This offseason has been a wild one.  We’ve had scandals, crazy trades and free agent signings.  Free agency in baseball is when a players contract with one team expires, so he has to either get a new contract with that team, or declare free agency.  When you declare free agency, any team in baseball can sign you.  Most of the best free agents will sign with big market teams, such as the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox or the Los Angeles Dodgers.  So far we have had a crazy offseason for free agency, with record contracts being broken.  Most of the top free agents are now on new teams.

The biggest signing of the off-season was Houston Astros star pitcher Gerrit Cole going to the New York Yankees on a record breaking 9 year, $324 million signing.  Cole was a Yankees fan growing up and went to the 2001 World Series with a sign that he held up at his first Yankees press conference.  This signing is everything the Yankees organization needed.  The biggest weakness for New York has been their lack of good starting pitching; now they have arguably one of the best pitching rotations in baseball. LHS sophomore Connor Rice, a Yankees fan, said, “I’m stoked, we finally have a superstar pitcher.”  The Evil Empire strikes again.

Hours before Cole’s signing, the defending world champion Washington Nationals re-signed their star pitcher Stephen Strasburg to, at the time, a record breaking 7 year, $245 million deal.  However, as Marvel villain Thanos once said, “A soul for a soul.”  The champs lost their MVP caliber third baseman Anthony Rendon to the Los Angeles Angels, who got the same contract as Strasburg.  The Nats should’ve kept Rendon instead of Strasburg.  They already have two ace pitchers, Rendon was most of their offense and it seems likely they’ll regret not having him.

The New York Mets did everything they needed to do with their issue with the bullpen.  They signed Micheal Wacha, Rick Porcello and star Dellin Betances.  The Mets also traded two minor leaguers for outfielder Jake Marisnick. On paper the Mets bullpen looks incredible along with their star studded starting rotation and their young hitters.  The only problem is that it’s the Mets and nothing ever goes right.  The Mets lost star pitcher Zack Wheeler to the rival Philadelphia Phillies on a 5 year, $118 million deal.  At least they have Tebow.

The Phillies have a new manager, former world champion Joe Girardi.  With all the talent they have, including superstar Bryce Harper, the Phillies are looking to dominate the National League this year.

The back-to-back National League East champions look to repeat again.  The Braves signed star pitcher Cole Hamels, and they look to defeat the defending champs and win the world series.

The greatest postseason pitcher of all time, Madison Bumgarner, has finally left the San Francisco Giants.  Bumgarner signed with their division rivals, the Arizona Diamondbacks, for a 5 year, $85 million contract.  Madison Bumgarner is a 3 time world series champion with the Giants and brings some veteran leadership to a young Arizona team, and this was an excellent move for him.  The D-backs will have to compete one of the toughest divisions in sports, with the powerhouse Dodgers eyeing to finally win a world series.

The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to be back on the up-rise.  They bolstered their pitching by signing star pitchers Hyun-Jin Ryu and Tanner Roark.  With their young hitters and new pitching, the Jays want to compete in the running for a World Series title.  They will have to go against the powerhouse Yankees and Red Sox, as well as the dark horse, Tampa Bay Rays.  The AL east should be a fun division to watch these next few years.

The Chicago White Sox made some big moves this offseason.  They signed star pitcher Dallas Keuchel, all star catcher Yasmani Grandal and power DH Edwin Encarnacion.  They should finally be able to compete after years of mediocrity.

The Twins signed former MVP third baseman Josh Donaldson to a 4 year $92 million deal.  The Twins hope that Donaldson can help lead them to their first title since 1990.  Josh Sims, a Red Sox fan, said that “…Donaldson is going to light it up in Minnesota.  He has a great bat and is a good defender.  I think the Twins win the Central.”

Carlos Beltran has stepped down as manager of the New York Mets.  Beltran, player for the 2017 Astros,  received a lot of outside pressure from the media and fans to resign.  He did the right thing by stepping down.  This whole scandal is now drawing unwanted attention to the Mets, who are famous for their terrible PR team.  The Mets will have to find another manager, and when they do, they will be paying contracts for 2 former managers as well.  LHS sophomore Caden James, a Cardinals fan observed, “He literally walked in and walked out, I don’t think the situation is still relevant for him.”  All three teams are now hunting for a new manager.

Pitchers and catchers report on February 10th, 11th and 12th.  With all the drama and excitement this offseason, let’s hope that this season lives up to the hype.