Happy Thanksgiving, baseball enthusiasts! As the holiday name suggests, Thursday is a day to be grateful for the good things that have happened and the good things to come. Non-football sports are often secondary on Turkey Day, but baseball is a way of life as much as it is an interest. It's a companion, there with you every night of the summer.
With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, here is one thing fans of each MLB team can be thankful for this year. Sit back, loosen up your belt, and take a gander as you digest.
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| Corbin Carroll's rookie season. Or just Corbin Carroll in general, really. Carroll, the unanimous NL Rookie of the Year, became the first rookie ever to hit 25 homers and steal 50 bases this past season. Best of all? He signed an eight-year, $111 million extension in spring training, so Carroll will be a D-back for a good long time. | |
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| The best core in baseball. The Braves have great players all over the field and almost all of them are signed to affordable long-term contracts. No team is better set up for contention the next few years. Atlanta already has one World Series title with this group. There are plenty of peak years remaining to capture one or two (or three?) more. | |
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| An emerging powerhouse. The rebuild is over and the Orioles are now positioned to be one of the best teams in baseball the next few years. Adley Rutschman is an MVP candidate, Gunnar Henderson is the unanimous Rookie of the Year, and Jackson Holliday is the best prospect in baseball. Ownership needs to open the wallet for some pitching, but the hard part is over. The O's have arrived. | |
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| The Rafael Devers extension. Red Sox fans have watched a lot of premium talent walk out the door in recent years (Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, most notably), but Devers is going nowhere. He signed a massive 11-year, $331 million extension last offseason that will keep him in Boston through his age 36 season in 2033. The Red Sox finally kept one of their homegrown superstars, and that's worth being thankful for. | |
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| Justin Steele's breakout. Truth be told, Steele broke out last season, in 2022, though he showed this year it was no fluke. He's a bona fide impact pitcher, one who earned Cy Young votes this season, and one who can front the rotation moving forward. It doesn't matter who you are. Every team needs someone to become way better than everyone expected to win a World Series. Cubs fans know this firsthand after watching Jake Arrieta become an out-of-nowhere ace. Steele is not Arrieta dominant, few are, but he's a rotation staple now. | |
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| A fresh start. Look, I have no idea whether Chris Getz will be a good head baseball operations executive. What I do know is the Kenny Williams/Rick Hahn front office had gone stale, and it was time for a change. That change came this year and White Sox fans can at least look forward to new leadership and a new team-building approach. | |
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| All those young infielders. More infielders than roster spots, really. There's Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain, Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo. That's a core you can build around. A core you can also trade from to address needs elsewhere on the roster (i.e. in the rotation). The Reds were must-watch television this past season. They're such a fun group, and 2023 was just the beginning. | |
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| Tanner Bibee's emergence. It's almost uncanny how the Guardians always seem to have a new ace ready to replace their old ace. Shane Bieber emerged right as Corey Kluber aged out, and now Bibee emerged a year before Bieber is scheduled to hit free agency. Bibee had a terrific rookie season in 2023 -- 2.98 ERA in 142 innings -- a season that would have won him Rookie of the Year in most non-Gunnar Henderson years. Cleveland is a pitching factory and Bibee is the latest stud. | |
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| Nolan Jones' breakout. There's not a whole lot going right for the Rockies these days, but Jones was a bright spot in 2023. Colorado shrewdly poached Jones from the Guardians last winter and he slashed .297/.389/.542 with 20 homers and 20 steals in 106 games as a rookie. He was slightly better on the road (.935 OPS) than at home (.928 OPS) too, so there's no Coors Field funny business going on here. Jones is legit. Nice trade for the Rockies. | |
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| Spencer Torkelson figuring things out. Torkelson, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, had a rough rookie season in 2022, rough enough that he was demoted to Triple-A for a spell. He bounced back -- and broke out -- with a 31-homer season in 2023. There are still some things to work on as far as pitch recognition and whatnot, but Tigers fans got a glimpse of that No. 1 pick talent this summer. | |
