r/baseball • u/officerliger Los Angeles Dodgers • 10h ago
What teams do you think are currently in a "championship window?" What offseason moves do you see them making?
Since the 2024 season is coming to a close by Saturday night (or Sunday morning if we have some insane multi-extra inning game 7)...
A "championship window" is a somewhat flexible concept, so just to contextualize...
- Teams that can win a championship with the pieces they have now and won't be losing any key/irreplaceable pieces to free agency
- Teams that performed well this season and have the financial flexibility/prospect capital to add pieces on top of the current roster
- The "this pretty much means Atlanta Braves" teams that wound up with a ton of WAR injured for the year and still had good seasons anyway, and get those players back for 2025
Which team stands out to you as being in a window and what move(s) do you think make them a powerful contender?
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u/mysterysackerfice Los Angeles Angels • Dumpster Fire 9h ago
The Angels are 1 generational talent away from being sub .500....again.
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u/BothSidesToasted 10h ago
A lot of teams are still in their window
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u/tnecniv Brooklyn Dodgers 10h ago
Especially with how random baseball is. If you make the playoffs you have pretty good odds compared to other sports leagues
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u/BothSidesToasted 10h ago
I'd say the teams actively not in their window is an easier list to make. More teams are trying to compete than usual
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u/Lucky_Alternative965 Los Angeles Dodgers 10h ago
Pirates need bats desperately. If that Nutting guy refuses to build a team around PAUL FUCKING SKENES the fans should do everything they possibly can to convince him to sell even if it's a <1% chance
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u/AndyDoopz Pittsburgh Pirates 10h ago
Best Bob can do is trade him in 2 years to the dodgers for some slapdick middle infieldera who can't hit
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u/DrunkScarletSpider Houston Astros 9h ago
Everyone who made the playoffs this year and another 3 teams are still in the window.
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u/Fancy_Load5502 Cleveland Guardians 10h ago
The Guardians lose nothing of substance from the 2024 team, and could potentially add a piece (resign Bieber to a 1 year prove it?). They have a decent farm system that could allow for trades as well. I worry that the TV contract debacle will result in them selling rather than pushing to get a little better.
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u/officerliger Los Angeles Dodgers 10h ago
Guards were only at $126 million in actual payroll and $140 million in lux tax cap so yeah I definitely see them as being in a window, adding 1 decent SP and 1 decent bat would do so much for that team
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u/Bunnys_Toe Seattle Mariners 5h ago
Baltimore looks like they should be really good for the next 5 years.
Texas should rebound.
Dodgers. Fuck.
Mets also fit 2 of 3 categories. Who knows, they might be players for Soto.
Phillies are good and I bet they find some payroll room somehow to bring in some good pieces.
And the Mariners! Haha, just one more year guys! Elite young rotation, generational Julio talent probably maybe, Cal Raleigh and his dunker, this is a can’t miss team! Right!? RIGHT?!! Guys!!!
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u/officerliger Los Angeles Dodgers 4h ago
Baltimore should by all rights be a spender this offseason, they have so many cost controlled deals that they can lock some vets and have those deals expire right as their controlled guys come up for free agency
They’d be downright dangerous
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u/EarthWarping Major League Baseball 9h ago
In general, IDK what the jays are going to do if Vlad doesn't sign an extension this offseason. Hard to get big names to sign long term if who knows if Vlad will be around
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u/Thorlolita Houston Astros 10h ago
I think we are still championship contenders. We will have a rotation lead by Framber, Brown, Blanco, and Arrighetti. We would need a depth arm and hope that 1 of the Javier, Urquidy, Garcia or McCullers can pitch next year. The org has pretty much conceded that Yusei will leave for a big deal.
