In the offseason not everyone can go out and sign the best players or make trades that make their team instant contenders.  Some teams on paper may get worse and have what is considered a bad offseason.  When preparing for the future it is had to view that offseason as a winning one or when your favorite team was close to winning last season and doesn’t sign any of the big free agents one would have to say that is a lost offseason.  

1) Baltimore Orioles

So close one season ago, it is shocking to see the Orioles letting everyone walk away from their team without making any major signings up to this point.   So far the Orioles have lost Nelson Cruz, baseballs homerun leader last year, Nick Markakis the long time Oriole veteran outfielder, and Andrew Miller.  

Besides those loses the Orioles are unsure if either Manny Machado or Matt Wieters will be ready for opening day. That’s four major parts of last seasons potent lineup that may not be on the field when baseball starts back up for the 2015 season.  

But, on the bright side Chris Davis has been approved for a therapeutic-use exception for adder all so he may be back to his homerun hitting ways in 2015 and should get that batting average back above the Mendoza line. 

This is not the offseason Orioles fans were hoping for after nearly making it the World Series a season ago.  The Orioles are going to have their work cut out for them if they are going to make it this year as the Red Sox, Yankees and the Blue Jays have all been working to improve their rosters this season.  

2)Oakland Athletics

Sure the Athletics had a second half collapse of epic proportions but I still can’t wrap my head around some of the moves they have made so far.  The Braves had seven all stars last season and at this point will start the 2015 season with only two of those seven.  The only thing keeping the A’s listed at number two and not number one on this list is the fact that they have at least acquired some pieces back in the trades and the Orioles were more successful last season and have made no moves.

The one major signing the A’s have made was giving Billy Butler a three year $33 million deal.  This seems a bit odd especially considering the later trades the Athletics made in an effort to get much younger.  Butler will only be 29 but is already regressing, with his batting average and homeruns declining in each of the last three seasons.   

The A’s then traded Jeff Samardzija, whom they traded for last season, to the White Sox for prospects.  The A’s have also traded away Josh Donaldson, Brandon Moss, Derek Norris.  In these trades the A’s have acquired some prospects as well as Brett Lawrie, Marcus Semien, and Jesse Hahn who was very good for the Padres last season.  

However trades can be difficult to grade at first, particularly when prospects are involved which is why the players to have left Oakland via free agency is the larger cause for concern. The notable players to have left include, Jon Lester, Jason Hammel, Adam Dunn, Luke Gregorson, Geovany Soto, Jed Lowrie, Jonny Gomes, and Alberto Callaspo. 

These moves mean the A’s have lost three fifths of their starting rotation, and a key piece out of the bullpen.  They also lost multiple starters in the field such as Lowrie via free agency and Moss, Norris, Donaldson, via trades.  It is going to be tough for the A’s to make it back into the postseason after such a massive roster shake up.  It will take time for the new members of this roster to blend together plus the Angels and Mariners made improvements to this offseason making them more complete and competitive than last year.

3) Atlanta Braves

For a team that year in and year out has such high expectations and is always in playoff contention it is odd to see them trading away almost every major piece of their team.  The Justin Upton deal made sense if they truly believed they were incapable of singing him long term but, as a team looking to contend they sure look they have started building for the future.  

The Braves started the offseason out with a move that I really like when they traded Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden to the Cardinals for starting pitcher Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins.  This move gives the Braves a ton more control over there players as Miller is under control for six more seasons and Heyward can leave at the end of this season.

Then in my opinion this is where I began to question the Braves moves.  They decided to let both Brandon Beachy, and Kris Medlen walk.  Both could’ve been signed for cheap, incentive laden contracts after the injuries.  These guys are both top of the rotation pitchers when healthy.  Medlen however is now in Kansas City for the next two season at only $8.5 million for those two seasons and Beachy has been receiving interest from the Rangers.  Then the Braves proceeded to trade arguable their first or second best hitter in their lineup in Justin Upton.  They traded Upton to the Padres who are well on their way to having a fantastic offseason.  The Padres made out fairly well in this trade too as they didn’t even have to trade one of their top three prospects for Upton or any other player they have made a trade for, for that matter. 

The Braves replacement for the outfielders they traded was Nick Markakis who is good ball player but is getting up there in age and isn’t in the prime of his career such as guys like Upton and Heyward.  

It has been a crazy off season so far, one with more trades than i can rememeber in any recent winter.  I would not be surprised if there are more trades between teams involving major linuep pieces or starting pitchers. Not to mention there are still a few key pieces floating around the free agent market such as Max Scherzer.  Until next season begins continue to enjoy the offseason as teams look to build that championship caliber team.