3. The team that had the third best off-season has to go to the Arizona Diamondbacks. People might find this questionable because the D'backs have only made two moves this off-season. The thing is those two moves they made were exactly what they needed. You don't have to sign the biggest names or the most names over the off-season to have made this list. I look at what the team needs and how they addressed those needs. Arizona had one major problem last season and that was pitching. The D'backs had a few injuries last year, and a lot of young pitchers. This is something that has been a recurring thing. Now, I know that Zach Greinke is a big name pitcher, but it is the type of pitcher he is that makes this a good deal. Greinke is durable, and hasn't had any injuries the last couple years. If the D'backs would have signed Johnny Cueto I wouldn't of put them in the top three. The other move the D'backs made was trading for Shelby Miller. Just like Greinke, Miller has been very durable in his first couple big league seasons. Why I really like the Shelby Miller trade is the fact he is 24 years old, and the D'backs have control over him until 2019, when he becomes a free agent. People might not of realized that the D'backs had the number one offense and defense last year in the National League. All this team needed was to add starting pitchers, and I truly believe they added the right ones.
2. I truly struggled trying to pick between the San Francisco Giants and the Boston Red Sox. Both of these teams made big moves this off-season, but I am going to have to go with the Boston Red Sox. I normally hate the Boston Red Sox off-seasons, but for once they made the right moves. The reason I didn't pick the Giants is because Cueto and Samardzija are not as reliable as a David Price or Craig Kimbrel. Everyone knows the Red Sox starting rotation was just awful last year, and the bullpen wasn't any better. This off-season the Red Sox addressed those problems a lot better than they did the previous year. Craig Kimbrel is debatably the best closer in baseball every year, and David Price has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the game. The Red Sox also traded to get, in my opinion, an future star relief pitcher in Carson Smith, from the Seattle Mariners. Smith had is break out year last season and has shown the potential to become a stud. Smith is very tall standing at a solid 6'6, and is 26 years old. The best part of the deal is the control the Red Sox have over Smith, who doesn't become a free agent until the 2021 off-season. The Red Sox recovered this off-season by making the moves they should have made last year, but hey better late than never.
1. This wasn't a very hard decision to pick the number one team, but I hate saying that it was the Chicago Cubs. Seeing how the Cubs finished this past season, you would think they didn't need much this off-season. Well, Theo Epstein has decided the Cubs have waited long enough for a World Series and made the moves necessary to give them a great chance to win it all. The Cubs signed the prize free agent this off-season in Jason Heyward. They followed that up with the number one utility player in the game in Ben Zobrist. Both of those moves weren't necessary for them to make, but they did it anyways. The two other moves they made were the two moves they needed to make this off-season. The only weakness the Cubs had last year was the back end of their starting rotation, and a solid relief pitcher. They solved those problems when they signed John Lackey, and Rex Brothers. Lackey has been one of the best post season pitchers I have ever seen with my own eyes. Lackey will also bring some much needed veteran presence to that Cubs clubhouse. The Cubs needed to add a solid relief pitcher, and ideally a left handed pitcher, Rex Brothers is just that. There is something to watch with Rex Brothers that could possibly make this a bust. Brothers was coming off his worst season of his career in 2014, and follows that up with getting hurt last season. The one positive thing is Brothers was pitching in Colorado, so you take those statistics with a grain of salt. The Cubs went above and beyond this off-season and it should be fun to see what they do next season.
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