How AL Teams Have Addressed Their Weakest Positions Of 2024

We’re still over a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training, and the 2025 season won’t begin until the Dodgers and Cubs play in Tokyo on March 18 (and the rest of baseball gets underway on March 27).  So, while there is still tons of time for clubs to keep shoring up their rosters, let’s take a look at how all 30 teams have thus far tried to fix their biggest weak points from last season.  Baseball Reference’s position-by-position bWAR ranking identifies each how each team fared at every position in 2024, so let’s start by focusing on the American League’s 15 clubs…

Angels (Second base, -0.9 bWAR): This was the least production any team received from the second base position in 2024, as nine different players saw action at the Los Angeles keystone with little success.  The Angels made a push to sign Gleyber Torres before he joined the Tigers, and the club added to its infield mix by acquiring Kevin Newman and Scott Kingery.  This additional depth might allow the Halos to just install super-utilityman Luis Rengifo as the regular starter at second base, but they might want to keep bouncing Rengifo around the infield to fill other holes.  Shortstop Zach Neto’s shoulder surgery might keep him from making the Opening Day lineup, while Anthony Rendon’s lack of results has left the Halos looking for third base help.

Astros (First base, -1.0 bWAR): Jose Abreu’s continued struggles led the Astros to release him before even the midway point of the three-year, $58.5MM deal he signed in the 2022-23 offseason, and while Jon Singleton had a 105 wRC+ in 405 plate appearances, Singleton also finished the year with replacement-level production.  Houston responded to its glaring first base problem in a big way, inking Christian Walker to a three-year, $60MM contract.  Walker and Isaac Paredes now look to be the Astros’ new corner infield combination, with Paredes stepping in at third base in the likely event that Alex Bregman signs elsewhere.

Athletics (Third base, -0.6 bWAR): The issues at the hot corner narrowly edged out first base (-0.5 bWAR) as the Athletics’ biggest problem position, and the A’s are hoping Tyler Soderstrom’s continued development can help shore things up at first base.  As for the other corner infield slot, Gio Urshela was signed to a one-year, $2.15MM to add at least a bit of veteran stability at third base.  Darell Hernaiz also figures to get some at-bats at third base if and when Urshela spells Soderstrom against some left-handed pitchers.

Blue Jays (Bullpen, -3.9 bWAR): This was far and away the lowest bWAR for any team at any single position, which isn’t too surprising given how injuries and ineffectiveness torpedoed the Blue Jays’ bullpen last year.  Toronto started the overhaul from the top down, non-tendering former closer Jordan Romano after he missed most of the 2024 season due to elbow problems.  Old friend Yimi Garcia was re-signed to a two-year, $15MM contract, and Nick Sandlin was acquired from the Guardians as perhaps the overlooked part of the Andres Gimenez trade, but the Jays figure to add at least a couple more relievers before Opening Day rolls around.

Guardians (Catcher, 0.2 bWAR): Bo Naylor hit only .201/.264/.350 in 389 plate appearances during his first full Major League season, though his glovework was excellent.  Defensive specialist Austin Hedges was re-signed to again act as Naylor’s backup, so if nothing else, Cleveland might well have the best defensive catching tandem in baseball.  The Guardians are surely hoping for Naylor to contribute a lot more at the plate now that he has more experience against big league pitchers, and they’ll need the younger Naylor brother to pick up some of the overall offensive slack now that big brother Josh Naylor has been traded.

Mariners (First base, 1.1 bWAR): Luke Raley and trade deadline pickup Justin Turner helped stabilize the first base position later in the season, and the left-handed hitting Raley in particular did enough to have earned himself at least a platoon role on the 2025 team.  Re-signing Turner is still a possibility if the Mariners wanted to simply run it back, and some other first basemen linked to Seattle this winter — Carlos Santana, Paul Goldschmidt, Christian Walker, Josh Naylor — landed elsewhere. Rumors persist that Triston Casas might end up in Seattle if the Mariners and Red Sox can finally line up on a pitching-for-hitting trade, but for now, Raley appears to be the top option.  If another first baseman is indeed brought in, Raley could also get some at-bats at the DH spot, as the M’s only got 1.3 bWAR from their designated hitter group in 2025.

Orioles (Bullpen, 1.8 bWAR): Losing Felix Bautista to Tommy John rehab for the season understandably took a bite out of the Orioles’ relief corps, and Bautista’s expected return will alone help bolster the pen.  Apart from signing Matt Bowman to a minors deal, the O’s haven’t done much else to address their bullpen, and in fact subtracted from last year’s group when Jacob Webb was non-tendered and Baltimore declined its $4MM club option on Danny Coulombe.  However, it looks like Albert Suarez could be returning to the relief ranks now that Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano have been signed to join the rotation.  (We’re cheating the post’s premise a bit with this entry, as the Orioles’ 1.4 bWAR for pinch-hitters is technically their lowest of the positions listed by Baseball Reference.  However, since that 1.4 number is one of the better totals of any pinch-hitting group in baseball, the bullpen can more accurately be described as the weakest of the two positions.)

