As we covered earlier this week, almost all of the prominent free agents in this year’s class have already exited the board. Because of that, we’ll see more and more minor league signings and fewer and fewer major league deals in the weeks leading up to the start of the regular season. This has been an aggressive offseason in terms of spending, though. To this point, which teams have handed out the most guaranteed money via the open market? We’ll examine both leagues, but let’s begin with the AL (reminder: This exercise excludes trades, club options, extensions, waiver claims and Rule 5 selections)…
Yankees: $336.5MM on two players (Gerrit Cole and Brett Gardner; top 50 MLBTR signings: two)
Angels: $260.85MM on three players (Anthony Rendon, Julio Teheran and Jason Castro; top 50 signings: three)
White Sox: $196.5MM on six players (Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu, Dallas Keuchel, Edwin Encarnacion, Steve Cishek and Gio Gonzalez; top 50 signings: five)
Twins: $151.8MM on eight players (Josh Donaldson, Michael Pineda, Jake Odorizzi, Homer Bailey, Sergio Romo, Alex Avila, Rich Hill and Tyler Clippard; top 50 signings: four)
Blue Jays: $114.35MM on four players (Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, Shun Yamaguchi and Travis Shaw; top 50 signings: two)
Rangers: $62.25MM on five players (Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles, Robinson Chirinos, Joely Rodriguez and Todd Frazier; top 50 signings: two)
Tigers: $17.8MM on four players (C.J. Cron, Jonathan Schoop, Austin Romine and Ivan Nova; top 50 signings: one)
Astros: $15.65MM on three players (Joe Smith, Martin Maldonado and Dustin Garneau; top 50 signings: zero)
Rays: $12MM on one player (Yoshitomo Tsutsugo; top 50 signings: zero)
Red Sox: $9.9MM on three players (Martin Perez, Jose Peraza and Kevin Plawecki; top 50 signings: zero)
Athletics: $7.5MM on one player (Jake Diekman; top 50 signings: zero)
Royals: $6.95MM on two players (Alex Gordon and Maikel Franco; top 50 signings: zero)
Indians: $6.25MM on one player (Cesar Hernandez; top 50 signings: zero)
Orioles: $3MM on one player (Jose Iglesias; top 50 signings: zero)
Mariners: $2.95MM on two players (Kendall Graveman and Carl Edwards Jr.; top 50 signings: zero)
my indians towards the bottom again as per usual.
Spending does not always mean success follows. Need I mention the names Swisher and Bourn?
this is very true
I forgot about Bourn.
The Indians have been on a downward trend due to refusing to spend. Why you keep defending that FO is mind boggling, especially after the Kluber and Bauer trades. The Kluber trade was simply a salary dump and a pathetic one at that. Refusing to resign Brantley the reasonable price he signed for when their biggest need was OFers is a joke. Dont be surprised when the White Sox pass them by, the Twins already have
Why you keep worrying about what I do is even more mind boggling.
The fact that I pointed out 2 examples where spending free agency money ended with bad results actually shows the opposite of what you’re screaming.
I don’t have an issue with the front office. In fact, I feel like they’re one of the (if not the) next in baseball at doing what they do.
They are only able to operate within the bounds set by ownership. That’s where all of my problems lie. I went to 15 games two years ago. When they demanded a payroll drop for last season, I only went to two. This year I will not even go to one.
@believeland
The fact that the front office does a good job with little resources doesn’t dismiss the point that management doesn’t invest in their players the way they should. One can say that the FO might be able to work wonders with even another $50 mil to spend., The FO is doing a good job (maybe) despite ownership’s frugality.
What downward trend?
The Indians have won 90 games four seasons in a row they won two more games in 2019 than they did 2018,despite have a plethora of injuries,
The only reason they didn’t win their division is that the Twins had the greatest first half in the 118 year history of the franchise.
The Indians won the Bauer trade hands down..
Kluber was traded for Clase and his 99 mph cutter,his contract made him the most expendable pitcher on a deep pitching staff.
Their downward trend is in attendance,down 6.5 % in 2018 and down 10% in 2019 ,all while winning 90 games in both seasons!
Attendance goes down,payroll goes down it’s that simple..
Indians had a record payroll in 2018 and fans responded by staying home and watching on TV. so payroll had to be cut.
Facts and logic….,simple really.
But it is easier to blame the owner and call him cheap I guess..
@believeland
I totally agree. I have very few complaints about Antonetti and Mike Chernoff. The problem is how freaking cheap the Dolan’s are and that they won’t allow Antonetti and Chernoff to spend very much on players.
