January is coming to an end and that means that Spring Training is nearly here. From this upcoming season to a year ago now, there have been plenty of changes. Starting off, let's visit the topic of top players playing for a new team this campaign. 

Juan Soto (NYY → NYM) - Kicking things off with the best of the best, Juan Soto did the unthinkable and went to one of the "rivals" of his former team. Yankees fans were practically begging Soto to return after an absolutely outstanding opening season for NYY. He did only have one year on his contract when he originally arrived in New York. However, after coming up short in the postseason to the Dodgers in the World Series, Soto began searching for a new team to fulfill his hopes and dreams of a second World Series title (won with WSH in 2019.) He made his way to NYM where the Mets gave him an absolute bag. Soto will now be joining Francisco Lindor, David Peterson, Edwin Diaz & hopefully Pete Alonso in search of that feat. This should be another fun season for Soto fans. 

Corbin Burnes (BAL → ARI) - Flying under the radar, Corbin Burnes' tenure with the Baltimore Orioles did not last very long. He pitched very well last season with a 15-9 record & 2.92 ERA. That being said, the Orioles did not perform well whatsoever when it came to October. Getting eliminated in the Wildcard Round is not what Burnes was hoping for and that caused him to have a second change in scenery in as many years. The Orioles have changed a lot over this offseason and Burnes is the biggest piece that is now gone. The superstar pitcher now joins a DBacks time that looks to get back into the playoffs after barely missing out last season. The one-two combo of Burns & Gallen could be the next big thing in baseball. Don't forget the DBacks added Josh Naylor as well. 

Max Fried (ATL → NYY) - Although Max Fried didn't have the greatest of stats a season ago, he's been excellent throughout his career and he's still off a very solid year. He went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA in 29 starts with the Braves. Although the Yankees lost a lot with the departure of Juan Soto, Max Fried will surely make this rotation a whole lot stronger and bring back the World Series hopes of Yankees fans once again this season. He joins a pitching group that already has Gerrit Cole coming back as well as a one year older Luis Gil & Carlos Rodon. I expect this signing to work extremely well and for Fried to get back above 13 wins this year. 

Willy Adames (MIL → SF) - This is an absolute steal of a signing for the San Francisco Giants in my opinion. In need of another great defensive player in their infield, the Giants are absolutely stacked in that department now. Willy Adames joins Matt Chapman on the left side of the infield and they will complement each other perfectly. To go along with his stellar defense, Adames is also an excellent hitter. He hit 32 home runs last season and had 112 RBI's last season. That's exactly the type of player that the Giants needed. Even though this division (with LAD, SD & ARI) is completely stacked, the Giants now have a shot at shocking the world if they can get great play from both their hitters and pitching (added Verlander too.) Don't be shocked if they are in the playoff race come September. 

Roki Sasaki (Japan → LAD) - This list would not be complete without the mentioning of this very guy right here. According to some, Roki Sasaki is going to be even better than Yoshinobu Yamamoto was this season. He owns the NPB record for most strikeouts thrown in a single game with 19 as well as the world record for most consecutive strikeouts thrown in a game with 13. That's simply outrageous. Now, Sasaki kept all of his options open, but reuniting with Yamamoto & Ohtani was always going to be the play. Sasaki is going to be put in a spot to succeed with this roster and he should be winning a lot of baseball games in year one. Although this rotation has more than enough guys to have a "5-man rotation," Sasaki should not be worried about playing time. He will get his. Expect a big season from the rising Japanese superstar. 

Very difficult to choose just one team here, but I actually expect the Toronto Blue Jays to improve a lot this season and perhaps the most out of any team. After winning just 74 games last season and finishing dead last in the AL East, Toronto went out and improved a lot. First of all, the Blue Jays kept Vladdy Jr which is huge for them. They also went out and got Anthony Santander, Max Scherzer, Andrés Giménez as well as Mike Hoffman. Those are four massive players to pluck into this depth chart. Now, yes they had a chance to sign Roki Sasaki who would have brought extreme happiness to fans across the entire country of Canada. But, all of these guys will be great for this organization which should be back to a winning program again in 2025. 

Record Projection: 84-78. 

This is also an extremely hard choice to make. But, if I had to choose just one team to fall off it would probably be the Houston Astros. They lost Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs over this offseason and Alex Bregman could very well be on the way out in a couple of days as well. Not only are the Astros dealing with those losses, but the pitching rotation is in deep trouble again this year. Houston will have Framber Valdez & Hunter Brown back, but 3, 4 & 5 are huge question marks with Justin Verlander departing and youngsters with not much experience in their back pocket. I wouldn't say that this team is going to be a losing team all of the sudden as they did add Isaac Paredes & Christian Walker during the break. However, don't expect the 'Stros to run away with the AL West like it did at the end of last season. 

Record Projection: 83-79. 

1.) Los Angeles Dodgers to Win the World Series (+310)
2.) Toronto Blue Jays Over 77.5 Wins (-110)
3.) Houston Astros Under 88.5 Wins (-120)

Los Angeles Dodgers to defeat the Cleveland Guardians.