We're only a month into the MLB offseason. Many of this winter's best free agents and trade candidates remain available. Despite this, it feels like most MLB fan bases are in a state of full-on panic.
Most of these reactions feel a bit premature, but several teams should be legitimately worried. Here's a look at those teams that shouldn't be thrilled about how this offseason has gone.
New York Mets
Losing Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso in a two-week span has resulted in New York Mets fans entering a state of complete and total panic without much thought. On one hand, I understand this reaction. Not only were Nimmo, Diaz and Alonso great players in Queens, but they were fan favorites, too. With that being said, it's not as if the Mets have been silent this winter.
Nimmo was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Marcus Semien, a Gold Glover in the middle of the infield who fits David Stearns' run prevention mold. The Mets signed Devin Williams, arguably the second-best reliever available, to take Diaz's spot, and signed Jorge Polanco, a very solid power-hitting infielder, to bolster their lineup.
The moves the Mets have made results in the panic meter being a bit lower for New York, but at the end of the day, there's still a lot for New York to get done, and there's reason to believe David Stearns won't go out of his way to plug every existing hole on the roster based on how he and owner Steve Cohen have acted. The Mets might be better off in the long run without Nimmo, Alonso and Diaz, but I'm less sold on that being the case for 2026.
Panic meter: 7.5/10
Houston Astros
It's been an extremely uneventful offseason for the Houston Astros. The only somewhat notable moves Houston has made thus far has been trading Mauricio Dubon one-for-one for Nick Allen for the sole purpose of saving money, and signing Ryan Weiss, a pitcher who has spent parts of the last three seasons in the KBO, to a cheap one-year deal. It's been a month, and those are the moves that the 87-win Astros, who failed to make the playoffs in 2025, have made. Yikes.
Again, it's relatively early, but what are the Astros going to do? They haven't really been linked to any major free agents, and they don't have much of value to trade, either, based on the fact that they have one of MLB's worst farm systems.
The Astros really must add more balance to their right-handed-heavy lineup and add a frontline starter to be taken seriously, and I'm not sure they have the money or assets to check either box. The roster is old and not good enough to compete, and it feels unlikely that anything will change on either front this offseason.
Panic meter: 9/10
Pittsburgh Pirates
As is usually the case, it's been a lot of talk and not a whole lot of action for the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason. Everyone made it abundantly clear that the Pirates had money to spend and were eager to upgrade their offense, yet they refused to match the offer that got Kyle Schwarber to sign, didn't sign Pete Alonso or Josh Naylor, and who knows what the plan is.
Can the Pirates spend on one of the marquee guys left in free agency? Absolutely, but nobody should expect it. Can the Pirates trade for a big bat like Ketel Marte? Absolutely, but again, it's probably unlikely. In all likelihood, the Pirates will make minor additions to their lineup as a best-case scenario.
Is that worth panicking about? For most teams, yes. The Pirates' window to win is right now, with Paul Skenes on a rookie contract and under control for a little while. However, did anyone expect anything different with the Bob Nutting-owned Pirates? There should be some panic, because it truly is inexcusable, assuming the Pirates do nothing of note, but a disappointing offseason was the expectation Pirates fans started with.
Panic meter: 5/10
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox's offseason got off to a flying start as Craig Breslow pulled off trades to acquire Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, but it's been very quiet since. In fact, the Red Sox are one of the two teams that have yet to sign a single free agent to a MLB deal this offseason. The Red Sox still haven't acquired a solidified No. 2 starter (Gray is fine but not the most ideal option), and more importantly, they haven't added a single big bat. After whiffing on Schwarber and Alonso, who knows if they'll even sign or trade for the big bat fans have been clamoring for.
Signing Schwarber was always a pipe dream, but getting outbid by the Baltimore Orioles of all teams for Alonso was extremely discouraging. In free agency, there isn't really an ideal fit with Schwarber and Alonso off the board. On the trade market, beyond Ketel Marte, it's slim pickings.
It's starting to feel like the best-case scenario is the Red Sox overpaying to re-sign Alex Bregman and running back a similar-looking team to the one that didn't get past the Wild Card Series in 2025. That team wouldn't be a bad one, but not be the World Series contender Red Sox fans are hoping for. After more missed promises, I wouldn't blame Red Sox fans for questioning whether Craig Breslow is the right man in charge.
Panic meter: 9/10
San Diego Padres
I have absolutely no idea what the San Diego Padres are trying to do this offseason. Their goal, obviously, is to win now, but outside of Jackson Merrill, can we be sure that anyone currently on the Padres' roster will be there on Opening Day? I mean, we've seen names like Mason Miller, Nick Pivetta, Jeremiah Estrada and even (as unlikely as it is) Fernando Tatis Jr in trade rumors.
The unfortunate reality for the Padres is that it seems as if AJ Preller is going to have to trade from his big league roster to address the clear holes the Padres have in their rotation and lineup due to the team's lack of money available and weak farm system. Trading a great player like Miller or Pivetta for several good assets might help the Padres improve, but doing so is also risky.
