Who had the NHL’s best offseason? Grades for all 32 teams
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Ryan S. Clark
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Kristen Shilton
The compressed NHL offseason — draft, mega-trades and free agency all within a 10-day period — is an opportunity for every front office to improve its roster. Some general managers need just a few players to remain a top Stanley Cup contender — or ascend to that status. Others need to be a bit more aggressive to raise their club’s competitive level, or perhaps their vision is on 2026-27 or beyond for a serious playoff push.
With the initial wave of additions and adjustments complete, it’s time for an honest assessment of each front office based on what was reasonably expected.
Here are report cards for all 32 NHL teams, based on the moves made through Monday. These are based on the moves they made, the moves they perhaps wanted to make, and their needs entering the proverbial dog days of mid-July through training camps in September.
Note: Advanced statistics are from Natural Stat Trick and Evolving Hockey. Cap and contract information is from PuckPedia as of July 8; teams with negative remaining cap space are that much over the cap, and must be cap-compliant by opening night. Kristen Shilton covered the Atlantic and Metro teams, Ryan S. Clark the Central and Pacific clubs. Teams are listed alphabetically within each letter-grade tier.
Draft recap: All 224 picks
Grades for all 32 teams
Winners and losers
A GRADES
Key players added: D Jeff Petry, G Daniil Tarasov
Key players lost: D Nate Schmidt, G Vitek Vanecek
Remaining cap space: None (projected $2,950,000 over)
Overall grade: A+
Florida GM Bill Zito gets top marks for somehow keeping all the key pieces of the Panthers’ recent Stanley Cup runs off the open market. Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand received long-term contracts from the club that will chisel its name onto hockey’s holy grail for the second straight season. And there’s no doubt Zito was aided by willing participants who left millions on the table by not exploring their options elsewhere. Winning has that sort of appeal.
Zito also found a young netminder in Tarasov to back up Sergei Bobrovsky next season as a possible upgrade over Vanecek.
There were other under-the-radar adds across the board for Florida too from Zito — replacing the departing Schmidt with Petry, re-signing fourth-liner Tomas Nosek and bringing in Brandon Bussi and Nolan Foote.
The Panthers’ depth has been a weapon over long postseason runs and Florida is well-positioned again thanks to Zito’s savvy business moves to be elite again over the next 12 months. Honestly, he couldn’t have done much more to give Florida a chance to create a true dynasty.
Key players added: F Mikael Granlund, G Ville Husso, F Chris Kreider, G Petr Mrazek, F Ryan Poehling
Key players lost: G John Gibson, F Trevor Zegras
Remaining cap space: $28,988,812
Overall grade: A
Simply put, the Ducks might have had one of the strongest offseasons of any team in the NHL. Having “a window” in the NHL is talk that’s usually reserved for championship challengers trying to win before it falls apart. In the Ducks’ case, their “window” is still having a talented core of young players on team-friendly deals that allows them to spend more money elsewhere. For now.
That’s what the Ducks did by trading for Kreider, who has two years left at $6.5 million average annual value. Trading Gibson and Zegras shed $12.15 million in salary.
Some of those savings went toward signing top-nine forward Granlund. What the Ducks received in return from their trades allowed them to fill holes at team-friendly prices. Once July 1 ended, it left Ducks GM Pat Verbeek with what appears to be more than enough money to sign his RFA class of Lukas Dostal, Drew Helleson and Mason McTavish to new contracts.
Key players added: F Nick Bjugstad, D Logan Mailloux, F Pius Suter
Key players lost: F Zach Bolduc, F Radek Faksa
Remaining cap space: $625,150
Overall grade: A
Blues GM Doug Armstrong didn’t need to do a lot this offseason, but the three moves he made were quite impactful.
Armstrong could afford to move on from Bolduc because he had six forwards on the roster who scored more than 18 goals, while also factoring in the role for prized prospect Jimmy Snuggerud. Trading Bolduc for Mailloux provided them with a young blue-line option knowing that Torey Krug won’t play next season (or possibly beyond).
In signing Bjugstad, the Blues added an experienced and sizable third-line center who could anchor a bottom six. Getting Suter on a two-year deal gives the Blues one of the strongest center setups in the league, and another forward who scored more than 18 goals last season.
