The 2014 MLB offseason was one of the biggest in years. Teams like the Cubs, White Sox, Padres, and Red Sox added numerous impact players turning their clubs around. Meanwhile others lost a lot of talent, including the Orioles and the Braves.

American League

    Winner: Boston Red Sox- The Boston Red Sox returned to their way of spending a lot of cash in the offseason, with their payroll at $178,513,094 ranking as the third highest in the league. However, these high-spending ways look to get them back in contention, as they added two great hitters in Hanley Ramirez, and Pablo Sandoval. For their pitching staff they lost star Jon Lester, but signed Rick Porcello from Detroit and traded for Wade Miley from the Diamondbacks. Recently they added Cuban phenom Yoan Moncada who is expected to be in the minors for a few years. The Red Sox pitching staff is definitely questionable but their lineup is loaded with Big Papi leading the way.

Loser: Baltimore Orioles- After a year in which they won the AL East and advanced to the American League championship, the Orioles lost some crucial players. Nelson Cruz who led the league in homeruns with 40 left for the Seattle Mariners. Additionally, longtime outfielder and fan favorite Nick Markakis signed with the Atlanta Braves. Relief pitcher Andrew Miller added to the departures, signing with the rival New York Yankees.  In the final two months of the season, Miller’s Earned Run Average (ERA) was 1.35.

National League

    Winner: San Diego Padres- No one ever saw the Padres having the offseason they had. After years of being one of the worst teams in the league, first year general manager A.J. Preller is committed to turning the team around. The outfield will be completely different with the additions of all star Justin Upton(.270 average/29 home runs/102 runs batted in), former Ray’s outfielder Wil Myers, and the veteran Matt Kemp. If Kemp can stay healthy and return to his star form, and Wil Myers plays like he did during his rookie season, they will make for one of the best outfields in the league. Their fourth rated pitching staff also added another solid arm with James Shields who had a 3.21 ERA last season.

Loser: Atlanta Braves- The Braves did sign Nick Markakis, but that was about it and it may not have even been a good move. Yes, Markakis is a good player but he is on the bad side of 30 at 31, and the team hasn’t fully committed to a rebuild. After trading all star Justin Upton to the San Diego Padres, and losing fellow outfielder Jason Heyward, it appeared the Braves were ready for a rebuild. They still have enough talent to win some games but not nearly enough to raise the world series trophy at the end of the season. It is very questionable though why a non-contender in the process of rebuilding would sign Nick Markakis. The Braves offseason was better than some teams, but they didn’t fully commit to a rebuild which can turn out to be a disaster.

Here In the Bay

    The Tampa Bay Rays had a very eventful offseason with longtime manager Joe Maddon departing for the Chicago Cubs with Kevin Cash replacing him. Other key departures were second year outfielder Wil Myers, outfielder Matt Joyce and starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson.

The only major addition was shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera from the Washington Nationals. The Rays have to always be thrifty so they went cheap as usual and added some solid young talent. They will be relying on their pitching staff to win games this season, but overall this year the Rays don’t appear to be contenders.