and posting an especially anemic .213/.270/.308 slash line after the All-Star break.

He did little to redeem himself in the postseason, going 5-for-48 with 13 strikeouts and starting the first three games of the World Series on the bench.

It was a disastrous season for the former All-Star. After getting paid like a superstar, Heyward hit like a scrub.

At the same time, he’s still just 27 years old. In 2015, he slashed .293/.359/.439 with 13 home runs and 23 stolen bases for the St. Louis Cardinals. On the strength of his bat and superlative glove work, Heyward ranked 13th in baseball with 14.6 WAR between 2013 and 2015, according to FanGraphs‘ measure. 

There’s a reason the Cubs gave him all that cash.

Now, the question becomes: Can Heyward bounce back? And if he does, how much more dangerous can this already potent Chicago lineup become?

Even though Heyward swung a soggy chicken strip, the Cubs ranked third in MLB in runs scored (808) and OPS (.772). 

After leading both leagues in strikeouts in 2015 with 1,518, they cut that number to 1,339 in 2016 and fell to ninth. 

The bats went cold for a worrisome stretch in the National League Championship Series, but stars such as first baseman Anthony Rizzo found their stroke in time to exorcise the billy goat. 

The Cubs will return with nearly the same lineup intact. Rizzo joins National League MVP Kris Bryant, shortstop Addison Russell, second baseman Javier Baez and veteran Ben Zobrist to form an enviable core.

The Cubs can also look forward to a full season from Kyle Schwarber, who was lost to a knee injury in early April and didn’t return to action until the Fall Classic, when he provided an inspirational boost at the plate.

Schwarber alone should move the offensive needle northward. He flashed big-time power in his 2015 rookie campaign, cracking 16 home runs in 69 games, and is entering his age-24 season.

That means the Cubs could probably endure another anemic year at the plate from Heyward. Even after trading Jorge Soler to the Kansas City Royals for closer Wade Davis, they have a crowded outfield depth chart that features Schwarber, Zobrist, Albert Almora Jr., Matt Szczur and newly signed Jon Jay. 

Heyward‘s serving as a $28 million-and-change part-time defensive specialist strains credulity, though. The Cubs want more out of him.

It’s safe to assume Heyward wants more, too. He has an opt-out after 2018; a couple of strong seasons could equate to an even bigger payday. 

Cubs mental skills coordinator Darnell Howard showcased Heyward’s new, more upright swing in an Instagram post. Here’s a look at it next to Heyward‘s swing from last season, via Corey Freedman:

Will it yield better results? We won’t know until Heyward deploys it against big league pitching, but at least it shows he’s trying something.

It’s worth noting that Heyward has done this disappearing act before and rebounded. In 2011, after an All-Star rookie year, he hit just .227. The following season, he hiked his average to .269 and set career highs in home runs (27) and RBI (82).

The projection systems are bullish. Steamer foretells a .269/.348/.415 line with 14 home runs. The Cubs would take that with a smile.

Speaking of smiles, Heyward apparently kept his chin up through his 2016 struggles and famously delivered a rain-delay pep talk in Game 7 of the World Series. 

After the season, he earned optimistic praise from Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, per Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago:

He’s got a great attitude about everything. It’s just hard to make the kind of adjustments for some players in-season, because things are going so fast and you’re trying to compete.

But the offseason is a great opportunity to take a deep breath, slow things down, look at video, work with your coaches, really think about the swing. Think about the bat path and make some adjustments and develop some muscle memory, work on your feel and then take it into games.

We believe in Jason Heyward and his ability to tackle things head-on and make the necessary adjustments. And I think you’re going to see a much different offensive player next year.

None of this means anything until Heyward proves it between the lines. If you’re the glass-half-full type, however, there are reasons to swill the Kool-Aid.

Imagine a reinvigorated Heyward and healthy Schwarber mixed with a Cubs lineup that lost leadoff man Dexter Fowler but retained everyone else of significance. Factor in the possibility that young hitters such as Baez and Russell could make a leap forward.