Key players added: F JJ Peterka, D Nate Schmidt, F Brandon Tanev, G Vitek Vanecek
Key players lost: F Josh Doan, D Michael Kesslering, F Matias Maccelli
Remaining cap space: $6,657,143
Overall grade: A
The Mammoth are either going to be a playoff team this season, or come extremely close.
They swung one of the biggest trades of the offseason to get Peterka, and immediately signed him to a five-year extension, giving them another top-six scorer. That left Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong with more than enough space to sign veterans in other areas.
Schmidt’s arrival means there are seven proven blue-line options under contract. Utah can either stick with that group — to provide insurance against injury — or trade one for help elsewhere.
Key players added: D K’Andre Miller, F Nikolaj Ehlers
Key players lost: D Brent Burns
Remaining cap space: $10,644,291
Overall grade: A-
Carolina finally did the thing. After several swings — and misses — trying to get a top-six scoring winger into their midst, GM Erik Tulsky secured a game-changer by signing coveted free agent Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million contract. That immediately gives Carolina the boost it has been looking for the past two years (at least).
Before Tulsky signed Ehlers, he also pulled off an impressive sign-and-trade with New York for Miller, a promising blueliner who should make Carolina’s back end even better (especially now that Burns has moved on to Colorado in free agency).
While Ehlers is an excellent add, Tulsky has yet to address the Hurricanes’ second-line center position. There’s still time to work something out there.
In the meantime, what Carolina has done is more than enough to put them back as odds-on favorites to make another Eastern Conference finals appearance — or beyond.
1:58
K’Andre Miller’s top plays from the 2024-25 NHL season
Check out the best plays from last season by K’Andre Miller, who has signed a deal with the Hurricanes.
Key players added: D Noah Dobson, F Zachary Bolduc
Key players lost: D Logan Mailloux, F Emil Heineman
Remaining cap space: $-4,454,167
Overall grade: A-
The Canadiens won’t be surprise entrants to the NHL playoff field this season. GM Kent Hughes made sure of that when he pulled off a blockbuster trade with the New York Islanders to acquire right-shot defenseman Dobson (and sign him to an eight-year deal with a $9.5 million AAV).
Cheap? No. Worth it? Yes. Montreal has been rebuilding long enough. It’s time to capitalize on the best years Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki & Co. have. Dobson will be a major part of any Canadiens’ success moving forward. Bringing Dobson in also allowed Hughes to flip Mailloux — now with a lesser opportunity in Montreal — to St. Louis for a solid, 22-year-old depth scorer in Bolduc.
Hughes even managed to get Kaapo Kahkonen in the fold for some goalie competition. The Canadiens seem to have hit all the right notes to make sure their playoff appearance in 2025 wasn’t a one-and-done affair.
B GRADES
Key players added: D Matthew Schaefer, F Jonathan Drouin, F Emil Heineman
Key players lost: D Noah Dobson
Remaining cap space: $3,936,667
Overall grade: B+
It’s all happening for the Islanders right now.
They have a new GM in Matheiu Darche, who selected Schaefer as the No. 1 pick in the draft, giving the Islanders a top-tier defensive prospect the likes of which they haven’t had in, well, a very long time. That cushions the blow of moving on from Dobson, but the return on that trade — a pair of first-round picks used on Swedish forward Viktor Eklund and throwback defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson, as well as forward Heineman — allowed Darche to load up at the draft and set New York up for current and future success.
He filled in some edges for the Islanders by signing a veteran forward in Drouin and doled out extensions to Adam Boqvist and Simon Holmstrom. The Islanders have needed to carve out a new identity for some time. Based on what Darche has done — and probably will keep doing — it actually feels as if New York is finding its way toward a truly fresh start.
2:28
Islanders select Matthew Schaefer with 1st overall pick
Matthew Schaefer gets emotional after being selected by the New York Islanders with the first overall pick of the 2025 NHL draft.
Key players added: G Dan Vladar, F Christian Dvorak, F Trevor Zegras
Key players lost: F Ryan Poehling
Remaining cap space: $5,520,238
Overall grade: B+
The centerpiece of Philadelphia’s offseason was trading for Zegras from Anaheim in the hopes he can be a top center for them going forward. If that happens, it’ll be a job well done by GM Danny Briere to tap into the potential of a player who maybe hasn’t shown all he has to give just yet (and the Flyers didn’t have to give up a great deal in return).