+suffer
I dont “keep worrying” about you in the slightest.
Also, just because there are 2 examples where they spent money on players that werent worth it doesnt mean spending money in general is a bad strategy that never works. There are too many examples where refusing to invest in the team leads to them fading out and not capitalizing on a good foundation for 2 bad examples to prove the opposite of that.
+themaven
The downward trend is making it to the WS, then making it to the playoffs, to missing the playoffs and losing a lot of players that took that made the team go to the playoffs in the first place. While division rivals are making significant additions and passing up the Indians for their playoff spot, the Indians are letting players walk and trading anyone that costs a little more than cheap.
The Indians lost the Bauer trade, Franmil is an interesting piece that could work out well but they dont even have Puig anymore and lost one of their best pitchers to get him.
The Indians lost the Kluber trade too. He was offloaded for a mediocre outfielder and a reliever. A reliever. The most volatile and easy to replace positions in the game. Klase can be a fine reliever, sure, but a fine SP is worth much more than a fine reliever and its much harder to find a good SP than it is a good RP. The ownership is cheap and the team will continue to be hurt due to that fact.
Mid-market team with a mid-market payroll?… Truly offensive.
The Indians have considerably increased payroll over the last several years.. they have a team payroll that is around the league median – despite being consistently in the bottom-third of attendance. Seems reasonable to me.
I thought they would have done better on the Kluber trade.. but what they got was better than just declining his option. As for the Bauer trade.. are you complaining about that deal? Still much to be decided of course but it is looking like a good deal for the Tribe, so far.
Investing big in EE got them what? The same—nada.
@Begamin
I’m sorry, but you left logic at the door here.
The playoffs are a crap shoot,The Nationals won as many games as the Indians and won the Series,so play off failures are not indicative of a downward trend.The 2019 season was a golden one for the Twins,something out of the Tribe’s hands.
Four years of Reyes,prospects Moss and Allen for one year of Bauer(who isn’t as good as everyone thinks he is,look at the numbers)is a loss for the Tribe?You’re in the vast minority on that take.
Kluber was a relatively pricey extraneous asset(they won 93 games without him) and the Tribe traded from a strength to address another aspect of the team.You and I may not agree with it but it’s still a logical move.
I noticed you ignored the only real downward trend….attendance.
The Dolans spent in 2017, signing EE, and again in 2018 and watched attendance drop each of the last two seasons for a team winning 90+ games for four seasons in row.
That has to be a historical attendance drop for a winning team and you just ignore it.
Lower revenue equals smaller payroll,Spending didn’t bring in the fans or a championship,so they should spend more?That flies in the face of logic
Believeland guy – I doubt anyone will miss u at the ballpark. Good riddance!
Lost the Kluber deal? They could’ve not picked up his option and let him walk away for nothing, instead they re-upped and flipped him for something. The reliever has an electric arm and may be something special for quite a few years.
Cleveland like Most teams only has so much cash to spend before losing money. Can’t really blame them to try and make a profit
@Whileycoyote56
Technically, that’s true of every single MLB team. However, the Dolan’s have far more money available to spend while still turning a profit than they ever admit to. And they try to con fans into believing that they’re going broke.
Amen
excuses
True, but teams should be required to spend a minimum amount. It’s not right that the spenders have to prop up the league spending while non spenders pocket revenue. The league’s revenue structure in a whole is completely out of whack. All shared money should go towards payroll, not the owners pocket.
I loved Swisher’s personality, but he had to be one of the most over rated players of his time
Exactly!
Ewww
People who critisize spending have zero grasp on economics. It’s quite hilarious to witness.
@Dodgethis
Can’t really say that if your not examining each teams fiscal situation. Logic says that some teams are going to spend a lot less than most and some will spend a multiple of what other teams spend. So while some might benefit from an economics course it doesn’t mean their point (that the Indians are historically cheap) or a discussion doesn’t have merit,
Indians outspent the lowly Cubbies!
The best move of the winter for CLE was declining Kipnis’ option. Getting him and his $16M salary off the roster is a big time addition by subtraction. Too bad they couldn’t have gotten rid of him sooner, but all’s well that ends well.
The White Sox very much had the off season the Angels needed. Elite catcher, quality starter, innings eater, solid bullpen piece.
We obviously don’t have room for the other two, but I’d have been thrilled with the four key pieces.
This.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Sad that the quality starter is Gio and the innings eater is DK.