Heck, even Bryant, who turns 25 in January, may be climbing toward his ceiling.

There’s a scenario where this offense goes from very good to scary great. More hitting from Heyward would be a key piece of that puzzle.

Chicago already won a title without much from him. Now, he has a chance to contribute to trophy No. 2.

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs and MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The first year Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot, I voted “not now.”

OK, technically I just didn’t vote for them, but as I explained then in a column for CBSSports.com, it was more of a “not now” vote than a “not ever” vote.

“They may never get in,” I wrote, “but my guess is eventually they will.”

Eventually is coming.

It likely won’t happen this year based on early voting numbers tracked so carefully by Ryan Thibodaux. But Bonds’ and Clemens’ numbers went up last year after the Hall of Fame made changes in the electorate, and Thibodaux’s tracking numbers suggest they’ll rise even more significantly this time around.

Some votes switched after a Hall of Fame committee decided to enshrine Bud Selig, the commissioner who oversaw baseball’s steroid era. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports talked to some of those voters and explained why they switched.

The Selig decision didn’t affect my vote. I’ve voted for Bonds and Clemens since 2014 for reasons I explained then on Facebook.

Three years later, I feel the same way. And just as I did in 2014, I used the maximum 10 spots on this year’s ballot.

Here they are in alphabetical order (as they’re listed on the ballot), with the reasons why each one belongs.

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So, here it is. We’ve come to it at last. The point in the MLB offseason where the baseball news cycle is emptier than our holiday cookie jars.

This winter more than most, it was bound to come sooner rather than later. Trades are all well and good, but they’re the side dishes of the hot-stove season. The main course is free agency, and it was never a secret that it wouldn’t have much to offer this winter.

To wit, the best pitcher was a 36-year-old who was recently seen pitching in independent ball. Arguably the best position player was a 31-year-old outfielder who’s had only two great seasons. “This year’s free-agent class might be the worst I’ve ever seen,” wrote ESPN.com’s Keith Law. I can’t refute that.

I will say this, though: In the parlance of our times, the 2016-17 free-agent class could have been yuuuuuuuuuuuuge.

Officially, it takes six major league seasons to qualify for free agency. Realistically, it’s more like six and change. Subtract six and change from 2016, and you’re looking at players who broke into the majors in 2010.

As Matt Eddy wrote in introducing Baseball America‘s all-rookie team, 2010 was “a banner class” for rookies. Among those who made the team were San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner, as well as Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton. 

Already a pretty good list! And it’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Bumgarner wasn’t the only future ace who first broke through in 2010. That was also the year Chris Sale debuted with the Chicago White Sox, and when Stephen Strasburg made his (quite memorable) debut with the Washington Nationals.

Those are three legit No. 1s who would have been ticketed for free agency this winter. That beats the number actually available, which was zero. 

Meanwhile, Posey and Stanton weren’t the only star hitters to establish themselves in 2010. Freddie Freeman joined the Atlanta Braves late in the year. Jonathan Lucroy joined the Milwaukee Brewers. Carlos Santana joined the Cleveland Indians. Although he wouldn’t find his footing until 2012, 2010 was also the year the Indians gave Michael Brantley his first big taste of the majors.

Santana would have been yet another slugger for a free-agent pile that also included Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista and Mark Trumbo. Lucroy would have been a better catching option than Wilson Ramos or Matt Wieters. Even after his injury-shortened 2016, Brantley would have been the kind of consistent and athletic hitter this winter’s market sorely lacked. 

As for Posey, Stanton and Freeman, they’re true superstars when healthy. That’s debatable with Yoenis Cespedes and a discussion that can’t really be had about Justin Turner, Encarnacion and others.

And while nobody began the winter lamenting the lack of free-agent closers—Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon had that market covered—there could have been yet another elite relief ace for the taking. Craig Kimbrel made his Braves debut even before Freeman did.

