3 MLB playoff teams that will fall off the map after lack of offseason spending
It may not feel like it, but baseball is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in less than three weeks, which is the first step in a long journey that will wrap up with the World Series in November.
The Texas Rangers overcame the Arizona Diamondbacks in an unlikely Fall Classic clash last season, and every team has been hard at work this winter to make the moves necessary to become baseball's next champion. Some teams, like the Dodgers and Yankees, have made splashy moves with the clear goal of competing for a ring. Others, such as the Reds and Orioles, figure to improve due to the sheer amount of young talent on their rosters. For every team that takes a step forward, though, there's another that takes a step back.
Which teams that made the playoffs last year could fall out of the race this time around? Today we'll look at three teams that could have a hard time repeating the successes of 2023.
3) Miami Marlins won't make the playoffs in 2024
No playoff team was more of a surprise than the Miami Marlins. With the Braves, Phillies, and Mets all garnering an abundance of attention in the N.L. East, it was easy to overlook the little team from South Beach that could.
The Marlins should be commended for their success. Manager Skip Schumaker won the National League Manager of the Year award by leading his team to a third-place N.L. East finish, nine games above the high-priced Mets, and Miami narrowly edged out the Cubs, Reds, and Padres to claim a Wild Card spot.
Could the Marlins take another step forward this year? It seems unlikely. To begin with, last year's team had a -57 run differential, the worst by far of any team that made the playoffs. The Marlins' pitching was league-average, but they scored the third-fewest runs in the league, and nothing they've done this offseason figures to improve that.
Ace Sandy Alcantara will miss the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery, and Jesus Luzardo and Edward Cabrera, two other promising starters, have had their names floated in trade talks for weeks. David Robertson, who the team acquired at the trade deadline, is unlikely to be back.
Worse than any roster move or non-move is the loss of Kim Ng as the team's general manager. Ng was the first female general manager of a men's team in North American sports history, but she reportedly opted out of her deal with the Marlins after being told that owner Bruce Sherman wanted to hire a president of baseball operations above her.
Ng did a tremendous job with the cash-strapped franchise, and her trade deadline moves that brought in Jake Burger and Josh Bell from the White Sox and Guardians, respectively, helped the team reach the postseason. Without her and Alcantara, and no immediate help in sight for the team's low-powered offense, it's hard to envision the Marlins finishing better than fourth in the division.