Briere’s other major score was a five-year extension for Cam York, at a healthy — but not overpriced — $5.15 million AAV. Well done.
Briere’s work at the draft — including the selection of Porter Martone at No. 6 — is notable too because of how well it continues setting Philadelphia up for longer-term success in the future.
For now, it’ll be Zegras and the veteran Dvorak attempting to improve the Flyers’ offense, while Vladar will provide some possible competition for the crease. And in turn, Philadelphia might be closer to being past its rebuilding phase toward something more competitive.
Key players added: F Adam Gaudette, D Dmitry Orlov, D John Klingberg, F Philipp Kurashev, F Michael Misa, G Alex Nedeljkovic
Key players lost: D Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Remaining cap space: $23,890,832
Overall grade: B+
Sharks GM Mike Grier’s plan was to focus on the here and now in a rebuild that appears to be one of the NHL’s most promising. To help the cause, he added veterans who can help shape their young players build a culture but could also later be moved ahead of the trade deadline in the next two years.
The Sharks added Misa, the No. 2 pick of the draft, to a group that already had Yaroslav Askarov, Macklin Celebrini, William Eklund and Will Smith. They also inked Gaudette, Klingberg, Kurashev, Nedeljkovic and Orlov, who will help improve in areas that resulted in the worst record in the league. Three of those players are on one-year deals, and Gaudette has a two-year contract worth $2 million annually. If the Sharks are not in playoff contention by the trade deadline, those players can be moved for draft capital.
Plus, it leaves the Sharks with eight defensemen on their roster, which suggests they could be open to moving one of them before the season begins.
Key players added: F Viktor Arvidsson, F Tanner Jeannot, F Sean Kuraly, F Michael Eyssimont
Key players lost: None
Remaining cap space: $2,081,667
Overall grade: B
Boston added a haul of forwards via free agency and one trade (for Arvidsson, who cost the Bruins’ a 2027 fifth-round pick). And yet, Boston didn’t address its largest need — a true top-six winger. Instead GM Don Sweeney bolstered the Bruins’ bottom six with a number of players, some of whom probably will have to play higher in the lineup at some point anyway.
The most eye-opening decision by Sweeney was to ink Jeannot to a five-year, $17 million contract. That’s a sizable investment in a third-line (at best) skater who will carry a $3.4 million AAV until he’s 33. He’s physical and feisty. But the Bruins need real scoring help (only two players on their roster finished last season with more than 20 goals), and it’s not clear that Sweeney was able to accomplish that so far.
Key players added: G John Gibson, F Mason Appleton
Key players lost: G Petr Mrazek, F Gustav Nyquist
Remaining cap space: $12,086,628
Overall grade: B
Credit to GM Steve Yzerman for finally finding a new home for Gibson. That pre-free agency trade felt like a long time coming and not only gives Gibson a fresh start but also upgrades Detroit’s goaltending situation (which was a clear priority heading into the offseason).
But Yzerman seemed content to let that be the only serious changes to the Red Wings’ roster. He filled in the edges a bit with bottom-six wingers Appleton and James van Riemsdyk, and has another third-pairing defense option in Jacob Bernard-Docker, but beyond that Detroit will (barring any other movement) enter this season much the way it exited the last.
Depth is a good thing to have. But the Red Wings needed a bigger name to boost their back end, and would have also have benefitted from improved top-six scoring potential. Those areas might still need to be addressed.
Key players added: F Connor Brown, F Evgenii Dadonov
Key players lost: D Brian Dumoulin, F Erik Haula, F Curtis Lazar
Remaining cap space: $6,906,667
Overall grade: B
New Jersey wasn’t looking to overhaul its roster. But GM Tom Fitzgerald has made sensible moves to give the Devils added oomph.
Brown is a superb depth forward with experience and leadership potential. Dadonov could prove to be the same. Both players should take over bottom-six jobs with ease.
New Jersey also held onto some of its own pending UFAs, keeping Jake Allen on a five-year deal (at a time when the dearth of available goalies is an issue for other teams) and inking trade deadline acquisition Cody Glass on a two-year extension.
That’s all good. What Fitzgerald hasn’t done yet — and insists will be priority one from here — is get restricted free agent Luke Hughes signed to a long-term deal. Fitzgerald acknowledged there might be more New Jersey could do this summer — like improve its top six — but it can’t happen without figuring out where Hughes’ extension falls on the payment scale. So, stay tuned?