This isn’t even counting the more established veterans who were ticketed to become free agents after 2016 until, all of a sudden, they weren’t. That list is headlined by three third basemen: Adrian Beltre, Evan Longoria and Martin Prado.

Add it all up, and this winter could have had enough free-agent talent to match even last winter’s class. That’s saying something, as David Price, Zack Greinke, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Chris Davis, Johnny Cueto and others made that arguably the best free-agent class in history.

The historic quality of this winter’s free-agent class is a discussion we’re not having, of course, because of extensions.

It’s easiest to remember Strasburg’s contract extension. Not just because it’s a seven-year, $175 million whopper that he signed in May with free agency mere months away, but also because of the reaction to it. Everyone saw it as a killing blow for an already thin free-agent class.

But that’s not what killed it. This was a case of death by a thousand extensions, a result of MLB’s rapidly changing landscape.

According to Maury Brown of Forbes, the nearly $10 billion MLB pulled in this year is just the latest stop in a trend that’s been going sharply upward since the early 2000s. Much of the new money is coming from new national television deals that were signed in 2012 and from local TV deals that, as FanGraphs’ Craig Edwards highlighted, have become en vogue in the 2010s.

In the meantime, there’s been a change in which players deserve this money. Neil Paine of FiveThirtyEight wrote in 2014 about how MLB’s star power has shifted sharply toward younger players. Also in 2014, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs noted that teams have responded by allocating less payroll space to players in their 30s and more to players in their 20s.

It was between 2010 and 2014 that the status quo really took hold. Per MLB Trade Rumors, between 1996 and 2009, teams handed out a total of 124 contract extensions of at least four guaranteed years. Between 2010 and 2014, they doled out 100 such extensions.

The great players who arrived in and around 2010 got caught up in that. And while Stanton’s record 13-year, $325 million contract stands out, others fell prey to the essential reality of why teams became willing to hand out long-term extensions: They’re good investments that are also relatively cheap.

Nowadays, the jig may be up.

Young stars have continued to stream into the majors, but only 18 extensions of four or more years have been signed since 2015. The young stars may be getting the sense that trading free-agent years for early financial security isn’t necessarily a fair trade.

If such a feeling is indeed out there, you can’t help but wonder how much more pronounced it would be if many (or all) of the players named above had reached free agency this winter. 

While the contracts they signed established a trend of teams locking up their own talent, they weren’t needed to set the going rate for superstar talents. The max was set at roughly $25 million per year for a while, and nobody made it across the $200 million plateau without at least a nine-year contract.

But then, in 2014, Clayton Kershaw and Miguel Cabrera bumped the bar up to $30 million per year with extensions. They also needed just seven and eight years, respectively, to clear space in their bank accounts for over $200 million. 

That paved the way for Max Scherzer to follow suit in free agency after 2014 and for Price and Greinke to do the same last winter. Thus, the way was paved for even more lavish spending this winter.

Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors wrote in July that “there isn’t any question whatsoever” Bumgarner would have found over $200 million in free agency. The same likely would have been true for Sale, and possibly Strasburg as well. Of the position players, Posey and Freeman would also have been in line to pull in over $200 million. Despite his recent injury woes, Stanton might also have had a shot.

Elsewhere, Kimbrel might have made like Chapman and Jansen and landed a contract worth north of $80 million. Brantley, Santana and Lucroy would have been in for nice paydays as well. And of the veterans who could have hit the market, Longoria might have had a chance at earning over $100 million.

This offseason thus could have been a continuation of last offseason, which shattered previous records with nearly $2.5 billion spent on free agents (h/t Todd), and perhaps a necessary stepping stone to even more earth-shattering contracts in the insanely loaded free-agent class of 2018-19.

Of course, we’ll never know. But in lieu of real things to think about, thinking about what might have been will have to do.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It makes sense that to improve a Major League Baseball club, a player could not have been on the team last season.

