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Grading the NL East's offseason: How have the division's teams improved (or not) so far this winter?

The Mets have made moves to be significantly better in 2025. The Braves and Nationals? Not so much

jake mintz
Senior writer
·8-min read

There are two ways to look at the NL East this winter.

Technically, no division has spent more money in free agency. Through that lens, the NL East is a behemoth, a juggernaut, a financial force of nature.

However, an overwhelming amount of that spending went to one man: Juan Soto. Remove Soto from the equation, and the division’s $972.75 million outlay shrinks to $207.75 million, a smaller figure than that of the AL East, AL West and NL West.

That points to a bigger story. Besides Soto, this division, which sent three teams to the playoffs in 2024, has been relatively inactive so far this offseason.

Let’s go team by team and break down how the Phillies, Mets, Braves, Nationals and Marlins have approached the offseason so far.

  • Acquired SP Jesús Luzardo via trade from the Miami Marlins

  • Signed RP Jordan Romano to a 1-year deal

  • Signed OF Max Kepler to a 1-year deal

  • Signed SP/RP Joe Ross to a 1-year deal

The defending NL East champs entered the offseason much earlier than they would’ve liked, thudding out of the playoffs in a dispiriting NLDS loss to the Mets on Oct. 9. In the aftermath, all reports indicated that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would oversee a roster refresh in the winter. For the second consecutive October, the Phillies’ vaunted offense had imploded on the big stage beneath an avalanche of strikeouts. Shaking things up seemed logical, prudent. Veteran stalwarts such as Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner wouldn’t be dealt, but All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm — whose late-season struggles resulted in a surprise NLDS benching — was rumored to be available via trade.

But a deal never materialized, not for Bohm or any other member of the Phillies’ lineup. Instead, Dombrowski doubled down on starting pitching, reinforcing what was already a strength of his club. Acquiring Jesús Luzardo to be the team’s No. 5 starter could prove to be a real needle-moving transaction. Just two years ago, the southpaw started Game 1 of the 2023 wild-card series for the Marlins against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Injuries limited him in 2024, but Luzardo is one season removed from being one of the game’s more effective starters.

On offense, the signing of Max Kepler on a one-year deal to be the everyday left fielder represents Philadelphia’s only significant addition. Kepler, like Luzardo, was stymied by injuries in ‘24 after delivering a stellar ‘23. If he can stay healthy, he’ll certainly help the Phillies in their quest to repeat as division winners. In the bullpen, losing Jeff Hoffman (and likely fellow back-end arm Carlos Estevez) knocks Philly’s relief corps down a peg, even if Jordan Romano can bounce back from an injury-plagued 2024.

Are the Phillies better today than they were on Oct. 9? Maybe? Maybe not. Either way, the year-over-year difference is, once again, relatively negligible. The success of the 2025 Phillies, as with the 2023 and 2024 versions, will hinge on whether the club’s best hitters rise to the moment come playoff time. The rest is, most likely, window dressing.

  • Signed OF Juan Soto to a 15-year deal

  • Re-signed SP Sean Manaea to a 3-year deal

  • Signed SP Clay Holmes to a 3-year deal

  • Signed SP Frankie Montas to a 2-year deal

  • Signed SP Griffin Canning to a 1-year deal

  • Acquired OF Jose Sirí via trade from the Tampa Bay Rays

Juan Soto is a Met now, the importance of which cannot be overstated. His crosstown leap for a mountain of moola represents a new era in New York baseball and makes the Mets contenders for the foreseeable future. Owner Steve Cohen — who also had a strong year off the diamond — is a man who can afford such luxuries as a $765 million ballplayer. The price is eye-popping. It also doesn’t really matter.

But preposterous as it might sound, there is more to life, and roster construction, than Soto.

The Mets entered the winter desperately needing to refurbish and reinforce their starting pitching. Three of the team’s four playoff starters hit free agency, and the only returner, Kodai Senga, started just one regular-season game in 2024.