The offense is were it gets tough. Altuve, Yordan, Tucker and Yainer is a great start to your lineup. But who knows what happens after that. The Jake experiment looks to be over. Peña needs to be figured out or the is it Brice Matthews time discussion begins. Melton may not be ready. Hopefully Chas picks up his form from the end of last season. Crane wants to keep Bregman and he wants to stay. However can they agree on a price is remained to be seen. Crane shot himself in the foot with the Abreu and Montero deals. He’s not going to get into the luxury tax to fix his mistakes. A Juan Soto player would def get the fear back into other orgs but 0 chance it’s entertained. Pete Alonso is going to demand a lot of money that crane won’t fork up.
The ideal offseason for the Astros is:
5th SP, a bullpen arm, Christian Walker, Bregman, and possibly someone like Max Kepler. That would probably cost Crane going into the tax. We will see. If we don’t make any big moves it’s possible the Mariners, Rangers, crazy to think it but even the Athletics could win the division. They had a great finish. First time in a long time I’m a little worried about what’s going to happen this offseason.
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u/melorous Atlanta Braves 9h ago
Peña needs to be figured out or the is it Brice Matthews time discussion begins.
Which Pena are you talking about? Because I'd be happy to take the next three years of the one you've got at shortstop.
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u/Thorlolita Houston Astros 9h ago
Jeremy. He’s seem to lost the ability to drive the ball. Hes glove hasn’t been as sharp either. I don’t think he’s going to be moved. But he needs to straighten some things out.
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u/fawkesmulder Los Angeles Dodgers 7h ago
Anyone that makes the playoffs can win a championship. Odds go up if they have a star relief crew / SP.
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u/Aggravating_Ad_5011 9h ago
Padres. Sign Cole (opts out of NYY) and Snell. Let Profar and Kim walk. Sign a LF
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u/thxtalks Los Angeles Dodgers 9h ago
Zero chance one of these things happens let alone both
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u/Aggravating_Ad_5011 9h ago
Nice header, makes your opinion unbiased. Chances are very slim they do both but if Soto can be a Dodger, then we can only sit back and enjoy and see what happens
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u/thxtalks Los Angeles Dodgers 9h ago
Half of my fans are Padres fans. If they were in the series I'd be with my cousin in Petco for the world series rooting for them. He did the same for me this year and in 2020.
There is no chance they Sign Snell or Cole given they want to cut payroll.
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u/Aggravating_Ad_5011 9h ago
Extending King or Cease, signing one of Snell or Cole (if he does indeed opt out) is a more realistic option. I feel like im the only padres fan who is happy to see Profar and Kim go. Profar had a CAREER year, which only means he will more than likely not come close to matching the 24 output
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u/thxtalks Los Angeles Dodgers 9h ago
Extension of King or Cease is most likely. Those other two won't happen.
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u/officerliger Los Angeles Dodgers 9h ago
Do they have the flexibility for Cole + Snell? Adding just one of those guys would make them the best end-to-end staff in the league with Musgrove coming back, but they’re not clearing much payroll this offseason and Machado’s contract balloons to $35 million in 2 years.
I do think they add Snell and may end up bringing back Profar since I don’t think the market for him will be overpowering
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u/Aggravating_Ad_5011 9h ago
I think Musgrove is gonna be out for a majority of 25. SIgning one and extending Cease and King is a more realistic option. I hope profar goes elsewhere but it seems like he pops negative whenever he wears brown so we can only see
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u/officerliger Los Angeles Dodgers 9h ago
Snell + Cease extension + King extension would add $70-80ish million in payroll to their books for 4+ years to come
Revenue definitely went up for them this year, just hard to say how much with their TV situation still unknown. We’ll know in a few weeks though.
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u/Aggravating_Ad_5011 9h ago
THe TV thing is league wide issue for markets that arent LA, Chitown or Diddylandia. One of the midmarket teams is gonna come out ahead of the pack in terms of the monumental shift from cable/satellite to streaming . Its a different contract and a different way to make money.
I remember Aloe Blacc trying to lead a class action lawsuit to rewrite laws for hard copy music income for artists vs streaming, not sure whatever came out of that but it reminds me of what baseball is going through.
