Mlb Offseason: Biggest Winners, Losers and a Fan Poll Putting Dodgers, Orioles and Cubs in the Spotlight
As spring training begins, the mlb offseason has largely closed and left a handful of clear winners and losers. The Dodgers made the most dramatic additions with closer Edwin Díaz on a three-year, $69 million deal and the signing of Kyle Tucker, while teams such as the Orioles and Cubs staged aggressive rebuilds and the Astros and Mets entered camp with lingering questions.
Mlb biggest winners: Dodgers’ high-cost, high-ceiling refresh
The Dodgers’ winter was defined by targeted upgrades to two longstanding weaknesses: bullpen depth and outfield power. The club added Edwin Díaz on a three-year, $69 million contract and signed Kyle Tucker to bolster the outfield, joining a core that already includes Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell. The team carries a $400 million-plus payroll and is widely viewed as the leading favorite to win the World Series in 2026.
Los Angeles also extended Max Muncy on a one-year deal and reunited with Kiké Hernández and Evan Phillips, moves that smoothed a relatively low-volume but high-impact offseason. Those specific additions — Díaz, Tucker and the one-year Muncy extension — are the concrete roster shifts that most observers point to when ranking offseason success.
Bold overhauls: Orioles and Cubs make big swings
The Orioles moved quickly after a disastrous 2025 that left them at the bottom of the American League, adding Pete Alonso on a five-year, $155 million contract and shoring up a rotation with the returns and new additions of Zach Eflin, Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt. Baltimore also addressed late-inning work by bringing in Ryan Helsley while Félix Bautista rehabs, concrete moves tied directly to their attempt to jump-start an offense that relied heavily on a single star last season.
The Cubs countered by signing Alex Bregman to a five-year, $175 million deal and trading for right-hander Edward Cabrera to strengthen the rotation. Chicago also retooled its relief corps — bringing in Phil Maton, Hunter Harvey and Hoby Milner — and shifted Matt Shaw toward a utility role while preserving young options such as Moises Ballesteros at DH. Those transactions are the backbone of why the Cubs appear in offseason-best conversations.
Losers and curious cases: Astros’ flat winter, Mets’ overhaul raises questions
The Astros, coming off an 87-win season that kept them out of the postseason, made fewer dramatic upgrades and enter spring with an awkward mix of position players. The club’s infield alignment — Carlos Correa at third base, José Altuve at second, Jeremy Peña at short, Christian Walker at first and Yordan Álvarez at DH — has left Isaac Paredes as the odd man out and created trade chatter. Houston did add international pitching prospect Tatsuya Imai to its rotation, but the club still needs an All-Star-caliber outfielder to alter its outlook; FanGraphs projects the team to drop to 81 wins this year.
The Mets pursued a wholesale roster teardown this winter, moving on from Pete Alonso, Edwin Díaz, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil and leaving a very different group to enter camp. That level of turnover is a clear, concrete consequence of a team trying to reset after its own recent struggles.
Poll prompt and what voters were asked
A fan poll posed the simple question: Which team had the best offseason? The discussion framed several clear candidates — the Dodgers for their top-end additions, the Orioles for their spending and rotation upgrades, and the Cubs for Bregman and rotation moves. Voters were presented with these roster moves and contract figures when weighing which front office did the most to improve in the run-up to spring training.
With most rosters now set and Spring Training beginning, teams will quickly see whether those winter moves translate into performance on the field. Spring Training games will be the next concrete test for these revamped rosters and the final opportunity for clubs to make any late adjustments before Opening Day.