The Padres have already lost Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez in free agency, and are likely to lose Michael King and Ryan O'Hearn as well. I have no idea how this team is going to be better in 2026, and it's hard to be too excited about the future, too, given their financial situation and lack of prospects.
Panic meter: 9/10
New York Yankees
It's been a disappointingly quiet start to the New York Yankees' offseason, particularly since their AL East rivals have been incredibly active for the most part, but I can't say I understand why any Yankees fan would really be panicking right now.
The areas of need on their roster are in the outfield and in the starting rotation. Both Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, the two best outfielders in free agency, are still available. On the rotation front, guys they've been linked to, like Michael King and Tatsuya Imai, are also available. Why panic if there are still so many moves Brian Cashman can make?
Hal Steinbrenner's desire to lower payroll is a bit concerning, and it's not as if the Yankees have made any substantial moves, but it's hard to envision the Yankees truly doing nothing until their targets are off the board.
Panic meter: 4/10
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are in an interesting spot. On one hand, they did what they absolutely had to do by re-signing Kyle Schwarber. On the other hand, will the Phillies actually improve this offseason? Bringing Schwarber back is great and all, but that's only half the battle. Will they improve?
Sure, Adolis Garcia is probably an upgrade over the likes of Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos, but he's a bounce-back candidate. Is he, a player who has had back-to-back sub-100 OPS+ seasons, really going to be their main offensive addition? Based on what Dave Dombrowski had to say, he very well could be.
The Phillies outfield is ‘pretty much set’ after Adolis Garcia signing, Phillies president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski says.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 16, 2025
Perhaps the Phillies swing a trade for Ketel Marte or get creative in their infield, but if they're fine with their outfield as is, that's a bad omen. They're going to be good, and re-signing Schwarber was needed, but what is their ceiling? This team has consistently no-showed in October, and with only Adolis Garcia being added, why should anyone believe things will be different? It's good that the Phillies achieved their primary goal, but there's more for Dave Dombrowski to do.
Panic meter: 6.5/10
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds gave fans hope by entering the Kyle Schwarber sweepstakes and even putting up a respectable bid for his services. They failed to sign him, but since they clearly had money to spend, the Reds could still pivot to a different big bat to bolster their lineup. Or so we thought.
As it turns out, the Reds were only in on Schwarber because they thought he'd drastically improve their ticket sales, and they're unlikely to spend on any other big bat. That is a problem. The Reds are a good team. They even made the playoffs in 2025. They can be legitimate threats to make some noise in the National League if they add a big bat to their lineup. The fact that they're not planning on doing that raises all kinds of questions.
Will the Reds just keep their roster as is? Will they trade prospects for the big bat they need? Will they trade Hunter Greene, thinking they can't win a World Series with this core? Nick Krall better figure something out, though.
Panic meter: 9/10
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs have been active this offseason, signing Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner and Phil Maton to improve their bullpen, but as solid as those moves are, Cubs fans understandably want more. Will the Cubs give them more? I'm not so sure.
The Cubs traded a haul last offseason to acquire Kyle Tucker, only to show no public interest in keeping him around long-term. Passing on Tucker would be forgivable if the Cubs were to sign an ace, but how likely is that?
If the Cubs won't give a solidified superstar a contract worth around $300 million, what makes anyone believe they'll give a contract worth more than half of $300 million to a guy like Framber Valdez or Tatsuya Imai to be their ace? The Cubs will compete for a playoff spot regardless of what they do, as their roster is in a pretty good spot, but fans want more than that. I'm not sold they'll get more than that.
Panic meter: 7/10
Detroit Tigers
I don't think there should be a single fan base more panicked than Detroit Tigers fans right now, and the reason for that revolves around Tarik Skubal. As everyone knows, Skubal is entering his final year of club control, putting the Tigers in a tough spot.
They could trade Skubal, ensuring they get something for him before he'd likely depart as a free agent. They could also keep Skubal, attempting to win in 2026 before likely losing him to free agency. It feels as if both choices are wrong because of how the Tigers are acting.
Trading Skubal feels like a bad decision regardless, because he's the best pitcher on the planet. Trading a guy like that is really hard to recover from. Keeping Skubal also feels like the wrong decision, because of how unlikely it is that the Tigers get much better than they already are.
Sure, re-signing Kyle Finnegan and adding Kenley Jansen to the mix helps the bullpen, but what are the odds that the Tigers add a No. 2 starter? What are the odds that the Tigers add a big right-handed bat to their lineup? As we've seen, there's only so much Skubal can do in October. The Tigers need to be aggressive to justify keeping Skubal this winter, and nothing suggests they're going to land the star hitter they need. Trading him isn't, but keeping him only to not do whatever you can to win with him is even worse. Hopefully, the Tigers have a big move in them. Until fans see it, they won't believe they do.
Panic meter: 10/10
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