Offseason additions contributing for playoff contenders in 2024

Many of the moves made last offseason have paid immediate dividends, helping to shape this year’s postseason picture.

But which acquisitions have had the greatest impact for their new clubs?

Here’s a ranking of the top 10 offseason additions on playoff contenders, based on personal performance and how important each player has been to his team’s success in 2024.

All stats below are through Thursday.

Despite not being able to pitch this year (at least in the regular season) after undergoing elbow surgery last October, Ohtani has remained one of baseball’s premier attractions in the first season of a historic 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers. The dynamic superstar became the fastest player in MLB history (in terms of games) to go 40/40 and is on the verge of establishing the 50/50 club, with 47 homers and 48 steals through 143 games. Ohtani has posted an NL-leading .992 OPS with 104 RBIs to boot, serving as an anchor for the National League West-leading Dodgers during a season in which they’ve had to deal with a ton of injuries. The two-time AL MVP could join Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVP honors in both leagues.

2. Juan Soto, OF, Yankees
How acquired: trade with Padres

After missing the playoffs with an 82-80 record in 2023, the Yankees entered the offseason looking to make a big splash, with an outfielder and a left-handed hitter among their most glaring needs. They checked all of those boxes in one fell swoop on Dec. 7, completing a seven-player trade with the Padres and bringing Soto to the Bronx for his final season before free agency. The 25-year-old has slashed .289/.418/.577 with 39 homers, 101 RBIs, 118 walks and 115 runs scored over 143 games in 2024, teaming up with American League MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge to form an all-time great lineup pairing that has helped the Yanks vault to first place in the AL East.

3. Chris Sale, SP, Braves
How acquired: trade with Red Sox

Traded for Vaughn Grissom in late December, Sale joined Atlanta having made just 56 starts with a 4.16 ERA for Boston across the past five years, his run of seven straight top-six finishes in the AL Cy Young Award voting from 2012-18 a distant memory. However, the injury-plagued lefty has remained healthy this season and put himself on track to capture his first career Cy Young, notching an MLB-best 2.38 ERA with an NL-leading 213 strikeouts over 166 2/3 innings. His performance has been a welcome surprise for a Braves team that lost ace pitcher Spencer Strider to season-ending elbow surgery in April, one of many notable injuries Atlanta has had to deal with in 2024.

4. Seth Lugo, SP, Royals
How acquired: signed in free agency

After proving last season with the Padres that he could be a viable big league starter, Lugo has taken it up a notch as a member of the Royals, who signed him to a three-year $45 million deal (with an opt-out after 2025) in free agency. The veteran righty has pitched like a bona fide ace, leading all pitchers in innings (193) and posting the third-best ERA (2.94) in the AL. Collectively, the Royals’ rotation has notched MLB’s second-best ERA (3.54), with Lugo joining Cole Ragans, Brady Singer and fellow free-agent addition Michael Wacha among the Kansas City starters having standout seasons. Bobby Witt Jr. may be the Royals’ MVP, but their starting staff — and Lugo in particular — also deserves a ton of credit for helping them go from 106 losses last year to a likely Wild Card berth in 2024.

The Burnes trade can only be viewed as a massive success for the Orioles, especially when you consider the slew of starting pitching injuries the team has dealt with this year. While Baltimore lost Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells for the season and has been without Grayson Rodriguez for more than a month, Burnes has remained a steady presence atop the team’s rotation, a rough August notwithstanding. The righty was picked to start the All-Star Game for the AL and has posted a 3.18 ERA with 157 strikeouts over 175 1/3 innings spanning 29 starts on the year, which is exactly what the Orioles had in mind when they acquired the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner in February.

6. Michael King, SP, Padres
7. Dylan Cease, SP, Padres
How acquired: trade with Yankees (King); trade with White Sox (Cease)

San Diego entered last offseason needing to rebuild its pitching staff after six of its top eight pitchers from 2023 (in terms of innings pitched) reached free agency. With a lack of payroll flexibility limiting their options, the Padres made the difficult call to trade away Soto to New York, getting back four arms and catcher Kyle Higashioka in the blockbuster deal. Despite what Soto has done for the Bronx Bombers, the Friars likely have no regrets.

One of the pitchers San Diego acquired in the trade, King, has blossomed into a star after a rocky start, posting a 2.51 ERA with 151 strikeouts over 125 2/3 innings since the beginning of May. The Padres also included one of the other pitchers from the Soto trade, prospect Drew Thorpe, in the package they sent to the White Sox for Cease shortly before Opening Day. Cease has been somewhat inconsistent, but he threw the second no-hitter in Padres history on July 25 and owns a 3.71 ERA with 205 strikeouts over 170 innings.

The duo has been crucial to the Padres’ playoff aspirations, contributing a combined 331 2/3 innings in a season where only one other San Diego pitcher (Matt Waldron) has exceeded 92 frames.

Less than three months ago, it looked like Suárez might not even make it through the entire season with Arizona. The third baseman finished June with just six homers and a .591 OPS, the third lowest among qualifying batters at that point. Suárez, though, has made a remarkable turnaround. Since July 1, he leads all MLB players in homers (22) and ranks fourth in WAR (3.7, per FanGraphs) with the fifth-highest OPS (1.068) among qualifiers. He’s a big reason why the D-backs have posted MLB’s best record (33-16) and highest run-scoring average (6.53 runs per game) since the All-Star break, surging up the NL Wild Card standings in the process.

López might miss the rest of the regular season after hitting the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with right shoulder inflammation. But even if he doesn’t throw another pitch for Atlanta in 2024, his impact can’t be overstated. Signed to a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency after pitching in relief for the White Sox over the past two seasons, López won the fifth spot in the Braves’ rotation during Spring Training and went on to establish himself as one of the most effective starters in baseball, joining Sale in giving an injury-riddled Braves team a much-needed lift on the mound. López has allowed more than three runs in a start only once all year and currently owns the lowest ERA (2.03) among pitchers with at least 120 innings in 2024.

After the attention-grabbing additions of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow during the month of December, the Dodgers’ move to bring in Hernández on a one-year, $23.5 million deal in January flew under the radar a bit. However, Hernández’s durability and consistency have been invaluable for a Los Angeles team that spent long stretches without some key bats earlier this year and struggled to find production at its other two outfield spots until Betts made the move back to right field on Aug. 12. Over 139 games, Hernández has recorded 28 homers, 87 RBIs and an .821 OPS, with an OPS of .762 or higher in every month.

Honorable mentions: Tyler Glasnow (Dodgers), Sean Manaea (Mets), Michael Wacha (Royals), Joc Pederson (D-backs), Josh Hader (Astros), Carlos Santana (Twins), Luis Severino (Mets)