Grading Every MLB Team's Offseason So Far: NL East

Grading the offseason acquisitions made thus far by each of the five NL East teams.

1. Miami Marlins: D+

The Marlins continued their sell-off this offseason by trading LHP Jesus Luzardo to the Phillies and 3B/1B Jake Burger to the Rangers. Luzardo and Burger join Luis Arraez, Jazz Chisholm, Tanner Scott, Josh Bell, Bryan De La Cruz, AJ Puk, Trevor Rogers, and others as notable players traded by the Marlins within the past calendar year.

Miami has made it clear that they’ll do very little in big league free agency until they think their window is open. For that reason, there isn’t much to grade.

One thing I think the Marlins should do is sign a cheap veteran bat to a 1-year contract. The primary options are Jason Heyward, Justin Turner, and Anthony Rizzo. Bringing in one of those three players would provide a much-needed sense of leadership and mentorship in the clubhouse, as the oldest player on the 40-man roster is currently Jonah Bride, who is 29 and has only played 169 games at the big league level.

2. Washington Nationals: C

After years of rebuilding, the Nationals young core is finally coming together. We saw DJ Herz, Dylan Crews, and James Wood debut in 2024, with Brady House knocking on the door in Triple-A.

The Nationals still aren’t doing enough to compete with the Mets, Phillies, and Braves, but they could be right there by next offseason.

The only notable moves the Nationals made this offseason were trading for Nathaniel Lowe and signing Mike Soroka to a 1-year deal.

Lowe has been a solid bat with the Rangers, posting an average OPS of .791 over the past four seasons. He’ll turn 30 years old during the 2025 season and hit free agency after the 2026 season.

Nathaniel Lowe sends everyone home with a walk-off homer in extras, via Baseball Savant.

Soroka was the Braves top-ranked prospect in 2019, but injuries derailed his Braves tenure, as he missed the entirety of 2021 and 2022. He returned in 2023 for only 32.1 innings before being shipped off to the White Sox as part of a package for Aaron Bummer.

Soroka posted a 4.74 ERA in just under 80 innings with the White Sox, appearing in 9 games as a starter and 16 as a reliever. He had a career-worst 5.0 BB9 in 2024, a dramatic dip from his 2.1 BB9 from when he was an All-Star in 2019.

If the Nationals figure out Soroka’s command issues and get a full season out of him, he can be a nice back end of the rotation piece.

Michael Soroka strikes out nine in seven scoreless frames at Petco Park, via MLBAM and MLB.com.

Atlanta Braves: F

Following a Wild Card round exit in 2024, the Braves entered the offseason with plenty of holes to fill. They need at least one more quality starting pitcher. They need a new shortstop. They need another outfielder. They need another catcher. They need another reliever.

And what have the Braves done to fill these holes? Virtually nothing.

Their most significant move to date was signing Bryan De La Cruz to a split contract. Mind you that after being traded to the Pirates at the deadline, he posted a -1.2 bWAR with a 42 OPS+ in only 44 games.

The Braves still have one of the best rosters in the league when healthy, but their window could start to close if they keep refusing to add to their core.

Bryan De La Cruz opens the scoring with a solo home run off Lance Lynn in St. Louis, via Baseball Savant.

Phillies: B

The Phillies offseason thus far has been solid to say the least. They added LHP Jesus Luzardo via trade, as well as OF Max Kepler and RHP Jordan Romano via free agency.

The Jesus Luzardo trade was by far their biggest splash. Luzardo is coming off an injury-riddled 2024 campaign where he only made 12 appearances while posting a 5.00 ERA and 4.26 FIP. His last fully healthy season, 2023, was very promising. He made all 32 of his starts, posting a 131 ERA+ and 3.55 FIP. Additionally, Luzardo’s 208 strikeouts in 2023 set the Marlins franchise record for the most strikeouts in a season by a lefty, passing Al Leiter’s 1996 total of 200.

Luzardo has two more seasons of club control remaining, so as long as he stays healthy, he should be a very nice middle of the rotation piece for the Phillies over at least the next two years.

Jesus Luzardo tosses six scoreless frames in his 30th start of 2023, via MLBAM and MLB.com.

Max Kepler is coming off a down year for the Twins, where he recorded an underwhelming 91 OPS+ in 399 plate appearances. In 2023, however, he posted a 123 WRC+ in 491 plate appearances, which was top 50 in the league among players with at least 450 plate appearances.

Kepler has been very inconsistent over the past six years, and his overall numbers are pretty average. In 653 games played from his age 26-31 seasons, he had a 13.0 bWAR with a 107 OPS+ and 105 home runs.

At minimum, the Phillies are getting a slightly below average hitter who plays good defense in a corner outfield spot.

Max Kepler hits his 2nd homer of the game, via Baseball Savant.

Like Kepler, the Phillies also bought low on Jordan Romano. After undergoing arthroscopic surgery, the now-former Blue Jay missed most of the 2024 season. In his limited time, he struggled statistically, posting a 6.17 FIP and 8.6 SO9 in 13.2 innings.

However, Romano was generally considered to be one of the best relievers in baseball before last season. In 186 innings from 2021-2023, Romano had 95 saves, 230 strikeouts, and a 3.29 SO/BB. Furthermore, his 3.13 FIP ranked 5th among relievers with at least 180 innings pitched from 2021-2023.

Romano is only 31 years old, so if he stays healthy, there’s a good chance he will return to his 2021-2023 form.

Jordan Romano strikes out Julio Rodriguez in a save situation, via Baseball Savant.

Overall, the Phillies didn’t make any blockbuster moves that’ll drastically improve their team, but they added three solid pieces while not losing any of their main contributors from last season.

New York Mets: A

Over the past two years, the Mets have been one of the most improved teams in the league. The first three years under Steve Cohen were shaky, to say the least, as the Mets had two managers, one 80+ win season, and were involved in a phantom IL scandal that put now-former GM Billy Eppler on the ineligible list for the 2024 season.

After a hectic first 3 seasons under Steve Cohen, it seems like the Mets are finally trending in the right direction. The Mets started the 2024 season 0-5, snuck into the postseason on the final day of the regular season with an 89-73 record, beat the Brewers in the Wild Card thanks to a go-ahead home run by Pete Alonso, took down the Phillies in the NLDS, before falling short in the NLCS against the Dodgers.

The Mets followed up on their newfound success by signing Juan Soto to the largest contract in MLB history: 15 years, 765 million dollars.

Outside of reigning MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, there isn’t a player with a more impactful bat than Juan Soto. Among the 11 other players who have recorded 4,000 or more plate appearances since 2018, none have a higher WRC+, wOBA, or walk rate. Simply put, Soto is one of this generation's greatest and most consistent hitters.

Juan Soto’s massive game, via MLBAM and MLB.com.

The Mets were not done after signing Soto, as they brought back LHP Sean Manaea on a 3-year, $75 million contract. Manaea had a bounce-back campaign in 2024, throwing over 180 innings for the first time and posting a career-best ERA of 3.47. A lot of Manaea’s 2024 success can be credited to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who tweaked Manaea’s arm slot and re-established his arsenal. Manaea relied on his sinker and sweeper rather than his fastball and changeup, which were his main pitches with San Diego and San Francisco.

Sean Manaea strikes out Shohei Ohtani in the NLCS, via Baseball Savant.

The sole reason why I didn’t give the Mets an A+ grade is because they have yet to re-sign Pete Alonso, who’s hit the most home runs in the NL since 2019.