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| The return of Justin Verlander. OK, maybe the Astros should have just re-signed Verlander last offseason instead of trading two of their best prospects for him at the deadline, but the important thing is Verlander is back in Houston. You can kinda sorta maybe see the beginning of the end of this era is Astros baseball, though they're still very good, and Verlander is back as they try to add another title to this core's trophy case. | |
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| Bobby Witt Jr.'s breakout. It's been a while since the Royals had a bona fide superstar. Even the 2014-15 teams were a collection of very good players more than a star-laden roster. Witt is a star though, no doubt. His sophomore season included 30 homers, 49 steals, 4.4 WAR, and MVP votes. What an absolute stud. | |
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| The new manager. I don't want to lie to you, Angels fans. Things are pretty bleak right now. Shohei Ohtani is likely to leave as a free agent, injuries are becoming a real issue for Mike Trout, and the farm system is capital-B Barren. The best thing the Angels have going for them right now is their new manager. Ron Washington has helped countless young infielders (Ozzie Albies, Marcus Semien, Austin Riley, etc.) improve their defense and that's someone you want working with Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel. If nothing else, Washington represents something of a fresh start. | |
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| The promise of a big offseason. Shohei Ohtani, maybe? I think he's going to the Dodgers, but even if he doesn't, they'll likely pivot to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Or maybe they'll swing a trade for Corbin Burnes or Tyler Glasnow? Heck, why not Burnes and Glasnow? The Dodgers have spent the last few years aligning their payroll so they could blow Ohtani away with an offer this offseason. One way or another, it feels like they're going to do something huge this offseason. | |
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| Luis Arraez's magic. Arraez was never going to hit .400, but he did makes the most serious run at .400 since Tony Gwynn and Larry Walker back in 1997. He is simply a magician with the bat. Arraez gets the bat on any pitch in any location, and can spray it to any field. He is a marvel and a joy to watch. One of the most fun players in the game, hands down. | |
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| Christian Yelich's return to form. No, it was not quite 2018-19 Yelich, but the former NL MVP had his best season in years in 2023, slashing .278/.370/.447 with 19 homers and 28 steals. The Brewers have an enviable collection of young talent -- William Contreras, Sal Frelick, Tyler Black, etc. -- but they're at their best when Yelich makes an impact, and he showed this season he's still capable of being an impact player. | |
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| Pablo López's sweeper. The Luis Arraez-Pablo López trade is going to go down as one of the greatest win-for-win trades in recent baseball history, and maybe all of baseball history. While Arraez was flirting with .400 in Miami, López struck out 234 batters in 194 innings in Minnesota. Credit the uptick in strikeouts -- and a handful of Cy Young votes -- to a new sweeping slider he picked up after the trade. The Twins helped López level up into one of the game's top starters. | |
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| The start of the David Stearns era. Owner Steve Cohen finally got his man this offseason. He waited out Stearns' contract with the Brewers and hired him to lead his baseball operations department a few weeks ago. Stearns was at the helm for the most successful period in Brewers history and now he'll bring his resourcefulness to a team with far, far more money to spend. Stearns and the Mets have work to do, but there's every reason to believe he can build a contender. | |
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| Gerrit Cole getting his Cy Young. Up until last week, Cole was the best active pitcher without a Cy Young. "Was" is the operative word there. Cole won his first career Cy Young unanimously. He was the best part of an otherwise miserable season that saw the Yankees go 82-80, their worst record in three decades. The Yankees have some issues to work through, but ace is not one of them. | |
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| Zack Gelof. I'm not going to feed you some line about an exciting move to Las Vegas. I think it stinks and is a crying shame, and baseball will be worse off without the Athletics in Oakland. The A's do have Gelof though, and he's pretty great. The 24-year-old second baseman swatted 14 home runs with a .267/.337/.504 line in 69 games in 2023. That's someone they can build around as they try to overcome owner John Fisher sabotaging the franchise. | |
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| The return of Aaron Nola. One way or another, the Phillies were going to need to add a starter this offseason, and that search for pitching led them back to Nola, the team's longest-tenured player. Nola eats innings like few others and he was at the top of his game in the postseason. One-team players are pretty cool too. We don't see many of them these days, but Nola's new contract likely ensures he'll spend his entire career in Philadelphia, and wind up one of the best pitchers in franchise history. | |