Key players added: D Vladislav Gavrikov, D Scott Morrow, F Taylor Raddysh
Key players lost: D K’Andre Miller
Remaining cap space: $777,976
Overall grade: B
New York came out of the gate hard going after one of the open market’s best available defenders in Gavrikov. GM Chris Drury doled out a seven-year, $49 million contract for Gavrikov — and that subsequently cost him the ability to keep Miller, a restricted free agent. Drury traded Miller to Carolina for draft picks and Morrow.
It remains to be seen what sort of long-term implications there are on that deal — for both sides — but in the moment it was the only way Drury was getting Gavrikov into the fold. No risk, no reward.
Drury’s other moves were more low-key, getting breakout star Will Cuylle signed to an extension and adding bottom-six forward Raddysh. The Rangers’ offseason will be defined by Gavrikov, and how he fits onto their blue line.
Key players added: D Jeremy Lauzon, F Mitch Marner, F Colton Sissons
Key players lost: D Nicolas Hague, F Tanner Pearson, F Nicolas Roy
Remaining cap space: None (projected $7,638,571 over)
Overall grade: B
Vegas was strategic in that it re-signed Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith to one-year contracts to have middle-six forward depth. Moving on from Hague allowed them to get another depth forward with Sissons and another NHL defenseman in Lauzon.
Then came the summer’s biggest move: packaging Roy in the sign-and-trade deal for Marner, adding one of the NHL’s top stars to a team that remains among the West’s top contenders. As always, Kelly McCrimmon and the Knights’ front office found a way to make a blockbuster happen.
The announcement that Alex Pietrangelo will sit out next season — and possibly never play again — to recover from femur reconstruction surgery creates questions about what Vegas will do on the back end, given the absence left by its No. 1 defenseman.
1:49
Why Mitch Marner is a great fit for Vegas
Greg Wyshynski reports on Mitch Marner getting traded from the Maple Leafs to the Golden Knights.
Key players added: None
Key players lost: G Dan Vladar
Remaining cap space: $15,412,500
Overall grade: B-
Flames GM Craig Conroy said that once the players his team targeted in free agency were gone, there was no need to deviate from their original plan of trusting the team’s youth. Conroy added that he wanted to continue to provide opportunities for the Flames’ young players, who he hopes look at what they didn’t do on July 1 and think, “I’m going to work even harder this summer because I want to make that team.”
Obviously, there’s a belief that the club’s homegrown talent could make enough of a difference so that the Flames go from narrowly missing the 2025 playoffs to making it in 2026.
It’s a prudent approach, not only because of the message it sends to their young players, but because it also allows them to spend their money on re-signing RFA forwards such as Connor Zary along with Morgan Frost, who later signed a two-year extension worth $4.38 million annually.
Key players added: F Curtis Lazar, F Andrew Mangiapane
Key players lost: F Viktor Arvidsson, F Connor Brown, D John Klingberg, F Evander Kane, F Corey Perry
Remaining cap space: $175,834
Overall grade: B-
The new deals for Evan Bouchard and Trent Frederic played a major role in another challenging offseason for Edmonton.
Like other teams in championship windows, the goal for the Oilers was about strategically maximizing their cap space. For example, Oilers GM Stan Bowman’s decision to trade Kane ($5.125 million cap hit) was followed up by signing Mangiapane and Lazar ($4.375 million combined) to stretch their dollars.
One other way the team can help manage their salary concerns is trusting young players such as Matt Savoie with a bigger role, while determining whether David Tomasek, the 29-year-old Czechia forward they signed in April, could earn a roster spot out of training camp.
Key players added: F Joel Armia, D Cody Ceci, D Brian Dumoulin, G Anton Forsberg, D Nick Leddy, F Corey Perry
Key players lost: D Vladislav Gavrikov, F Tanner Jeannot, G David Rittich, D Jordan Spence
Remaining cap space: $6,768,333
Overall grade: B-
Was it a more prudent use of salary cap space to sign two free agent defensemen while knowing an additional $1.5 million per year could have prevented Vladislav Gavrikov from signing with the Rangers instead?