New York responded accordingly, signing a quartet of starting pitchers. That included the re-signing of Manaea, who blossomed into a front-line contributor for the Mets in 2024. Holmes and Montas are both interesting, albeit very different, acquisitions for a pitching development group with an impressive track record. That group will try to make Holmes, who was a linchpin in the back of the Yankees’ bullpen, into a starting pitcher while hoping to unlock another level from Montas, who was a below-average hurler last season.

Surprisingly, the Mets have yet to address their bullpen, which was overtaxed and exhausted by the end of the NLCS. Edwin Díaz needs some help. Thankfully, there are still a plethora of impact relievers on the market, including Estevez, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Kenley Jansen.

Then there’s the question of Pete Alonso. The Polar Bear, who has spent the entirety of his six-year MLB career in Queens, remains a free agent. The Mets are the most obvious and likely landing spot for him, but it’s far from a given. A short-term deal for a higher average annual figure with opt-outs could be the path to a reunion. Retaining Alonso would make the already formidable Mets lineup into a real force and could turn their offseason from an A- into an A.

  • Signed OF Bryan De La Cruz to a split deal

Six teams have yet to guarantee a single dollar in major-league free agency: The Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves.

For Atlanta, whose roster was beset by a cavalcade of injuries in 2025, that fact could be seen through rose-colored glasses as good news. It might indicate that Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. — two game-changing forces who missed most of 2024 — are set to return sooner than expected. But through a glass-half-empty lens, the Braves’ inactivity could be seen as robbing a talented roster of much-needed complementary pieces.

And there are most certainly spots open. Starting pitcher Max Fried, starting pitcher Charlie Morton, catcher Travis d’Arnaud, outfielder Ramon Laureano, outfielder Adam Duvall, infielder Whit Merrifield, reliever Jesse Chavez and infielder Gio Urshela are all contributing members of the 2024 team who have hit free agency. Outfielder Jorge Soler was also dealt to the Angels.

As of now, it appears that Atlanta is content backfilling those roles with internal options and returns from injury. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman did report that the Braves had an offer agreed to with Jeff Hoffman before concerns over the pitcher’s medical led to a scuttling of the deal. But for the most part, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopolous has been uncharacteristically passive. How Anthopoulos goes about fortifying his bench and bullpen over the next six weeks could have enormous import for a Braves team that remains one of the game’s most talented groups.

  • Signed SP Trevor Williams to a 2-year deal

  • Signed SP Mike Soroka to a 1-year deal

  • Acquired 1B Nate Lowe via trade from the Texas Rangers

  • Signed RP Jorge Lopez to a 1-year deal

  • Signed 1B Josh Bell to a 1-year deal

In an alternate timeline, an offseason existed that would’ve sprung the Nationals into genuine wild-card contention. Washington, buoyed by Patrick Corbin’s massive contract coming off the books, could’ve been active at the top of the free-agent market. But while Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso are still available, the Nationals appear likely to enter spring training without a truly significant addition.

It’s an unfortunate path for the Nats, considering the bevy of promising young players on their roster. The moves they’ve made aren’t bad in and of themselves — retaining Williams fortifies the rotation’s floor, while Lowe immediately becomes the club’s best hitter — but this feels like something of a missed opportunity. If everything breaks right, the Nats could still be a pesky character in 2025. The likelihood of that, however, could have been higher.

  • Traded 3B/1B Jake Burger to Texas

  • Traded SP Jesús Luzardo to Philadelphia

  • Acquired 1B Matt Mervis via trade from the Chicago Cubs

The Marlins are one of two MLB teams, alongside the White Sox, actively trying to lose.

It is, once again, rebuild time in Miami. And so the Fish, under new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, are trading away any veteran player worth his salt. First baseman Jake Burger and starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo were both shipped off this winter in deals for prospects. Acquiring 1B Matt Mervis from the Cubs is a nice buy-low add, but for the most part, Miami’s moves are focused on being good about four years from now.