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| Ke'Bryan Hayes elevating the ball. Hitting the ball hard has never been an issue for Hayes, this year's NL Gold Glove winner at third base. He just hit too many ground balls. That started to change this season, and the 26-year-old swatted 10 home runs in 49 second-half games after going deep only five times in 73 first-half games. Defense was never a question here. Hayes is a brilliant gloveman. Now the bat is catching up to the glove. | |
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| Jordan Walker's improved defense. Let me make one thing clear: Walker will always be a bat-first player, and he had an impressive rookie season at the plate (16 homers and a .787 OPS in 117 games). What really stood out was the strides he made defensively. The Cardinals put him in the outfield with minimal experience and it showed early on. Walker was a liability. By the end of the season though, he looked very comfortable. He went from minus-12 outs above average in the first half to a more acceptable minus-4 in the second half. That's real improvement. With his bat, Walker won't have to be much more than an average defender to be an All-Star. | |
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| Fernando Tatis Jr.'s platinum glove. Tatis returned from his injuries and performance-enhancing drug suspension this year, and when he came back, he returned at a new position. The Padres moved him from shortstop to right field and Tatis was so good out there he won the Platinum Glove as the league's best defender at any position. It was deserved too. He was a brilliant right fielder both according to the numbers and the eye test. Tatis was a bit of an adventure at shortstop, particularly with his throws. The move to right field improved the club defensively at two positions. | |
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| Patrick Bailey's defense. It was going to be difficult to replace Buster Posey, maybe even impossible, but Bailey sure looks like the future behind the plate in San Francisco. His defense this season was exemplary -- Bailey led all players in FanGraphs' all-encompassing defense metric despite not being called up until late May -- thanks to a rocket arm, baby soft hands, and Henrik Lundqvist-esque blocking ability. With any luck, the bat will catch up to the glove soon, and Bailey will be an all-around contributor and a worthy heir to Posey's throne. | |
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| JULIO. Is there a more fun and more joyful player in baseball today? Julio Rodríguez is everything that is right in this game. He plays with passion, he represents the sport well, and he's just so easy to love. He's one of those players you can not take your eyes off when he's on the field. The Mariners have Rodríguez signed to a contract that all but guarantees he will spend his entire career in Seattle. A franchise player through and through. Special. | |
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| A new ballpark, finally. It won't open for a few years, and the location is not any better if you're coming from the other side of the bay, but the Rays finally -- finally! -- have plans in place for a new ballpark. Ownership has been trying to get a new stadium for years, and while Tropicana Field is charming in its own way, it's outdated and not fit for a major-league franchise. The Rays are set to come out of the Stone Age and into a new state-of-the-art facility in a few years, and it's about time. | |
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| The first World Series championship. It took 63 years (including the Washington Senators years), but the Rangers are finally World Series champs. No more hearing about David Freese or being one strike away. The Rangers were the best team in the postseason from start to finish and they did it the hard way, going on the road as the third wild-card team. I remember the first time a team I root for won a championship. There's nothing better. | |
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| Kevin Gausman's reliable excellence. There has been a lot of money thrown at a lot of free agent starters the last 2-3 years and none have been as good as Gausman. He owns a 3.25 ERA while striking out nearly 30% of the batters he's faced in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, and he received Cy Young votes both seasons. So many big free agent contacts lead to regret. Not Gausman. His is money very well spent for Toronto. | |
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| Dylan Crews falling to No. 2. Crews was the consensus No. 1 prospect in the 2023 MLB draft, yet the Nationals were able to select him with the No. 2 pick because the Pirates took his LSU teammate Paul Skenes with the No. 1 selection. Skenes is great! But getting Crews at No. 2 is a win for a Washington team starved for a franchise player post-Juan Soto. Crews slashed .292/.377/.467 in 35 games after turning pro and looks very much like a budding star. | |
