Offseason Needs: National League East

The virtual Winter Meetings are entering a second week. With activity and rumors picking up around Major League Baseball, I am going to go division by division over the next week to suggest what moves each team should make this offseason.

The National League East feels like the right place to start this series after controlling the news cycle around baseball for much of the offseason thanks to new ownership and three new GMs.

New York Mets

The Mets have already addressed three major needs this offseason with Steve Cohen officially taking over as majority owner, reportedly hiring Jared Porter as GM and reportedly bringing in James McCann on a 4-year, $40 million deal.

Fans want more and the Mets should too. The team has underperformed since reaching the World Series in 2015, and now has an owner willing to spend like a big market club. The next need the Mets should address is going after George Springer.

Springer was drafted by the Astros out of the University of Connecticut and is a native of Avon, CT, which is around two-hours away from New York City. He would instantly improve the Mets in centerfield both defensively over last year’s primary centerfielder Brandon Nimmo, who’s defensive metrics are much better in leftfield. Springer offensively carries a career slash line of .270/.361/.491 with 174 home runs, which should make Jacob deGrom smile because he should finally be able to get run support.

Signing Springer would allow the Mets to play Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith in the corners while moving J.D. Davis to third full-time and use Jeff McNeil at second to replace the suspended Robinson Cano.

There have been reports that the Mets will only be picking one between Springer and Bauer, but when you have a rotation that already features deGrom, a returning Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard, and the surprising David Peterson, I feel outfield is the bigger need. To add some depth to the rotation, I think there are some lesser priced free agents like Anthony DeSclafani (career 4.29 ERA) and J.A. Happ (age 38 coming off a 3.47 ERA in 2020) that the Mets could add to provide solid innings in the back of the rotation.

Speaking of less money to provide solid innings, the Mets need another arm to help pitch the late innings, and that arm is Keone Kela. He has closing experience in Texas where he saved over 20 games in back-to-back seasons but did not get near the same save opportunities in Pittsburgh thanks to injuries. When he did take the mound, Kela pitched to a 2.49 ERA and at 28 years old, he may be the smart money add to help the Mets bullpen find some consistency.

Miami Marlins

The Marlins probably had the second biggest announcement of the offseason behind Cohen when they named Kim Ng as the first female GM in baseball history as well as the most qualified first-time GM in baseball.

Ng takes over the helm of an organization with a ton of young talent, the National League Manager of the Year and coming off a shocking playoff run. They have already brought back Starling Marte, so I feel confident in saying they plan to make a playoff push again this season.

To do that, the biggest fix lies in the bullpen. Last year the team had a 5.50 ERA, which was third worst in the National League. The best way to fix a bullpen is to add a consistent, reliable closer. Brad Hand led the entire MLB with 16 saves in 2020, which was a solid bounce back after some injuries hampered him down the stretch in 2019. These same injuries should make Hand’s price drop, which will allow the Marlins to target other key pieces for the pen. Shane Greene (2.60 ERA over 27.2 innings in 2020) and Pedro Báez (career 3.03 ERA and 3.6 WAR) would be two other pieces that alongside Hand would make the Marlins bullpen a lot stronger in 2021.

Another area the Marlins could definitely use an upgrade is behind the plate. J.T. Realmuto is a former Marlin, who wanted out a few years ago, so I doubt he would sign back, so it would be on to plan connection for Ng and team President Derek Jeter. Gary Sánchez needs a change of scenery and Ng could call up her former boss Brian Cashman and get that change. I think Jorge Alfaro and a PTBNL would probably enough for the Yankees to get that deal done and allow the Marlins to work with Sánchez outside of the New York media to get him back to the power hitting presence he was a few years ago.

Philadelphia Phillies

Dave Dombrowski is now in charge and his new boss has already said they would not move Zach Wheeler for Babe Ruth, so I think Dombrowski’s marching orders are to win sooner rather than later.

First step in doing that is to keep Bryce Harper and Joe Girardi happy. Re-signing Realmuto and Didi Gregorius would accomplish both those tasks. Realmuto is the best catcher in baseball, and you need to pay him and keep him in the fold. Gregorius is not going to get a ton of play on the market so placing him at short on another one-year deal would get him into a place where a lot of teams are going to have needs next year with the loaded class.

Alec Bohm is now entrenched at third, so Jean Segura is expendable. There are also rumors that they want to move on from Vince Velasquez, so why not combine the two and trade Segura and Velasquez to Seattle for Donovan Walton and Yusei Kikuchi. Segura can play third in Seattle while Seager moves to full-time DH, Velasquez and Kikuchi both need a fresh home, and Walton is blocked by Shed Long in Seattle, but would have a home at second in Philadelphia.

Finally, Archie Bradley seems like a man without a country despite being talented (four straight seasons with an ERA under 3.70), but he would be the perfect fit to help fix the struggles the Phillies pen had last year. Re-signing José Álvarez (3.59 career ERA) would also help.

Washington Nationals

Sign Alex Avila to platoon at catcher with Yan Gomes. Avila has struggled the last few years with the bat but is still solid behind the plate and is a veteran that might see his offense improve in a platoon role. He is a career .240 hitter against RHP whereas he is just hitting .213 against LHP, and Gomes is a career .233 hitter against RHP but is hitting .278 against LHP.

Sign Travis Shaw to be the left-handed power bat (105 homers in six seasons) that the lineup is missing. Shaw can play third if Carter Kieboom struggles, or he could move over to first base where is equally strong defensively (nine defensive runs saved above average at third and seven at first over his career).

Finally, you need to replace Sean Doolittle at the back end of the bullpen, so I would go out and sign Kirby Yates. Throw out 2020 because he was hurt and go back to 2019 where he appeared in 60 games going 41-for-43 in save opportunities. That will be a consistent arm to lock down the ninth in what should be a very competitive division.

Atlanta Braves

The Braves have already gone after the biggest weakness of the team last year by adding Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly to the rotation. The next key is the bullpen. Re-signing Mark Melancon and adding a Pedro Strop (career 8.9 WAR and 3.22 ERA) would be a great help in the late innings.

Finally, the Braves outfield looks solid with Acuña, Inciarte and Pache to where adding another outfielder is not a big need. I think Adam Duvall would be a good piece to re-sign even if the DH isn’t back in the National League because that would be a big bat (113 career home runs) to work in and give one of the others an off day or just as a pinch-hit threat.