(Image credits: Dylan Buell, Getty Images)
With pitchers and catchers officially reporting to spring training starting February 17th, it's time for teams to start finalizing their 40-man rosters at least for the upcoming couple months. It's been a quiet offseason as far as major free agency signings and blockbuster trades go in comparison to recent years. Of course, much of this has to do with both a lack of revenue as well as the 60-game structure of the 2020 season rather than the typical 162-game regular season, making free agency signings and trades much more of a gamble. Still, as big names continue to come off the board and teams across the league make those last few strides to improve upon last year's roster and fill any holes there may be, the NL Central seems particularly quiet, especially for a division already considered the worst in baseball.
Without a doubt, the biggest splash in the division made up to this point and more likely than not for the remainder of the offseason, of course, is the blockbuster trade between the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies for Nolan Arenado, bringing the star third baseman into the NL Central. While going from the Rockies to the Cardinals is certainly a step-up for Arenado in terms of getting to play for a team with an actual chance at playoff contention, by no means is the current Cardinals' roster some World Series caliber powerhouse. However looking at the rest of the division and the moves the other four teams have made this offseason, or should I say lack of, it's seemingly looking like the Cards are the team to beat in the NL Central.
I took a deeper look at the five teams' offseason thus far at the major league level and what needs to be done to make the NL Central an even semi-competitive division this year, rather than the hodgepodge of mediocrity it appears to be right now.
Chicago Cubs
Believe it or not, the Cubs lead the NL Central in major league signings this offseason with a whopping three new major league contracts on the books. The most recent of course came Friday morning when the Cubs announced the signing of former Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Joc Pederson to a one-year, $7 million dollar deal, Chicago's largest free-agent signing this year.
It's become seemingly clear Chicago has taken on a new route of financial restraint, unloading their roster to free up some cash. While I'm not sure I'd necessarily call it the beginning of a rebuild for the Cubs, their moves this winter definitely feel out of character from the past few years, and even more so for a team that won a World Series not even five years ago and promised this so-called "dynasty."
This could of course have something to do with the resignation of the highly-regarded President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein, now replaced with Jed Hoyer. Hoyer started off his first big offseason HOT, trading 2020 NL Cy Young runner-up Yu Darvish to the Padres for starting pitcher Zach Davies as well as four prospects. Hoyer made it clear the intentions of the trade was not some salary dump to get one of the best pitchers in baseball off the books, but rather "move a player in the second half of his contract to acquire a lot of young talent," as reported by Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Whether or not that ends up biting him in the butt or not will remain to be seen, of course.
Hoyer made another not so popular move with the Cubs fanbase in non-tendering outfielder Kyle Schrwarber, just to end up signing former Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson, a guy with numbers quite similar to Schrwarber, as means to save a couple million or so. There were also rumblings of a Kris Bryant trade on the horizon, though those talks seemed to have settled down for the time being. Regardless, it seems the Cubs' front office is willing to listen to offers on just about anyone.
Overall, just a very weird winter in Chicago. Still, in this division, they have just as much of a chance to finish in first place as they do finishing in fourth (sorry, Pirates still have last place safely locked up).
Cincinnati Reds
Remember last winter when the Reds went on a spending spree out of nowhere and suddenly they were considered the top contenders in the NL Central? Their approach this year certainly seems to be taking a step back from that. Similar to the Cubs, the idea in Cincinnati seems to be to save money and budget for the time being, though that idea is surely not as foreign here as it is in Chicago.
They've made a couple of trades that at most, provide that financial relief they seem to be looking for. Most notably, they traded closer Raisel Iglesias to the Angels in exchange for reliever Noé Ramirez and infielder prospect Leo Rivas, as well as a trade with the Colorado Rockies shipping out the Reds' former first-round pick pitcher Robert Stephenson as well as centerfield prospect Jameson Hannah for pitcher Jeff Hoffman and pitching prospect Case Williams. Additionally, they non-tendered Archie Bradley, who alongside Iglesias, held down the bullpen.
