Which MLB Teams Haven't Done Enough This Winter?

The offseason is technically almost over, yet many quality free agents remain unsigned and many teams still have holes to fill. Surveying the landscape of all 30 teams, Sports Illustrated's MLB experts weigh in on one team that just hasn't done enough to get better this winter. (No, they couldn't pick 27 teams. Just one.)

Tom Verducci

The A’s do a great job of roster-building on the cheap, but this is a whole new level of difficulty. Oakland had 10 free agents. They have signed none. They did not extend a qualifying offer to shortstop Marcus Semien, then were a nonplayer when Semien signed a one-year deal with Toronto for under-QO money. They did recently trade for longtime Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, but the middle infield is still somewhat of a mystery, with Chad Pinder, Tony Kemp, Nick Allen, Vimael Machin, Nate Orf and Pete Kozma competing for spots. It’s clear Oakland is deep into an austerity program even by Oakland standards.

Emma Baccellieri

The A's. No, there wasn't an expectation for them to be serious players in the free-agent market—when has there even been?—but it's still unfortunate that they haven't done much this winter besides say goodbye to Semien, Liam Hendriks and Tommy La Stella. That's a lot of talent to let walk out the door without any legitimate replacements aside from Andrus. The bullpen was especially hit hard—Yusmeiro Petit and Joakim Soria also hit free agency this winter, in addition to All-Star closer Hendriks, which makes the team's biggest strength from last year now something of a question mark. While Houston may not be the force that they were a few years ago, it's still serious competition, and Oakland's probably still left looking up at it in the AL West. 

Brad Mangin/Sports Illustrated

Connor Grossman

The Rays reached the World Series in 2020 via The Rays Way, then proceeded to follow The Rays Way to ensure they won't make the World Series in 2021. Trading Blake Snell and cutting ties with Charlie Morton (while signing Michael Wacha and Chris Archer as their replacements) are textbook Rays moves ... but that doesn't mean we have to like them. Tampa Bay proved it has a good enough core to win the pennant, then became an objectively worse team over the winter. It's difficult to accept even if it is business as usual.

Fortunately for the Rays, a sprinkling of their patented pixie dust on a few mediocre players will probably carry them back to the postseason. Somehow.

Matt Martell

The Blue Jays were connected with nearly every top free agent this offseason, and they were interested in trading for any superstar on the block. They added veteran hitters George Springer and Semien, and signed closer Kirby Yates to improve their bullpen, but to compete with the Yankees and Rays in the AL East, Toronto is going to need a better starting rotation. The Blue Jays re-signed the electric-but-erratic Robbie Ray, which would be a fine move if they weren't relying on him to be their No. 2 starter. Trading for the volatile Steven Matz and signing Tyler Chatwood—who had more walks than strikeouts in 2018, his last season as a regular starter—is nowhere near doing enough. Toronto should sign at least one of either Jake Odorizzi, James Paxton or Taijuan Walker, who pitched well for the Blue Jays in six starts last year after they acquired him from Seattle.

Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated

Nick Selbe

The narrative of the Angels' wasting Mike Trout's prime has been belabored to death, but that repetitiveness doesn't make the prevailing point any less true. The Angels have suffered through five consecutive losing seasons, and the root cause of such sustained ineptitude can be almost exclusively attributed to the club's woeful starting pitching. 

Angels starting pitchers have ranked 29th in ERA in each of the past two seasons. Since 2019, they have accumulated a combined 6.7 wins above replacement (per FanGraphs), the lowest total in the league—in that same span, nine individual pitchers have at least matched that number. As several top-end starters changed teams this winter (the Padres alone were able to swing trades for Yu Darvish, Snell and Joe Musgrove), the Angels have operated on the fringes once again, adding veterans José Quintana and Alex Cobb. Perhaps the duo will produce bounce-back seasons that will pay dividends. But there was no other team in win-now mode with a more obvious area need, and the degree to which the Angels have failed to address that need will likely result in the greatest player of his generation sitting on the sidelines for yet another October.

Michael Shapiro

I understand the budget constraints in place in Oakland, but is this really the roster we’ll see on Opening Day? The A’s let Semien, La Stella and Hendriks walk in the offseason, and they haven’t done much of anything to bolster a shaky pitching staff. Even by Oakland's standards, the lack of offseason improvement for the reigning AL West champs is pretty jarring.