Offseason Week 12 Recap | Jan. 21 - Jan. 27
Looking at What Happend During Week 12 of the 2024/25 MLB Offseason
We are now only a few weeks from Spring Training, which means that we only have a few more weekly recaps before the offseason is over. Today, we are going to be looking at the few things that happened during this past week of the 2024-2025 MLB offseason.
Free Agent Signings
Cleveland Brings In Reliever | By Guest Writer:
The Cleveland Guardians have been developing great prospects, and then once they’re worth money, they trade them. Think about it, Lindor to the Mets, Edwin Encarnacion got traded, Yan Gomes to the Nats where he won a World Series, and Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks just a few weeks ago. If Beiber hadn’t gotten hurt he’d be a New York Yankee right now. Even as they trade stars away, they are usually competitive, and make the playoffs. The main reason is their pitching, and last year they had the best bullpen in the MLB.
Now they’ve added Paul Sewald to that bullpen off free agency on a 1-year, $7M deal.The Vegas native has pitched in 359 regular season games in his career, with a 4.09 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. Sewald is 20-25 in his career with 450 strikeouts in 376.1 innings pitched. He was 1-2 last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 42 games. He had a 4.31 ERA, 43 strikeouts, and 10 walked batters in 39.2 innings pitched. He also had 16 saves and one hold. A hold is when a middle reliever keeps the lead in a 3 or less run game in the 7th and/or 8th innings. Sewald has not been very good in the postseason though, as in 13.1 innings he has a 1.35 WHIP and a 8.10 ERA. That means he has 12 earned runs allowed. He also has a blown save. Overall, Sewald won’t be another Clase for the Guards, but he’s a solid addition to the ‘pen as a setup guy in the 6th/7th inning as long as he keeps the ERA and WHIP low and keeps the lead they have so often.
Braves Add Veteran Outfielder
This offseason was pretty quiet for the Atlanta Braves before they made a splash throughout the league by signing OF Jurickson Profar to a 3-year, $42 million contract. The switch-hitting Profar hit .280/.380/.459 with 24 homeruns & 85 RBIs for the San Diego Padres in 2024, being selected to the All-Star Game in July. Profar, a utility player who spends most of his time in the outfield will most likely become the starting left fielder for Atlanta in 2025, while possibly spending time as the designated hitter throughout the season.
L.A. Signs Top Free Agent on the Market
The past few years, The Los Angeles Dodgers have been known for spending an ample amount of money and for their ability to pull in free agents coming from Japan and South Korea, which can be showed by their signings of Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, & Hyeseong Kim. Recently, the Dodgers added yet another superstar from eastern Asia in Roki Sasaki. However, this time, the Dodgers didn’t need money to draw Sasaki into L.A., Sasaki chose the Dodgers because of multiple factors.
Due to Sasaki being posted before his age 25 season, he had to sign a minor league contract with the Dodgers, which gives the Dodgers 6 years of club control and gives Sasaki a rookie salary along with the $6.5 million singing bonus Sasaki received.
Sasaki had a record of 29-15 with a 2.10 ERA & 505 strikeouts in 394.2 innings throughout his 4 seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan. So far, the highlight of his career, was on April 10th, 2022, when he pitched an incredible perfect game with a total of 19 strikeouts. Now, Sasaki looks to continue his dominance on the mound in the United States, playing Major League Baseball.
Dodgers Add Superstar Reliever
In addition to the massive signing of Roki Sasaki, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed All-Star reliever Tanner Scott to a 4-year, $72M deal. Scott, who spent the 2024 season with the Miami Marlins & L.A.’s rival San Diego Padres, went 9-6 with a 1.75 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 72 innings throughout 72 games. Scott joins Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, & others in the Dodgers’ bullpen.
Mets Sign Reliever To Strengthen ‘Pen
After the New York Mets signed Juan Soto to a record-breaking contract, they stayed relatively quiet when speaking about signings. However, New York recently added a top reliever on the market in A.J. Minter. Minter’s contract is a 2-year, $22 million deal. Minter, who was on the Mets’ division rival Atlanta Braves last year, went 5-4 with an ERA of 2.62 and 35 strikeouts in 34.1 innings.
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