As far as free agency signings go, their most impactful move came today, as Cincinnati reportedly signed former Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle to a one-year, $1.5 million deal. However, their biggest offseason need lied in signing a shortstop. The Reds were rumored to be high on Didi Gregorius, but ultimately Gregorius chose to re-sign with the Phillies. As what feels like compensation, the Phillies traded shortstop Kyle Holder to the Reds for cash considerations. Ah yes, Kyle Holder, who's never played above Double-A surely is the answer to all the Reds' problems. They also have Kyle Farmer on their roster who the Reds non-tendered before deciding to re-sign as well as Jose Garcia, who is also not major league ready.
Of course, the Reds still have time to make a trade for an impactful shortstop (the Rockies seem to be giving away stars for free, paging Trevor Story?), it's just a matter of if they get it done or not.
Milwaukee Brewers
To keep it simple, the Brewers have done next to nothing. As much as I wish there was a way for me to twist this into something positive, Matt Arnold has made it very difficult to do so. I suppose the flurry of minor league deals made is...something, but alas, they still remain one of the worst farm systems in the league ranking #25 out of the 30 MLB teams.
The Brewers' two major league free agent signings consist of catcher Luke Maile on a one-year, $825,000 deal, and second baseman Daniel Robertson on a one-year, $900,000 deal. Slow down there big spender! Oh, they also traded one of their best relievers in Corey Knebel to the Dodgers for pitching prospect Leo Crawford. According to President of Baseball Operations David Stearns, their moves this season are about adding depth to their roster. "We've acquired some players with positional versatility and players who, if they continue to improve and solidify themselves as major-league players, have the potential to be here a while," he told Andrew Wagner of the Wisconsin State Journal.
While that's great and adding depth is never a bad thing, Milwaukee has yet to fill the gaping holes in their roster at first and third base. As of right now, Daniel Vogelbach appears to be the most likely first baseman to start off the season, though that's also dependent on if there's to be a universal DH or not. There's also still no official word on whether Ryan Braun plans to return to baseball or not, though I presumably get the feeling he is not. That being said, considering how little the Brewers have spent this offseason, there's no reason to not spend that $3 to $7 million on a one-year deal even for a veteran first baseman such as Mitch Moreland, Asdrúbal Cabrera, or Danny Santana.
The same goes for third base. The Brewers are reportedly one of the top teams interested in veteran third baseman Justin Turner, someone who they'd certainly have to "splurge" on in terms of spending, but it'd bring consistency to third base they haven't had since Mike Moustakas. Not to mention it'd give Brewers fans a signing worth celebrating this offseason. As it stands the Dodgers remain the favorite to re-sign Turner, who's been with Los Angeles since 2014 now. If the Brewers don't land Turner, the remaining free-agent third base options do not compare to Turner and include a few familiar faces of Brewers' past, including Eric Sogard and Travis Shaw.
The clock is ticking for the Brewers to make an impactful signing before spring training, and after finishing in the bottom percentile of offense in all of baseball last season, they need it.
Pittsburgh Pirates
When I say the NL Central is anyone's to win, sorry Pirates fans, that does not include you. One can pretty confidently say last place in the division belongs to Pittsburgh.
Their biggest move this winter has been trading away their best position player in Josh Bell, and quite frankly one of the only members of the Pirates I could name. Pittsburgh shipped Bell off to the Nationals in exchange for right-handed pitcher Wil Crowe and right-handed pitching prospect Eddy Yean. They also shipped out starter Jameson Taillon to the Yankees in exchange for three prospects. So I guess the good news is, while the Pirates are going to be a last-place team for a WHILE, there's light at the end of the tunnel! As of right now, their farm system ranks #11 overall.
I wish there was more for me to give on this last few months for the Pirates' front office, alas "Pittsburgh Pirates free agency signings" is an oxymoron in itself. On the plus side, how about another top-five draft pick?
St. Louis Cardinals
Sure the bar is low, but the Cards definitely seem to be the winner of the offseason in this division. They basically got Nolan Arenado for free. How the Cardinals managed to land one of, if not the top third basemen in the league AND get the Rockies to pay $50 million of his contract all in exchange for five prospects is beyond me and I'm still confused how it got approved but somehow, they did it.
While Arenado is the only new face on the roster, the Cards are expected to re-sign Yadier Molina this week, something they hoped to do from the start of this offseason. Maybe they could sign another low-cost bat or something, but for the most part, I'd say after Molina the Cardinals are done making moves and can go to sleep peacefully knowing they've assembled the best team in the division.
As spring training inches closer and closer, the NL Central as a whole remains one big question mark.
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