This is one of a few questions facing Kings GM Ken Holland following his first offseason in charge. Holland used the Kings’ cap space to essentially buy in bulk, adding five players to reinforce their bottom-six forward group, their defensive options and a backup goalie.
As for whether those moves can get the Kings beyond the first round of the playoffs? That remains to be seen.
Key players added: F Nico Sturm, F Vladimir Tarasenko
Key players lost: F Frederick Gaudreau
Remaining cap space: $10,186,835
Overall grade: B-
Moving on from Gaudreau provided the Wild a cushion that allowed them to trade for Tarasenko, who gives them a potential top-six forward in a market in which most potential options remained in place.
Bringing back a two-time Stanley Cup champion in Sturm after a three-year hiatus provides additional bottom-six depth, while serving as a potential Gaudreau replacement.
But there are still other items that must be addressed. There’s a new contract for RFA Marco Rossi, along with decisions on how to use that cap space: Should they bring in veterans to fill holes in their lineup, or save it for later by relying on prospects from one of the NHL’s strongest farm systems?
Key players added: D Nicolas Hague, F Eric Haula, D Nick Perbix
Key players lost: F Colton Sissons, D Jeremy Lauzon
Remaining cap space: $10,116,039
Overall grade: B-
The Predators’ dismal finish in 2024-25 made it clear the team had holes it needed to fill this summer, with the aim of finding experienced players. That process started by getting an experienced top-nine, two-way winger in Haula, who is an eight-time 20-goal scorer and can also be an anchor on a penalty kill.
GM Barry Trotz also landed a pair of defensemen in Hague and Perbix. Both have logged top-four minutes as fill-in replacements. Could they be entrusted with those types of roles on a more permanent basis in Nashville?
Key players added: F Frederick Gaudreau, D Ryan Lindgren, F Mason Marchment
Key players lost: F Andre Burakovsky, Michael Eyssimont
Remaining cap space: $10,757,621
Overall grade: B-
New GM Jason Botterill utilized the Kraken’s cap space in ways that others couldn’t, which was crucial to his first offseason in the role.
It all started by trading Burakovsky and his $5.5 million cap hit to the Blackhawks. From there, he took advantage of the Stars’ cap issues to get another winger with consecutive 22-goal seasons in Marchment, then added a two-way, bottom-six anchor down the middle in Gaudreau from the Wild.
They still had to have enough space to sign Lindgren in free agency and re-sign RFA Tye Kartye, while Ryker Evans and Kaapo Kakko await new deals.
Key players added: F Pontus Holmberg, F Jakob Pelletier
Key players lost: D Nick Perbix
Remaining cap space: $1,180,001
Overall grade: B-
Tampa Bay has been conservative in its offseason signings, and that’s to be expected given the Lightning’s general lack of cap space or glaring holes to fill.
GM Julien BriseBois signed Yanni Gourde and Gage Goncalves to contract extensions to protect scoring depth, then added Holmberg and Pelletier to further help in that area. Pelletier especially will insulate the team’s core, and will be a factor in the bottom six.
What BriseBois didn’t do was either keep free agent Perbix or sign someone to replace him on the blue line. The Lightning are looking light on the back end, and it could be a problem if BriseBois doesn’t have anything else up his sleeve before training camp. Right now it doesn’t look as if Tampa Bay is any worse — or better — than it was at season’s end.
Key players added: F Evander Kane
Key players lost: D Noah Juulsen, F Pius Suter
Remaining cap space: $556,667
Overall grade: B-
Might that be some optimism emanating from Vancouver? The Canucks brought back Brock Boeser — one of the most coveted free agents this summer — and goaltender Thatcher Demko and forward Conor Garland signed contract extensions.
Of course, many have wondered if the $5.125 million AAV they committed to top-six winger Kane, who arrived in a trade, would have been better spent to address the situation around their centers. Especially when they face questions about who can replace Suter in the bottom six, and if they can create the cap space to find that answer at some point before or during training camp.
Key players added: F Gustav Nyquist, F Tanner Pearson, F Jonathan Toews
Key players lost: F Mason Appleton, F Nikolaj Ehlers, F Brandon Tanev
Remaining cap space: $19,898,810
Overall grade: B-
Knowing that they were going to lose Ehlers led to a conversation about how the Jets would fill the gap created by his exit. Signing Nyquist to a one-year contract was done with the belief that he can help the Jets retain the offensive balance they had last season, when 12 players finished with more than 10 goals. Pearson, who has scored more than 10 goals in nine seasons, could also play a role on that front.