Rendon is a superstar and will give the Angels a championship caliber lineup. The difference between Keuchel/Gio and Bundy/Tehran is minimal.
Don’t forget the manager. I know people don’t like him, but the fact is Joe Madden wins where ever he goes.
Maddon isn’t winning crap in LAAA. They have no pitching. Trout and Rendon is the best 1-2 punch in baseball, easily. However, what else ya got? Oh yeah, not much at all. They’ll finish third at best in the West, and I believe that the Rangers will finish above them as well.
C: Jason Castro
1B: Tommy LaStella/Albert Pujols
2B: David Fletcher/Tommy LaStella
3B: Anthony Rendon
SS: Andrelton Simmons
LF: Justin Upton
CF: Mike Trout
RF: Brian Goodwin then Jo Adell
DH: Shohei Ohtani/Albert Pujols
That’s a pretty damn good lineup. You’re looking at possible double digit HR totals alone out of every position.
Also, Simmons has shown the ability to hit up to around 15 HR’s in a normal healthy season. He is way more than a singles hitter and is extremely valuable all around. He’s had as high as a 7 WAR with the Angels. If he continues playing at his level for another 5 years, he will be in the Hall of Fame conversation. He’s already a better hitter and fielder than Ozzie Smith was at the same point in their careers. Every team would love to have him at SS.
The Angels are going to score runs, with power. The big question obviously is their rotation, but the same can be said for most teams any way.
Really! I am just curious but what exactly did he win in TBay?
Krol, Simmons is no where near HOF worthy. Lmao
Trout and Rendon equal championship lineup? Upton is down trending, Pujols is 72, Simmons is a singles hitter at best. Fletcher is unproven outside of 1 solid year.
@JamesM Trout, Rendon, and Ohtani will have an OPS+ of around 450. This is pretty good for your 2,3, 4 hitters. I’d take it, most teams would.
Upton had toe and knee problems last year. Even without his base, he still showed power, 12 HRs in 63 games is on par with his yearly output. The year prior, he had 30 HRs and an OPS+ of 121.
Fletcher and Simmons are better defensively than offensively. Both are hard to strike out. Both of them could win gold gloves this year. Whether you save runs with your glove or score runs with your bat, they are equally effective. Simmons was injured last year, but had a WAR of 6.2 and 7.0 the 2 years prior. Fletcher is coming of age and had a 3.8 WAR last year. IT would not surprise me if the two combined for a WAR of 9 or 10.
The question mark comes in right field and first base. Goodwin started off hot but slowed down a lot the 2nd half. Adell will come up at some point, but even Trout struggled when he first came up. There is some uncertainty at first base. They may do a left/right platoon with La Stella and Pujols. Can La Stella be the same guy he was last year? We will see.
I believe there are teams better offensively, but when you factor both offense and defense, I would put the Angels starting lineup against anyone;s.
Now starting rotation is a different story, but we are much better in the rotation than we were a year ago.
LOL 72
Yep. they won the off-season.
Still won’t win the central
The Angels just need their starters to pitch to their expectations. The White Sox were fortunate to have their young pitchers exceed expectations. The Angels pitchers have all had TJ surgery. I think the Angels will be a good surprise this year
Health, health, health. If the Angel’s pitchers can steer clear of the IL, this will be an interesting season. I still think they’re a Jon Gray or Robbie Ray from serious contention, but if Shohei can steadily pitch once a week and the rest of the rotation falls into place, that offense and bullpen can do some damage.
Suspicious of the yankees trying to buy a championship spending billions of dollars. Same old story, same old song and dance.
are you ok? wanna talk about how you need new material?
suspicious? what’s suspicious about it?
Aerosmith? Awesome!
Back when they were good
Their first album, along with Toys in the Attic, are my favorites by them.
Somebody is salty!
I hate the Yankees, in part because of the arrogance of their fans, in part because of the championships they largely bought in the late 90’s, but I have to admit that this team is different. It wasn’t built mostly through spending 2-3x what other teams were; it was built mostly through the draft and shrewd trades, like getting Torres for a half-year rental of Chapman. Some of their highest paid players are among their worst. Now, they’re still spending a lot, but the talent that’s carrying them to the playoffs was largely gotten in a different way than in the past. Cole is just the finishing piece.
Twins are missing Pineda.
Yep, just added him. Thank you!
