The winners and losers of the MLB offseason

(AP) We’re getting closer to 100 percent spring training. All the pitchers and catchers have arrived. Position players started to get there Sunday and all 30 teams will be at their respective spring homes by Friday, when Minnesota Twins players are the “last but not least” of spring arrivals.

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In other words, we’ve shut the door on the offseason. Yes, there are still free agents out there to be signed — many of whom could help a team at this point — but we’ve officially transitioned from the offseason to the preseason. With that, The Stew is naming its offseason winners and losers.

Please keep in mind that being on this list doesn’t meant a team or player will win or lose in the regular season, only that the wheeling-and-dealing offseason, they either fared well or blew it. If you’re looking for a team-by-team breakdown, check out The Stew’s offseason grades for all 30 teams.

WINNERS

San Francisco Giants: It’s an even year, so Giants fans who are able to identify patterns are expecting their team to win a World Series. It does take more than multiples of two to be the best team in baseball, so the Giants front office went out and made some great moves to help please the Even-Year Gods. They spent big on pitching, reeling in Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to complement Madison Bumgarner in their rotation. They also added Denard Span to boost their outfield and extended shortstop Brandon Crawford’s contract. They spent a lot of money, but did so smartly, plugging holes and complementing their already strong core. It doesn’t matter whether the year is even or odd, that’s a good strategy.

Jason Heyward was part of the Cubs' offseason haul.(AP)

Chicago Cubs: As if that oh-so-long World Series drought weren’t enough, the Cubs now head into the 2016 season as the team who “won the offseason” by most accounts. They signed Jason Heyward, John Lackey and Ben Zobrist, filling the holes within their young and talented roster. It was a shopping spree that helps them now and into the future, making sure this Cubs team has a wide window in which to exterminate the ghosts of Wrigleyville. The expectations are very high, but the Cubs say they’re ready.

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David Price: The man got $217 million to play baseball for seven years. Sure, the expectations in Boston are tougher than a lot of places (right, Pablo Sandoval?), but Price joins a team that has loads of young talent. Plus, he got $217 million, the richest contract of the offseason and the eighth richest of all time. Dude is winning at life right now.

New York Mets: One fewer move and the Mets might have been it other section. But they did what it became so obvious they needed to do — they resigned Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes, who helped the Mets into the World Series a year ago, gives them the big middle-of-the-order bat they would be missing without him, and it pacifies an eager fan base that was ready to revolt when it seemed he might go elsewhere. The contract, for three years and creative in its ability to let Cespedes opt out after the first, also makes the Mets winners because it helps them win now but doesn’t hemorrhage the future.

The Arizona Diamondbacks: No one expected the D-backs to become one of the biggest players of the offseason, which is exactly what makes them winners. Who knows whether their revised pitching staff — with Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller now on board — will be enough to compete with the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, but we know the D-backs are at least serious about trying to win right away. For the offseason, that’s all that counts.

The person who sews the names on the back of Mariners jerseys: With new GM Jerry Dipoto in the fold, the Mariners added 17 new players to the team for 2016. It’s tough to say what their fortunes will be in 2016 — that tends to depend more on Robinson Cano and their young pitchers than any new Mariners player. But we know this much: Whoever stitches up the jerseys has a lot of work ahead. While you might view that as being a “loser,” we view it as job security.

Ian Kennedy: Let’s just put it this way: The Kansas City Royals paid Ian Kennedy $70 million over five years — with a qualifying offer attached. His career ERA is just two tickets under four, at 3.98. And the dude got $70 million. It doesn’t matter what else happens to Ian Kennedy this season, he won.

LOSERS

(AP)

Los Angeles Angels: The Angels have Mike Trout on their team, who is arguably the best player in baseball, yet they haven’t mustered much success while he’s giving them MVP-like production. So if you’re the Angels, do you go out and spend more money to make the team around Trout better? Naw. Ownership says the team’s payroll is high enough and it doesn’t want to hit the luxury tax. Hope ownership also likes not making the playoffs.

Washington Nationals: The Nats big offseason acquisition is … Daniel Murphy!? The guy most likely to regress after that stellar postseason? That alone doesn’t put the Nats on the loser list, because they have a good team and could easily contend next season with or without Murphy. Rather, the Nats’ offseason was a mess because they tried to hire Bud Black as their new manager and that failed, so they ended up with Dusty Baker instead. They pursued a number of big-name free agents, from Jason Heyward to Yoenis Cespedes, but didn’t get any of them. Again, being an offseason loser doesn’t mean you’re a regular season loser, but the Nats’ offseason was less than thrilling.

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Dexter Fowler: This one seems obvious because, well, camps are open and he’s still unsigned. It seems like the Baltimore Orioles may be his eventual destination. There’s at least been some chatter to suggest that the past few weeks. But nothing yet. Fowler isn’t a superstar, but he’s proven himself to be a meaningful contributor, good for adding a couple wins to a team. Problem is, he has a qualifying offer attached to his name and at this point that makes him the recognizable victim of the qualifying-offer system. Speaking of, that brings us to our next item.

Where might ex-Nats shortstop Ian Desmond end up? (AP)

Players with qualifying offers who aren’t elite: The last few years have shown us some of the problems with the qualifying-offer system, in which players can be tagged with a one-year offer by their existing team. If they turn down that contract, the player’s new team has to give to a draft pick to his old team. If you’re David Price or Jason Heyward, no big deal. But if you’re Dexter Fowler or Ian Desmond, it significantly impacts your market. Both would likely be signed right now, if not the draft-pick compensation attached to their potential contracts.

San Diego Padres: After a wild offseason a year ago, in which new GM A.J. Preller wheeled and dealed like a game-show host, the Padres were much more quiet. There wasn’t much pizazz, not even an Andrew Cashner trade. Instead, the Padres added a few useful players in Alexei Ramirez, Fernando Rodney and Drew Pomeranz, but nothing that should allow them to contend in the NL West. Preller’s two offseason with San Diego have now been as bipolar as Kanye West’s Twitter account.

Minnesota Twins: They were surprise contenders last season, winning 83 games and finishing second in the AL Central. With that and young talent in the wings, the Twins seemed like a team that could make a few moves and go for it. Instead they got Byung-ho Park from Korea. We don’t know how good Park will be, because it’s still hard to project how Korean stars adapt to MLB. As far as transactions go, that’s less than thrilling for the Twins, especially when their division foes, such as the White Sox, Tigers and Royals, were all maneuvering this offseason.

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Matt Wieters: Wieters was one of three players to accept a qualifying offer this year, the first time in history anyone has accepted one. He’s returning to the Orioles for one year and $15.8 million, which is plenty of money for one year of work, but he could have had so much more if not for injuries. At one point, before he needed Tommy John surgery, Wieters was expecting to get a $100 million contract. Still, he was the highest ranked catcher of this year’s class. The good thing about the qualifying offer is that it’s just one year, so he can potentially rebuild his value and look for nine figures again next year. It’s a gamble and, for now at least, he’s on the wrong half of this list for stalling his payday. But there’s a chance — not a sure thing, mind you — that Wieters and agent Scott Boras end up winners in a few years.

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