FanPost

How a Great Off-Season Became an Off Season

The MLB's off-season is a time for front offices to make the changes they deem necessary to make their teams into championship contenders. The hot stove, as it is often referred as, features big name free agents looking for a new team, trades involving young prospects, and managerial changes. This past off-season was arguably the most busy and hectic in terms of contract signings, trades, and transactions. There was definitely a sense of urgency amongst the teams to dole out large contracts and execute trades to bolster their roster. The off-season is also a time where fans and the media look at the rosters and set expectations from what they see on paper. With all the signings and trades, it is easy for a fan base to revitalized and believe their team are worthy title contenders. As we all know, the games are not won on paper. As for the following teams, they had great off-seasons. As the season went on, we saw that a great off-season does not equate to a great season.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox captured the attention of the MLB as they made a significant splash as they looked to make the moves that bridged the gap between them and the defending A.L. champs and division rival, the Kansas City Royals. One of the key moves they made was acquiring pitcher Jeff Samardzija from the Oakland A's in exchange for shortstop Marcus Semien and catcher Josh Phegley. With one year left on his deal coming into 2015, the White Sox hoped he can be a reliable #2 starter behind Chris Sale. However, he was anything but reliable. Samardzija struggled all season to find any sort of consistency. He went 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA, which ranked 34th in the American League. Opponents feasted off Samardzija accumulating 228 hits along with a .273 batting average. At one point the Sox were looking to move Jeff before the trade deadline. During that time, the team rattled off a long win streak that featured quality starts from Samardzija which brought them back in contention for a wild card spot. The team decided to hold off as the team seemed to have finally come around, only to fall apart again in the final two months.

Trying to strengthen the bullpen, general manager Rick Hahn made a strong financial move by bringing closer David Robertson to the south side with 4 year, 46 million dollar deal. With the team struggling, Robertson was not used as much as Sox fans would have liked. Robertson locked down 34 saves in 41 opportunities with a 2.90 ERA. Obviously, the investment did not pay off for this year. If the Sox are able to turn it around in the next few seasons, Robertson will surely be worth it.

For several years the Sox lacked a consistent contact hitter to slot into the second spot in the batting order. Therefore they signed outfielder Melky Cabrera to be the guy who gets on base and moves Adam Eaton over for Jose Abreu to have more RBI situations. Cabrera signed a 3 year, 42 million dollar deal. He started off the season with a slump. He was moved down in the lineup with the hopes he could turn things around. At times he showed that he could hit the ball hard but just had bad luck as defenses were in the right spots against him. Cabrera was able to turn in a decent stat line that featured a .273 BA with 12 HR and 77 RBI.

Then there is Adam LaRoche. Boy was it tough to watch him swing the bat this season. Laroche was brought to Chicago on a 2 year, 25 million dollar deal to be the power bat behind Jose Abreu after the retirement of White Sox great Paul Konerko. The White Sox love to have left handed power bats especially since they play in a hitter's ball park. Just like the Adam Dunn experiment, Adam LaRoche has not paid dividends. The designated hitter batted .207 with 12 HR and 44 RBI. He also struck out 133 times. These numbers are flat out unacceptable for a veteran hitter who's sole purpose was to be a big bat in the lineup. For further perspective, leadoff man Adam Eaton had two more HR's than Laroche did.

The White Sox finished the season with 76-86 record and finishing 4th in the AL Central. Everything that could go wrong for the Sox went wrong. The defense was anemic as they ranked 24th in the majors. The offense lacked any sort of timely hitting as they ranked 22nd in the majors with the .250 BA. They consistently left runners on base while not giving their starting pitchers any run support. Rick Hahn has stated that Robin Ventura will be back with the team season, which was very surprising to me. The team lacked continuity and seemed to have quit in the last month and a half of the season. It is going to be interesting to see what pieces will be added and subtracted this off-season as Ventura will be on the hot seat in 2016.

Miami Marlins

In previous years, the Marlins have prided themselves on being a team that does not have a large payroll and develops unknown players. Lately, that has not been the case. They have not been shy when giving out large contracts in order to compete on the field and fill the seats in their new stadium. However, we have seen them give up quite easily on those signings having a constant roster turnover every year.