The same could be said for future Hall of Famer Jonathan Toews, with the caveat he hasn’t played since 2023 because of health issues.
Those arrivals still left the Jets with more than $18 million in cap space as they still seek to find a new contract with pending RFA forward Gabriel Vilardi, who was third on the team with 27 goals last season.
C GRADES
Key players added: D Jordan Spence, F Lars Eller
Key players lost: D Travis Hamonic, F Adam Gaudette, G Anton Forsberg
Remaining cap space: $4,294,286
Overall grade: C+
Ottawa’s most exciting offseason signing was probably the one-year extension doled out for Claude Giroux. Retaining the services of a key forward and leader in the room was GM Steve Staois’ priority, and that’s done.
Staois also showed the value he puts on right-side blue-line depth by grabbing Spence — a potential upgrade over Hamonic — in a trade with the Kings. And Eller — who scored 10 goals last season — has a chance to add some punch to the Senators’ fourth line.
It’s all fine. Whether anything Staois has done will move the needle for Ottawa and help them stay on pace in the ultracompetitive Atlantic Division remains to be seen.
The Senators’ goaltending tandem is also a question, given that Forsberg is gone and 22-year-old Leevi Merilainen signed a one-year extension to be Linus Ullmark‘s backup. Will that be enough? It could be that Staois simply replaced one kind of player with another, and that complacency could hurt Ottawa. Or, the fresh energy coming off a season in which the Senators did get back to the playoffs will have everyone hitting a new stride. Time will tell.
Key players added: D Alexander Alexeyev, D Parker Wotherspoon, F Justin Brazeau, F Anthony Mantha
Key players lost: G Alex Nedeljkovic
Remaining cap space: $15,816,904
Overall grade: C+
This has been a very … uninspired offseason thus for the Penguins. But perhaps that’s GM Kyle Dubas’ grand plan. Pittsburgh is in that mushy middle of not entirely rebuilding and not entirely able to go all-in for one last kick at the can (they’ve tried it before and it didn’t work). In that sense, Dubas did all right with some straightforward signings.
Mantha and Brazeau should give the Penguins’ bottom six some solid depth, and there are third-pairing minutes up for grabs if you’re Wotherspoon and Alexeyev. Dealing away Nedeljkovic puts some of the Penguins’ younger goaltenders — such as Joel Blomqvist — in the spotlight. But it also gives an air that maybe Dubas isn’t done just yet?
Perhaps free agency was just the first wave and those long-rumored trades — involving Erik Karlsson, maybe? — are still in the offing.
Key players added: F Matias Maccelli, F Michael Pezzetta, F Nicolas Roy
Key players lost: F Mitch Marner, F Max Pacioretty
Remaining cap space: $4,983,081
Overall grade: C+
There are no two ways about it; the Maple Leafs are a worse team without Marner. The silver lining is that GM Brad Treliving was able to get something for his departing free agent in a sign-and-trade with Vegas for depth forward Roy. Treliving carried on adding third- and fourth-line skaters in Maccelli and Pezzetta.
Now, any of those three could prove to be valuable assets. But they don’t remotely replace what Toronto lost in Marner. What can you do?
Well, Treliving shouldn’t have stopped making moves. Another scoring winger with potential to contribute in the top six would be huge, and the Leafs also could use help on the back end.
Getting extensions done for John Tavares and Matthew Knies was undoubtedly important (and bumped up the Leafs’ grade here) but how Toronto gets over the loss of Marner will be enormous in how next season plays out.
Key players added: D Michael Kesselring, G Alex Lyon
Key players lost: F JJ Peterka
Remaining cap space: $13,640,319
Overall grade: C
Buffalo did fine taking care of their own by getting key RFAs such as Jack Quinn, Ryan McLeod and Ryan Johnson signed to new deals. The return of Kesselring from Utah in the Peterka trade also boosts the Sabres’ blue line on the right side, where the team was lacking depth.
Otherwise, Buffalo hasn’t done much to make itself better heading into next season. There was no splashy move or even a notable acquisition on July 1. Buffalo had money to spend and didn’t. That’s not the sort of noncommitment to improvement that fans — or, frankly, ownership — should want to be settling for when the Sabres are staring down a potential 15th consecutive season without making the playoffs.