Rangers (Catcher, -0.1 bWAR): Jonah Heim was a big part of Texas’ 2023 championship team, but he had a rough season in 2024.  The Rangers are primarily counting on Heim to bounce back, but since he played in 279 regular-season and postseason games over the last two seasons, the addition of Kyle Higashioka should allow Heim to get more rest.  Higashioka signed a two-year deal worth $13.5MM in guaranteed money, which indicates that he and Heim will probably split the playing time in something closer to a timeshare rather than Higashioka acting strictly as a backup.  To add even more depth behind the plate, Texas also signed former two-time Gold Glover Tucker Barnhart to a minor league contract.

Rays (Catcher, 0.2 bWAR): Death, taxes, and the Rays trying to find an everyday catcher….some things never change.  Tampa Bay was aggressive in trying to obtain a one-year fix by signing Danny Jansen to a deal worth $8.5MM in guaranteed money, in the hopes that Jansen can rebound from a rough 2024 campaign.  Jansen generally posted strong numbers for the Blue Jays when he was able to avoid the injured list, but it seemed like the injuries caught up to him last year, particularly after he suffered a fracture in his wrist during Spring Training.  The Rays will happily welcome Jansen getting back to anything close to his old form, and Ben Rortvedt (last year’s most regular backstop) remains on the roster as the backup.

Red Sox (First base, -0.1 bWAR): The aforementioned Triston Casas played in only 63 games last season due to torn cartilage in his ribcage, and while he hit well over his 236 PA as a first baseman, it wasn’t enough to drag Boston’s first base corps over the replacement-level threshold.  Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been insistent that the Sox aren’t looking to move Casas, and that Rafael Devers will remain at third base rather than shifted over to first base (perhaps to make room for a third base upgrade like Alex Bregman).  For the moment, the first base spot looks solid enough just by dint of Casas having a healthy and productive 2025 campaign, but things could be shaken up quickly if a trade does indeed happen.

Royals (Left field, -0.7 bWAR): The Royals also received -0.1 bWAR from the right field position, and only three teams got less from their outfielders than Kansas City’s collective 1.0 outfield bWAR in 2024.  Former top prospect and incumbent left fielder MJ Melendez has yet to break out after three MLB seasons, plus veteran Hunter Renfroe is back in right field after exercising his $7.5MM player option for the 2025 season.  It wouldn’t be a surprise if either is moved to bench duty now since the corner outfield is a natural spot for the Royals to add a big hitter.  Some left field help might come from an unusual source, as both new acquisition Jonathan India and Michael Massey are apparently willing to move from second base to left field if it’ll help the team (and garner them more regular playing time).  Stay tuned to this situation, as now that K.C. is firmly back in playoff contention, the Royals should be more aggressive in shoring up the lineup to try and make a deeper October run.

Tigers (Shortstop, -0.3 bWAR): No team got less from the shortstop position than the Tigers, as Javier Baez endured a brutal season before undergoing a hip surgery in August.  With three years and $73MM still remaining on Baez’s contract, Detroit can only hope that improved health for Baez can salvage that has been a bust of a signing over the first three seasons of that deal, but the Tigers have already eyed ways to reduce Baez’s playing time.  Trey Sweeney might well end up getting the majority of shortstop time in 2025, but Ha-Seong Kim is also on Detroit’s radar as a possible shortstop candidate.

Twins (Second base, -0.1 bWAR): There’s plenty of fluidity around Minnesota’s infield, as any of Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Edouard Julien, or utilityman Willi Castro could be slotted in at second base next season, depending on how the Twins might address first base now that Carlos Santana has signed with Cleveland.  A healthy breakout year from Lewis or Lee at any position would be a massive help for a Twins club in a payroll crunch, as it doesn’t look like Minnesota will have much of anything to spend on new upgrades.

White Sox (Catcher, -1.8 bWAR): Korey Lee, Martin Maldonado, and Chuckie Robinson combined to give Chicago the least production of any catching corps in baseball.  Matt Thaiss was acquired from the Cubs to pair with Lee as the catching tandem for now, but highly-touted prospects Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel should both make their big league debuts at some point in 2025.  It will not surprise you to learn that a 121-loss team had plenty of weak links, as the White Sox got negative bWAR totals from the DH, left field, right field, second base, and third base positions.  To give you an idea of how little the Sox got from their position players in 2024, consider that the Marlins’ 2.1 bWAR from non-pitchers ranked Miami 29th of 30 teams.  The Sox were 30th, with a stunning -6.7 bWAR.

Yankees (First base, -0.1 bWAR): After Anthony Rizzo’s club option was declined, the Yankees checked in several first base candidates and technically came away with two, as Cody Bellinger was first acquired in a trade with the Cubs.  Signing Goldschmidt to a one-year, $12.5MM deal will now push Bellinger into outfield duty, and the Yankees are hoping that a change of scenery allows both former NL MVPs to rediscover some of their old form.  Focusing on Goldschmidt, the 37-year-old was hampered by a very rough first half that resulted in the worst overall season of his 14-year career, but his stronger second half and overall impressive hard-contact numbers hint that Goldschmidt has more to offer.  New York doesn’t even need prime Goldschmidt, as even getting a repeat of his solid 2023 numbers (122 wRC+ over 687 PA with the Cardinals) would be a substantial upgrade.