Though the Los Angeles Dodgers’ re-signings of Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner and Rich Hill were monumentally important, they didn’t improve the club from its standing in 2016.

Instead, players who signed with new teams have the chance to make an impact in their new settings. All signings are not created equal, so here are the most impactful among them. Each of them fills a need glaring for each club when the 2016 season concluded.

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The 2018-19 MLB offseason is going to be epic. Epic enough, in fact, to justify the use of that played-out adjective.

A galaxy of the game’s brightest stars will hit the market. Front offices will throw around enough cash to exceed the gross domestic product of a few small nations.

MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince was already craning his neck toward the 2018-19 offseason in December 2015:

The continued escalation of baseball salaries can be hard for the common fan to wrap his or her head around, yet because of how rare it is for a premier player to reach the open market in his prime years, it’s the cost of doing business.

But here’s the deal about these deals: You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Just wait until three years from now, when the free-agent pool looks to go from deep to downright historic.

As Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan put it, “There is a historic confluence of talent and money coming, and it’s going to influence every single move of consequence made not just today but following the 2016 and ’17 seasons, too.”

Assuming neither signs an extension before then, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will be available as they enter their age-26 seasons. By itself, that makes the hitting class a glistening treasure trove.  

Add ancillary names such as Josh Donaldson, Daniel Murphy, Brian Dozier and Adam Jones, and the offensive pickings are inarguably impressive.

What about the starting pitching? That’s where the hype could exceed the haul. 

In fact, the closer you peer at the 2018-19 starting pitching pool, the shallower it looks.

We begin on a somber note: That’s the offseason Jose Fernandez would have hit free agency (assuming, as in all these cases, the Miami Marlins didn’t lock him up first).

Fernandez, like Harper and Machado, would have been entering his age-26 season. He paced qualified MLB starters with 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 2016 and seemed poised to elevate his already enviable game to the next plateau.

Now, after his tragic death in a September boating accident, we’re left with a heap of regrets and unanswerable what-ifs.

To be fair, there could be other ace-level arms on the market. The gaudiest name is Clayton Kershaw, who could pull the opt-out ripcord after the 2018 season.

He’ll be entering his age-30 season, and he missed more than two months with a serious back injury in 2016. At the same time, he posted a 1.69 ERA with 172 strikeouts in 149 innings. The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner and one-time NL MVP could well command a ludicrous contract.

It’s nearly impossible, however, to imagine the Los Angeles Dodgers letting Kershaw get away. He is the face of the franchise. The Dodgers are the only big league club he’s ever known and, much like Buster Posey with the San Francisco Giants, they are likely to be the only big league club he ever does know, at least until his prime is fully spent.

Odds are Kershaw‘s opt-out will merely be a chance to negotiate a raise, with the deep-pocketed Dodgers dutifully paying up.

If Fernandez and Kershaw are off the table, who does that leave?

There’s 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel, but he took a huge stumble back last season, posting a 4.55 ERA.

There’s New York Mets right-hander Matt Harvey, but he’s coming off a 4.86 ERA and surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome.

David Price could opt out of his deal with the Boston Red Sox. That’s no guarantee, however, after Price surrendered an MLB-leading 227 hits in his first season in Beantown. Even if he does opt out, Price will be entering his age-33 season, making any long-term pact problematic. 

Cole Hamels could be available if the Texas Rangers don’t exercise his $20 million option, but he’ll turn 35 in December 2018.

There are other interesting names on the list, courtesy of Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, including Garrett Richards and Carlos Carrasco, but none that leap out as can’t-miss options worthy of bank-busting megadeals.

Add it up and you have less of a once-in-a-generation gold mine and more of a hodgepodge of aging veterans and reclamation projects.

What’s the point of all this, other than a little simmering speculation to supplant the waning hot stove? At the least, it should be a wakeup call to teams planning to hoard their resources for post-2018.

Take the New York Yankees, who have restocked their farm system and have a glut of money set to come off the books. 