They made a trade with the LA Dodgers to acquire infielder Dee Gordon and pitcher Dan Haren. Gordon was the lone bright spot in their off-season transactions. They needed Gordon to be the table setter for the offense at the lead off spot. He did not disappoint. Gordon had a .333 BA which won him the NL batting title. He also produced a .359 OBP, which allowed him to be the base stealing threat he can be by swiping 58 stolen bases, which led the majors.

With the acquistion of Dan Haren and Mat Latos from the Reds, the Marlins attempted to solidify the middle of their starting rotation behind young phenom Jose Fernandez. They did anything but bring stability to the rotation. Dan Haren went 7-7 with a 3.42 ERA before being traded to the Chicago Cubs. Haren has not and will not be the same player he was five years ago. His pitches lack the sharp movement and velocity that made him into a Cy Young Award caliber pitcher. He himself knows that he lacks what he once had. Just look at his twitter handle. It is @ithrow88. The one year experiment with Latos was finished before it even got started. Latos went 4-7 with a 4.48 ERA before being traded to the Dodgers only to be released and ending up with the Angels.

Miami also executed a trade with the Yankees to get Martin Prado. They also signed Michael Morse to a 2 year, 16 million dollar deal. Prado is known for being a contact hitter who is quite versatile on defense. Prado had a pretty consistent season batting in the two hole with a .288 BA and .338 OBP. He was able to provide good situational hitting especially with Dee Gordon always on base. Michael Morse did not provide the offense the Marlins brought him in for. Morse struggled to contribute at the plate while posting a .213 BA, 4 HR, and 12 RBI in 53 games. He was traded to the Dodgers and now had ended up with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Marlins finished the season third in NL East with a record of 71-91. Overall, I think the Marlins lacked direction and patience. Mike Redmond failed to get things rolling as he was fired after a 16-22 start. In an odd move, the Marlins decided to hand the reigns of the team to general manager Dan Jennings, who has never managed a team. What could possibly go wrong? Jennings and the Marlins finished 55-69. Injuries also played a role in their 2015 season as their star player Giancarlo Stanton missed a majority of the season with a hand injury. They were also trying to bring back Jose Fernandez from his injury in 2014. I believe Miami needs to be a bit more patient with the players they sign while also needing to retool their farm system if they want to compete in years to come.

San Diego Padres

If anyone had a sense of urgency this past off-season, it was the San Diego Padres and GM AJ Preller. His immediate splash came by the way of two major trades. Needing to bolster the offense, which was coming off the worst season statistically in MLB history, they acquired outfielders Matt Kemp from the Dodgers and Justin Upton from the Atlanta Braves. These trades allowed them to put two experienced bats in the heart of the lineup that expected to be more explosive. However, these trades came at a price. They basically cleared all their young prospects while also having to pay Kemp roughly 18 million for the next four years. Upton was in the final year of his contract in 2015 which saw him get paid 14.5 million.

Kemp for the most part had a steady 2015 with a .265 BA, 23 HR, and 100 RBI. Upton posted somewhat similar numbers with a .251 BA, 26 HR, and 81 RBI. As you would expect, these two produced decent power numbers especially since they were playing at Petco Park, a pitcher friendly ballpark. Along with the power numbers, unfortunately come large strikeout totals. Kemp struck out 147 times while Upton struck out 159 times.

San Diego also came through and won the James Shields sweepstakes, as he was one of the last big name free agents to sign. They agreed to a 4 year, 75 million dollar deal for Shields to be the anchor in the Padres starting staff. Shields had a slight up and down season with a 13-7 record. While his 3.91 ERA was higher than he would have liked, Shields struck out 216 batters, which was 9th best in the MLB.

Just when we thought the Padres were done making moves, they made one more trade as the season opened up. The Padres acquired elite closer Craig Kimbrel from the Braves. The move made the Padres a promising team in the NL West. Just like David Robertson and the White Sox, Kimbrel did not make as many appearances as expected because of the team's poor play. Craig was still able to notch 39 saves in 43 opportunities with 2.58 ERA. Kimbrel also struck out 87 batters in 59 1/3 innings pitched.

