The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best roster in baseball, arguably by a decent margin, but that didn’t stop the San Diego Padres from reportedly acquiring pitchers Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, along with Korean shortstop Ha-Seong Kim in the past two days.
The Washington Nationals are trying to catch the Atlanta Braves, so they swung a trade for switch-hitting slugger Josh Bell. The New York Mets, who already signed catcher James McCann, are expected to be one of the most active teams this winter.
Meanwhile, the moves that National League Central teams have made are putting up for sale signs. The Cincinnati Reds traded closer Raisel Iglesias for salary relief. The Chicago Cubs have apparently done the same thing with Darvish. The Pittsburgh Pirates parted ways with Bell as they continue their rebuild.
It’s the same division that sent four teams to the playoffs last season, though none advanced past the Wild Card Series. The St. Louis Cardinals, who released Kolten Wong and have Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright sitting in free agency, are probably the early favorites to win the division.
As the Dodgers and Padres race to win 95 games, it might be a race to 81 wins in the NL Central (the Cardinals won the division with 83 wins in 2006). Here’s a look at the movement with each NL Central team in the first two months of the offseason:
CINCINNATI REDS (31-29)
Out: RHP Trevor Bauer, RHP Anthony DeSclafani, SS Freddy Galvis, RHP Robert Stephenson, RHP Raisel Iglesias, RHP Archie Bradley, C Curt Casali, OF Brian Goodwin, OF Travis Jankowski.