The Yanks should absolutely position themselves to be players for Harper and Machado, and possibly both. As they look to the rotation, however, they’d be wise to consider other avenues, including Chicago White Sox southpaw Jose Quintana, who is inked through 2020 with a pair of club options.

New York may have already gotten the message. It has been among the “most aggressive teams” on Quintana, per USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale. 

Whether that happens, the point stands: Franchises with starting pitching needs putting all their eggs in the 2018-19 basket should reconsider.

“With God as my witness, I don’t know who is in the 2018 free-agent class,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said in March, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. 

If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. When it comes to arms, though, it’s probably the right mentality for Cashman and MLB’s other 29 GMs to adopt.

Otherwise, the most epic part of that distant, fabled winter pitching class could be the letdown.

All statistics and contract information courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is typically a quiet one in the Major League Baseball universe. General managers are spending some much-needed time away from the office with their families, more focused on assembling the toys that Santa delivered for their kids than building a roster for the 2017 season. 

Yet they can’t ever fully escape their day jobs. Conversations with other GMs are assuredly taking place, providing the rumor mill with just enough speculation to satisfy ravenous fans who want to know what their favorite teams are doing to improve. 

That speculation revolves around three big names—two bats and a pitcher—who have been the focus of trade rumors for weeks. We’ll delve into potential deals involving that trio of game-changing talent on the pages that follow. 

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Starting in center field for the New York Mets…Andrew McCutchen.

Your reaction to that sentence—assuming you’re a Mets fan—likely depends on your feelings about risk versus reward. Because, boy, does McCutchen offer plenty of both.

McCutchen is a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates as of this writing. His name has churned through the rumor mill this offseason, however, with the Washington Nationals and Toronto Blue Jays among his reported suitors. 

After the winter meetings, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington expressed a desire to keep McCutchen in black and yellow.

“Our intent coming in here was to have Andrew McCutchen in our lineup going forward. No one changed that,” Huntington said, per MLB.com’s Adam Berry. “It’s unlikely that someone changes that going forward. We’re not going to close the door, but we’re not going to be making calls.”

There’s wiggle room in that statement. McCutchen may not be on the clearance shelf, but he’s available for the right price.

The Mets have spoken with Pittsburgh about McCutchen at a “preliminary level,” as Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported. 

There’s no indication those talks have advanced past the tire-kicking stage, but it’s worth exploring whether it would be a prudent move for New York.

On the reward side, McCutchen is a 30-year-old former National League MVP and five-time All-Star who accumulated 27.9 WAR between 2012 and 2015, second only to Mike Trout by FanGraphs‘ measure. 

He’s also not a budget-buster, as he’s due $14 million next season with a $14.5 million team option and $1 million buyout for 2018. 

If he approximates his peak production, that would be a bargain. The key word being “if.”

McCutchen is coming off a disappointing season that saw him post career lows in batting average (.256), on-base percentage (.336) and slugging percentage (.430). 

Even more damningly, his defensive numbers plummeted. He posted minus-28 defensive runs saved and a minus-18.7 UZR, both career worsts.

It’s not an anomalous blip, either. McCutchen‘s defense has been trending downward since 2013 according to the metrics. It’s reasonable to ask if he’s even a center fielder anymore, forget about a good one.

That’s a big deal for the Amazin’s, because they need a center fielder, as Rosenthal outlined:

The Mets’ biggest position need is obvious.

They’ve got Yoenis Cespedes in left field. They’ve got Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto as options in right. But their only true center fielder is Juan Lagares, whose career OPS against right-handed pitching—even after showing some improvement last season—is only .633.

To clear room for McCutchen in the outfield and on the payroll, the Mets could trade Granderson and/or Bruce, who are owed $15 million and $13 million next season, respectively. 

That leaves the question of whether McCutchen can capably patrol center, or at least rake enough to make up for his inconsistent glove work. 

