Fix Your Broken Team in One Offseason: NL West
Your favorite baseball team is broken. There is lots of work to do this winter, whether they need a shortstop, more starting pitching, or a front office facelift. If they took the field today, they would be a total disaster. Hell, they probably don’t even have enough players! Don’t despair— here are three reasons why everything will work out just fine (probably).
- Your 29 rivals are also broken. They all exist on the spectrum between “moderately flawed” and “Colorado Rockies.”
- It’s only November. There’s a cold, dark, expansive offseason ahead of us to suck the joy out of life— possibly including a work stoppage— in which your team’s front office can maneuver, supplement, and revise the roster.
- (Most important)– Off the Bench knows how to fix everything! With our years of part-time blogging experience, we have the panacea for each of the 30 MLB clubs.
In an act of pure largesse, we have decided to tell each franchise how to fix itself. You’re welcome, MLB. AL East / NL East / AL Central / NL Central / AL West
Arizona Diamonbacks
The 52-110 Diamondbacks employed precisely one (1) good baseball player, but they were in a tough division after all. If they played in the AL Central, they would have won at least 54 games.
What went right: 90 games of Ketel Marte hitting .318/.377/.532 while playing center field and second base. He stands out from the rest of the roster like the one kid on a sixth-grade basketball team who already shaves.
What went wrong: From May 16-June 20, Arizona went 2-31. It’s almost impossible to be that bad for more than a month. They surrendered the most runs in the National League due to abysmal pitching and somehow even worse defense. Two years into his five-year, $85 million contract Madison Bumgarner averaged 90.5 mph on his fastball. The second-highest-paid player on the team was shortstop Nick Ahmed, who hit .221/.280/.339. Their top prospect and 2021 first-round pick Jordan Lawlar played just two games before season-ending shoulder surgery.
How to fix them: This is about as bleak as it gets for an MLB franchise. Set Marte free and trade him for as many great prospects as possible, then prepare for the #1 pick in the 2022 draft. There’s nothing else that can be done at this point.
Colorado Rockies
This is the sixth and final entry in the “How to Fix Your Team” series, all of which have included the same Rockies joke in the introduction. Here’s why:
What went right: Longtime GM Jeff Bridich, an unqualified disaster, is finally gone. The offense, fueled by C.J. Cron‘s career year, wasn’t half bad.
What went wrong: In addition to a vintage Colorado pitching staff (not a good thing), the Rockies are the “what not to do” of roster construction. They didn’t just give Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals for free; they literally paid them to take him! Then they held onto Trevor Story in his walk year for no plausible reason. They neglected to make a qualifying offer to Jon Gray, ostensibly forfeiting a draft pick when he signed a four-year, $56 million contract with Texas. All of these decisions were first-guessed by thinking observers.
How to fix them: No organization needs a change in ownership more than the Rockies, who are doomed by Dick Monfort’s unconditional loyalty to bumbling fools. The embarrassing failure of the Bridich administration demanded sweeping changes and outside hires. Instead, he gave the reigns to longtime Bridich consigliere Bill Schmidt, who promptly demonstrated how little he knows about his division rival.
No team scouts, drafts, and develops better than the Dodgers or worse than the Rockies. In Schmidt’s previous role in the organization, he supervised scouting, drafting, and developing.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers set the MLB record for the most wins by a second-place team (106), then supplanted the Giants in the NLDS before farting away the NLCS to the Braves.
What went right: The Dodgers had All-Stars at every single position. Their lineup was indescribably loaded. The young pitching staff fronted by Walker Buehler and Julio Urías remained formidable. Their bullpen was second to none. They were as close to a perfectly-constructed team as can be.
What went wrong: Professional trainwreck Trevor Bauer was an unnecessary, avoidable disaster. Cody Bellinger is a fragment of his former glory who hardly looks like an MLB player anymore. Of course, it’s easy to paper over mistakes when the club can just go obtain Max Scherzer and Trea Turner on a whim.
How to fix them: Scherzer and Corey Seager have already departed via free agency and franchise icon Clayton Kershaw remains on the open market. Shortstop isn’t as big of a problem due to the presence of Turner, but signing home run machine Andrew Heaney as a rotation replacement was a questionable move. They need to bring back Kershaw for another run, then continue looking for starting pitching.
San Diego Padres
Before the season, the Padres were a trendy World Series pick. Their 79-83 finish was one of the biggest disappointments in MLB.
What went right: 22-year-old Fernando Tatis, Jr. led the league with 42 home runs and finished third in the NL MVP voting. He was flanked on the infield by Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth, two of the best all-around players at their positions. Joe Musgrove finally harnessed his outstanding stuff and flourished into an ace.
What went wrong: At 72-62 at the end of August, the Padres were firmly in the hunt for a Wild Card spot, but they only won seven of their final 28 games. Outside of Tatis, Machado, and Cronenworth, you wouldn’t have wanted any other Padres position players on your fantasy team. Yu Darvish and Blake Snell were supposed to form an elite 1-2 punch, but instead, they were merely average.
How to fix them: A.J. Preller leads one of the most proactive front offices in MLB. He has already worked to reshuffle the roster, trading for catcher Jorge Alfaro and signing pitchers Robert Suarez and Nick Martínez from Japan. Clearing out dead weights Wil Myers, Jurickson Profar, and especially Eric Hosmer will be a greater challenge.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants were predicted to have the kind of season the Padres had. Instead, they had the season the Padres were supposed to have. 107 wins were at least 20 more than their most generous projections.
What went right: Nearly everyone had the best year of their careers, most of whom were already in their mid-30s. Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, and Brandon Crawford partied like it was 2014. The organization found several players off the scrap head and turned them into outstanding hitters, such as Darrin Ruf, LaMonte Wade, Jr., and Wilmer Flores. Logan Webb took several leaps forward out of nowhere to lead the rotation, with Anthony DeSclafani and Kevin Gausman not far behind.
What went wrong: Nothing, at least until the playoffs.
How to fix them: The Giants’ innovative, outside-the-box coaching staff sparked one of the most improbable seasons in baseball history. They have become the model for the rest of MLB in just one season, with several teams emulating their structure. Their challenge over the next year or two will be maintaining this profound off-the-field advantage in a copycat league.