Connor – I am surprised Chapman is not on for the Yankees. He did opt out
Tampa out spending the big boys this winter.. 2m+ over Boston.. Now nobody will be able to say they are cheap…
They are cheap
Yet the Rays made it to the post season where the Red Sox did not. RS had an atrocious year.. Everyone & their mother had their money on them at the beginning of last year. Yankees, Red Sox spending vs Rays spending resulted in no WS. for any of the 3. No one would have put their money on Rays even getting to the post season.
The Red Sox are just like the Cubs…..they don’t have any money……
Tampa is cheap.
Bloom is cheaper.
He did come from Tampa after all.
Tampa had the second worst attendance (behind the horrid Marlins’ attendance) in 2019. And it’s not like kids in NY and LA are rocking Ray’s caps. Not much of a revenue stream there.
…
They’ve adopted the Oakland model of continuous build while still being very competitive. They turn valuable assets into key prospects, then make trades for assets when it makes sense. We’ll see if the Tommy Pham for Hunter Renfoe trade pans out, that seemed a bit of a reach, but it’s hard to question their methods given their success.
lmao, mariners!
twins looking good
Shocked to see the Tigers are as high (6th) as they are.
I think AA did well. I wouldn’t mind a trade with NY for Frazier.
Connor – any chance of redoing this list, only this time using just the 2020 expenditures? Or at the least, factor in the number of years on all the contracts and come up with an AAV per team. I’d be very curious to see what that ranking looks like.
Yoi guys forgot Nelson Cruz for the Twins.
He only had an OPS of 1.031 last year. Not worth a mention.
Aaaand remembered the twins picked up Cruz’s option. They did not sign him as a free agent this year.
This kind of stuff is interesting to note, but it doesn’t talk about value. I’d be more interested in who improved their WAR the most, which is different from who brought in the most WAR because you also should factor in who’s being replaced. So far, I think either the Rangers or White Sox have improved the most, depending on how well Kluber does in his return.
I think the Twins did amazing here. They got a new leader in JD, patched up Sp in a very shallow market with minimal long term risk, and also added to an already good pen-
I imagine a Sp 2 will be on their minds come trade deadline as well- They have been very calculated, if I were a Twins fan id be really excited about the new decade and how the FO is managing it
yep
So as a Tribe fan, I see the Twins improving once again (just like they did last offseason) and now the White Sox have joined in on improving. We’ve signed Sandy Leon and Cesar Hernandez so far. Can’t wait for a second or third place finish this year!
Idk, I really like the Cesar Hernandez singing. I was kind of hoping DET signed him. I expect them to sign either Nicky C, Domingo Santana, or Puig
Tribe clearly needs another corner OF, and I hold out hope they sign a Puig or Santana to fill that void. Bringing in another platoon piece, however, is not the answer. DeShields is a placeholder plain and simple. They kinda addressed a need in acquiring him, but it’s a half measure at best.
MNZeus, the article says picking up team options, so Cruz should be in there.
@kleppy12 Actually the article says excludes team options.
LOL! I love it when someone says that the Red Sox and the Cubs have no money. What they don’t have is ownership willing to spend money. I know my tigers are pathetic right now, but before Mr Illitch passed away, it was nice having an owner that would fork up the cash to do anything to win. I know it didn’t get him a title but it was fun seeing the Tigers after losing 119 games in 2003 get to the WS in 2006. And staying competitive winning 2 more pennants over the next decade. If I was an Indians fan I’d be PO’d because that team could’ve won the central 4 outta the next 6 years, even with the Twins getting better. And as far as the Red Sox and Cubs go, they have A TON of money, thet just don’t spend it! Don’t these two teams sell out the ENTIRE YEAR? They are fine financially, they just pocket more than they spend. The tax issue I understand not going way over but they have the cash. I’m just hoping the younger Illitch that is now the owner of my Tigers spends like his ole man when we’re competitive again! Lol
Yanks last again in dollars per win.
Yet first in total revenue per win, imagine that.
MLBTR It would be cool if you included the players/contracts each team LOST as well so we can get a full picture here. A lot of these signings were lateral moves and some were even downgrades (cost savings). I’d be interested to see a writeup showing a comparison of 2019 payrolls to 2020 payrolls and where that money was spent or saved. It would be a really good indication of where teams think they are in the competitive landscape.
I’m stoked for this season but this will easily be a 3 team race in the AL Central. Sox, Twinkies, and Indians. Cleveland is still a stacked team unless they trade Lindor but I wouldn’t sleep on them with the team they have now.
Krol, Simmons is no where near HOF worthy. Lmao