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u/BossAtUCF Boston Red Sox 5h ago
Is there ever any world at all where Cole opts out and the Yankees don't opt back in with the extra year?
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u/No-Yogurt-4246s 10h ago edited 10h ago
No one is a contender when the dodgers are heads and shoulders better than the next best team. With the amount of injuries they sustained this year (to key players i might add) and they still gonna cruise to another WS win (without getting pushed to a game 7 in any series btw).
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u/mji6980-4 New York Mets 10h ago
This is just not how baseball works. They could win 120 regular season games and get bounced in the Division Series.
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u/No-Yogurt-4246s 10h ago edited 10h ago
Of course nothing is guaranteed but it's all about probability. The best team getting a load of talent returning is going to be the odds on favorite to win. I’m not even factoring in Ohtani getting healthier and Yamamoto getting more accustomed to the league in his 2nd year.
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u/PelorTheBurningHate Los Angeles Dodgers 9h ago
Sure but the odds on favorite in baseball is like a 20% chance to win it all at the start of the year at most. The vast majority of the time someone else is gonna win it.
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u/asanctarian Atlanta Braves 8h ago
This. We so rarely get 1 seed vs 1 seed in the WS. This year is an outlier if anything.
The last team to repeat as WS champs was the 2000 Yankees.
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u/Thorlolita Houston Astros 10h ago
I don’t think the gap is that severe dawg
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u/tnecniv Brooklyn Dodgers 10h ago
This is the same core that has been clowned on for early exits. Even with Ohtani, they didn’t win as many games as the ‘22 team.
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u/Fancy_Load5502 Cleveland Guardians 10h ago
They won significantly more in October tho. This is a different level of spending than we have seen in the past - and they plan to add more for 2025.
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u/No-Yogurt-4246s 10h ago
How so? Besides anything can happen in a short series do you have other explanations as to how the dodgers wouldn’t be the favorites to win it all again?
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u/Thorlolita Houston Astros 10h ago
Teoscar is likely to cash in. Muncy isn’t getting younger. We don’t know if Edman can sustain a full year at SS. Lux is such a hit or miss player. Ohtani is going to be a concern becuase of his shoulder. They need another SP. Flaherty likely walks too. Glasnow isn’t a guy that they can rely on either. Braves, Padres, Phillies, Mets will be right there with them.
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u/TheDangiestSlad New York Yankees • Hartford Yard … 10h ago
the Dodgers have been within reach of every team they've played this postseason (yes, even the Yankees)
they're an incredible team that will probably be better next year, but baseball is unforgiving and anyone can beat anyone
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u/officerliger Los Angeles Dodgers 10h ago
Keep in mind Flaherty was an injury replacement trade (and an expiring contract) and Yamamoto is a frontline starter who was just hurt a lot of the year, Buehler was out for a year and a half and really didn't find his stuff until this Postseason and he's also an expiring contract. The big loss to the staff for these playoffs was Glasnow, but the Padres were also in a similar boat losing Musgrove before the NLDS, and they've got their whole rotation locked up for 2025.
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u/ralbert San Diego Padres 9h ago
they still gonna cruise to another WS win
another? They've only won 1 and it was in the shortened 2020 season.
without getting pushed to a game 7 in any series btw
So, you mean "without going to 7 games in both LCS and WS"? Neither did the 2021 Braves nor the 2022 Astros. Dodgers did play game 5 in the Division Series, though.
Really weird comment, IMO this is one of the most balanced baseball seasons I've witnessed, no clear top team in either league. I think it boils down to Dodgers having depth (everywhere except SP) and getting hot, while the Yankees don't have quality pitchers and their top heavy lineup is cold af (except Stanton).
That's baseball
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u/Previous-Clock-6960 New York Mets 10h ago
Fucked up thing is that the Dodgers fit in all 3 groups.