Again, he’s only 30. If he hits like he did as recently as 2015, he’d provide ample value for a Mets team that scored the fifth-fewest runs in baseball last season.

“I can’t wait to get my feet back there on the field, get ready and show that I’m not washed up, I guess,” McCutchen said, per Berry. “I’m only 30. It’s not like I’m 40. And even that is possible, too—see what Papi [David Ortiz] did. Anything is possible in this game.”

Norse god/staff ace Noah Syndergaard is coming off a superlative season. If at least three of Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler return healthy and productive, the Mets’ starting pitching will be elite.

Add a top-tier bat, and suddenly another NL pennant seems attainable.

Let’s set aside the defensive concerns. Let’s assume McCutchen will bounce back with the lumber, at least to the tune of the .283/.378/.470 slash line Steamer projects. 

What would it take for New York to get him?

A “possible deal” between Washington and Pittsburgh for McCutchen involved Lucas Giolito, the top pitching prospect in baseball according to MLB.com, as well as 2016 first-round pick Dane Dunning and a third player, per FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman. 

That means New York may need to dangle shortstop Amed Rosario, MLB.com’s No. 11 overall prospect, plus a couple of high-upside ancillary pieces, assuming the Pirates’ asking price hasn’t budged.

That type of gut-the-farm machination makes sense if you’re in full-blown win-now mode. 

The Mets aren’t necessarily in that mode, though. Matt Harvey is the first of their core starting pitchers set to hit the market, and that won’t happen until after the 2018 season. The same goes for closer Jeurys Familia. 

They re-upped Cespedes through 2020. There are nice young pieces on the roster, including the 23-year-old Conforto and 27-year-old catcher Travis d’Arnaud.

Mortgaging the future for the hope that McCutchen can play a passable center field, rediscover his MVP stroke and get New York over the championship finish line seems like an overreach born of desperation. 

NJ.com’s Joe Giglio made the case for the Mets going all-in on McCutchen over other theoretically available outfielders such as the Kansas City Royals‘ Lorenzo Cain and the Colorado Rockies‘ Charlie Blackmon. 

New York, Giglio argued, “should take a risk and move the moon and stars [relatively speaking] for McCutchen.”

It’s intriguing. It has a certain ring. If you think the Mets’ window is about to slam shut, it may even seem necessary.

But, boy, does it also sound like a big-time risk in the making.

All statistics and contract information courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs and MLB.com.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The MLB offseason is still far from over, but most of the big dominoes have already fallen on another busy winter.

Mark Trumbo, Jose Bautista, Mike Napoli, Matt Wieters and Michael Saunders headline what’s left of the position-player market, while Jason Hammel is the top unsigned starter and Neftali Feliz, Jerry Blevins, Boone Logan and Greg Holland are all capable of helping at the back of a bullpen.

In other words, there is still a lot to be done before pitchers and catchers report for spring training, but already teams may be left with a few regrets on how this winter has played out.

As we stand two months removed from the World Series, let’s take a look at all 30 teams’ biggest missed opportunity so far this offseason.

In some cases it’s not too late to avoid regret, whether it’s signing a still-available free agent, selling high on a trade chip or locking up a key player with an extension.

For other teams, like those that were targeting Chris Sale on the trade market or Edwin Encarnacion in free agency, the damage is already done.

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‘Twas the night before the night before Christmas, and all through MLB, fanbases were stirring, from Seattle to Miami.

Some of those fanbases are stirring with giddy excitement about the possibilities for their favorite team in 2017. Others are stirring because the team they cheer for has yet to make a big splash, or perhaps—(audible gasp)—they’ve even taken a step backward this winter.

But we’re focused on the positive this holiday season. What follows is a look at the teams whose fanbases have the most to be excited about this Christmas—and from what that excitement stems.