San Diego went 74-88 and finished fourth in the NL West. For the second year in a row the Padres are left asking themselves how they can improve this offense. The Padres ranked last in the MLB with team batting average of .243. Looking ahead, the Padres need to find better situational hitters that can support the power hitters. Wil Myers and Derek Norris need to be more reliable at the plate in order to fuel this offense. Without a solid farm system, the Padres may need to better allocate their payroll to bring in more productive players in free agency.

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are undoubtedly a team that expects to be in the playoffs every year. After a disappointing 2014 season where they finished in last place in the AL East, they looked to make a quick turnaround. The Red Sox were able to sign two marquee free agents in Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. They also attempted to rebuild the pitching staff in a division that had some explosive offenses. With the signing of Hanley Ramirez to a 4 year, 88 million dollar deal, they expected him to be responsible for a bulk of the offense. Also, Ramirez is typically an infielder, but was moved to left field, which can always be an adventure with the Green Monster. Ramirez failed to excel at the plate with a .249 BA, 19 HR, and 53 RBI.

From the time Pablo Sandoval became a Red Sox, he was met with criticism immediately. Many made a big deal about his weight and health after signing a five year, 95 million dollar deal. The 2015 season was one to forget for the panda. His stat line included a .245 BA, 10 HR, and 47 RBI in 126 games. The home runs and rbi were the lowest of his career since 2009.

The Red Sox also executed trades to acquire starting pitchers Rick Porcello and Wade Miley. They expected them to be solid middle of the rotation players behind Clay Buchholz. However, the pitching staff was the achilles heal of the team all season long. Porcello continued to get rocked start after start going 9-15 with a staggering 4.92 ERA. He failed to get anyone out as batters hit .287 off him. Wade Miley did not see much better success as he too was being teed off against opposing hitters. Miley went 11-11 with a 4.46 ERA while opponents batted .265 against the left hander. They both played a part in the 5th worst team ERA in the league.

Once again the Red Sox finished the AL East with the a 78-84 record. The pitching staff needs to be fixed quickly if they have any shot competing in their division, especially with the Blue Jays. They also missed the presence of second baseman Dustin Pedroia in their lineup for most of the season. We know the Red Sox are not shy with their payroll so we should expect a big name pitcher to be pursued. If they can accomplish this, the Red Sox can perhaps make an improvement next year and contend for a wild card.

Washington Nationals

No team had more pressure and high expectations heading into the 2015 season than the Washington Nationals. They had all the key components to make a run into October. An already deep starting rotation with a dynamic offense had them as the favorites to win the World Series. In the off-season they made a few moves that surely put them over the top in the rankings. They landed the biggest name on the free agent market, Max Scherzer to a lucrative 7 year, 210 million dollar deal. Scherzer showed why the Nationals gave him that strong commitment. Even with a sub par 14-12 record, Scherzer had 2.79 ERA and struck out 276 batters, which was second best in the league. Scherzer also made history by throwing not one but two no hitters. However, Scherzer did allow some big hits against his opponents by giving up 27 home runs, which was the most amongst pitchers in the top 20 in ERA.

They also made a subtle move to acquire infielder Yunel Escobar from the A's in exchange for Tyler Clippard. In 139 games, Escobar was steady and consistent with a .314 BA and 56 RBI. He was also very sound defensively only committing 7 errors, which was tied for 1st among third baseman.

In an otherwise frustrating season, the Nationals went 83-79 and finished second in the NL East. With a roster that was stacked with Scherzer leading the pitching staff and Bryce Harper having a MVP caliber season, many point the finger at manager Matt Williams for the underwhelming results. As expected, Williams was let go on Monday. The major problem seemed to be that the players lost faith in the coaching staff and had an unfavorable locker room environment. With many players tuning out Williams and the dust up between Harper and Jonathan Papelbon, it was clear that a change needed to be made going forward. As for 2016, I expect the Nationals to be contenders if they solidify the bullpen, Harper has the same type of season he had in 2015, and a healthy Stephen Strasburg backing up Scherzer.

All FanPosts on FBB consist of content created by site users without editorial oversight by Federal Baseball, and do not necessarily represent the views of the FBB editorial staff.