Spring training games are officially underway, and while a couple major dominoes could still fall before Opening Day — hello, Nolan Arenado — the dust has largely setteld from the MLB offseason. And what an offseason it was: From Juan Soto's record-setting free agency sweepstakes to the Los Angeles Dodgers doing very Dodgers things to blockbuster deals for Garrett Crochet and Kyle Tucker to Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman's months-long waiting games, some of the biggest names in the sport have changed teams over the past few months, dramatically altering the landscape of the league.
But with just weeks to go before the 2025 regular season begins, which teams did the most to boost their odds of capturing the World Series this year? Robert had New York Post insider Jon Heyman on the latest episode of The Baseball Insiders this week to break down the biggest winners and losers of Hot Stove season, and some of the answers could surprise you.
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Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs among Jon Heyman's offseason winners
It would be impossible to begin any list of offseason winners without talking about the Dodgers, who doubled down on last year's World Series win by adding Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to an already loaded pitching staff while re-signing Teoscar Hernandez and poaching outfielder Michael Conforto from the rival San Francisco Giants. Beyond that, though, Heyman identifies the Boston Red Sox as big winners this winter, both for their rotation overhaul (signing Walker Buehler in addition to trading for Crochet) and for finally winning the staredown for Bregman on the eve of spring training.
Some of Heyman's other answers might surprise you, though. The Toronto Blue Jays ended the offseason on a massive down note, failing to reach an agreement with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a long-term contract extension. But while Vladdy and Bo Bichette both seem destined for free agency, and their run at Juan Soto never got off the ground, the Jays did find some lineup protection in the form of Anthony Santander while also adding infielder Andres Gimenez, starter Max Scherzer and reliever Jeff Hoffman. It may not be enough to vault them to the top of the AL East, but it's more than a lot of other teams did this winter.
Speaking of teams who did something, even if it wasn't enough to pacify an anxious fan base: Heyman praises the Chicago Cubs for landing Kyle Tucker in addition to some shrewd pitching additions, moves that seem on paper to have put them in the driver's seat in an NL Central division that saw everybody else (save for maybe the Cincinnati Reds) stand pat or actively get worse. Of course, Chicago's offseason could and arguably should have been far bigger were it not for Jed Hoyer's financial restrictions, but Tucker is a legitimate star, and they're much closer to a playoff team now than they were at the end of 2024.
Cardinals stand out as offseason's biggest loser
When it comes to the biggest loser of the offseason, however, Heyman's choice was clear: the St. Louis Cardinals, who seemed to assume that a Nolan Arenado trade would materialize in early December and just spun their wheels for the next two months after a proposed deal with the Houston Astros blew up on the launch pad. The Cardinals didn't add much of anything that will help them win in 2025, and perhaps even more damningly, they didn't clear money or roster space in order to figure out who to build around and what the team needs moving forward.