Atlanta Braves

Rather than rely on a bunch of inexperienced youngsters, veterans Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia now follow staff ace Julio Teheran in the rotation. Full seasons from Ender Inciarte, Matt Kemp and Dansby Swanson will bolster the lineup, which still features a perennial MVP candidate in Freddie Freeman.

The farm system is still one of baseball’s best, teeming with high-end talent, including second baseman Ozzie Albies, who could easily supplant Jace Peterson at the keystone in spring training.

It’d be premature to say that the Braves are once again contenders—or that their rebuilding process is complete—but Atlanta looks like a team that can cause problems for the rest of the National League in 2017.

Boston Red Sox

You don’t replace David Ortiz—and to their credit, the Red Sox haven’t tried to. Rather than sign free-agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion, a player many believed was destined to take over as the team’s full-time designated hitter, Boston went in a different direction to bolster its roster.

Instead of jacking home runs over the Green Monster, Chris Sale will keep the opposition from going yard at Fenway Park. With Sale, David Price and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello atop the rotation, Boston is well-equipped to find continued success in a post-Papi world.

Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox

Whether your rooting interest lies on the North Side or the South Side, there’s plenty to be excited about this holiday season.

The Cubs, still basking in the glory of the franchise’s first World Series crown in more than a century, return the bulk of the team that won it all and wasted little time in bolstering the back end of their bullpen, trading part-time outfielder Jorge Soler to Kansas City for All-Star closer Wade Davis.

Meanwhile, the White Sox took their first step toward a return to relevancy, dealing ace Chris Sale to Boston for a package of four youngsters that included Yoan Moncada, baseball’s best prospect.

With a slew of valuable trade chips left to play, including new ace Jose Quintana, third baseman Todd Frazier and closer David Robertson, chances are there’s more young, controllable talent on the way, though it’s going to arrive after ChiSox fans have opened all their Christmas gifts.

Cleveland Indians

It might have felt like Santa left coal in Cleveland’s stockings after the Indians blew a 3-1 lead over the Cubs in the World Series, but jolly old St. Nick made sure to give Cleveland fans something to smile about just in time for the holiday season, as Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported:

Certainly, Encarnacion elevates Cleveland’s offense to an entirely new level. But perhaps the most exciting part of his arrival for fans is that, for once, the stars aligned for a small-market club to dip its toes into the deep end of the free-agent pool and land the biggest fish out there.

Houston Astros

Sure, there are still questions about the back end of Houston’s rotation—sorry, Charlie Morton—but the Astros wasted little time in adding firepower to an offense that finished a mediocre eighth in the American League in runs scored last year.

Not only do Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann and Josh Reddick bring a wealth of experience and power to Minute Maid Park, but they provide what was a predominantly right-handed lineup with some much-needed balance.

More importantly, acquiring the trio cost Houston little in the way of prospects, leaving the Astros well-equipped to make another significant move before Opening Day should the opportunity present itself.

New York Yankees

Whether real or perceived, the Hot Stove League isn’t officially underway until the New York Yankees have been linked to a high-profile free agent or trade acquisition. There’s been no shortage of that this winter, with the club’s most recent speculative target being Chicago’s Jose Quintana, as MLB Network’s Jon Morosi noted:

In the past, the team would have gone out and swung a trade for Quintana as its “answer” to Boston’s addition of Sale. But cooler heads have prevailed, and the Yankees have held on to the high-upside prospects they’ve developed and those they spent the second half of the 2016 season adding.

That the club looks intent on building a perennial contender from within, something that hasn’t occurred in the Bronx since the early ’90s, is a reason for Yankees fans to celebrate excitedly.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone from all of us at B/R!

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In keeping with the theme of the upcoming holidays, executives around MLB still have plenty of gift giving to do for their respective managers.

Multiple players—be it via the trade or free-agent markets—are available who could have an impact on division races in 2017. Where those players may land—and to an extent, who they are—still remains a mystery.

So as executives attempt to figure out how they may be able to better their clubs for the 2017 season, let’s try to answer some of the questions they’ll be asking.

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