There’s just not much left to say in defending the Sabres if they’re not going to invest in taking a swing — at anyone — when they have the resources to do it.
Key players added: F Andre Burakovsky, F Sam Lafferty
Key players lost: None
Remaining cap space: $22,312,024
Overall grade: C
Some will argue that the Blackhawks should have done more. Others will say they didn’t need to do anything else. Those who believe they could have done more will point to how they could have used their cap space to acquire proven scorers to help address the challenges on offense they faced last season in addition to their issues on defense.
But for the audience that feels otherwise? They’ll point out how a key step for the Blackhawks’ future is seeing how their young core performs, with the idea that they have 15 players on their active roster who are younger than 25 and one of the NHL’s most impressive young pipelines.
Key players added: D Brent Burns
Key players lost: F Charlie Coyle, F Jonathan Drouin, D Ryan Lindgren, F Miles Wood
Remaining cap space: $4,123,333
Overall grade: C
Everything about the decision to sign Burns to a one-year deal is indicative of a much larger dynamic.
Teams like the Avs that are in championship windows face the annual task of either rebuilding or revamping their bottom six and/or third defense pairing. Finding and then signing those players at team-friendly prices was and will remain the mission for Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland and his front office staff until camp starts.
Having a little more than $4 million in cap space is flexibility that they’ll look to maximize to build upon a roster that has failed to get out of the first two rounds since winning the Stanley Cup in 2022.
Key players added: F Radek Faksa
Key players lost: D Cody Ceci, F Evgenii Dadonov, F Mikael Granlund, F Mason Marchment
Remaining cap space: None (projected $1,794,916 over)
Overall grade: C
The decisions made by Stars GM Jim Nill that paved the way for his team to advance to three consecutive conference finals are now why the team can’t use that road map anymore.
Extensions for the Stars’ core players used quite a bit of cap space, which is why they traded Marchment to Seattle and let Ceci, Dadonov and Granlund sign elsewhere.
Their most notable move to this point was signing Faksa, who returned to the club that drafted him in 2012 after spending last season with the Blues. But even that decision left the Stars needing to clear cap space to become compliant by opening night, and be in a position to add should they feel it’s necessary.
Key players added: D Declan Chisholm
Key players lost: None
Remaining cap space: $4,125,000
Overall grade: C-
It’s not that Washington didn’t try to address its needs. GM Chris Patrick was in on the Nikolaj Ehlers sweepstakes right up until Ehlers chose Carolina over a Capitals’ club that topped the Eastern Conference standings last season. All Patrick could do from there was re-sign Anthony Beauvillier, a fine player but not one who is going to bring the top-six skill set of Ehlers. That’s how the free agency carousel goes, though.
The Capitals get some blue-line depth in Chisholm, but other than that they haven’t significantly re-tooled anywhere to suggest they’ll be even tougher to play against next season. Patrick has time to correct that with some trades and will need to be in the mood for a little homework this summer.
D GRADES
Key players added: F Charlie Coyle, F Miles Wood
Key players lost: F Justin Danforth, F Sean Kuraly
Remaining cap space: $16,342,501
Overall grade: D+
Columbus had a decent list of players for free agency. But the Blue Jackets didn’t actually go ahead and make an abundance of moves.
Instead of finding a winger to improve their top six or a right-side defenseman to bolster their top-four group, GM Don Waddell decided to massively overpay Columbus’ own pending free agent defender Ivan Provorov with a seven-year, $59.5 million contract. That was not ideal.
The skaters Waddell did add from the outside — namely Coyle and Wood — will replace the bottom-six players who left Columbus in free agency, including Danforth and Kuraly. So that’s not improving the Blue Jackets’ prospects, either.
It’s all just going to be more of the same for Columbus — which fell just short of a postseason berth last season — if Waddell doesn’t do something this summer to actively make the team better than it was.
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David Schoenfield
We’re past due to hand out some midseason grades, so let’s hand out some midseason grades.
As we pass the 90-game mark in the 2025 MLB season, my team of the first half isn’t the well-rounded Detroit Tigers, who do get our highest grade for owning MLB’s best record, or the explosive Chicago Cubs or Shohei Ohtani‘s Los Angeles Dodgers, but a team most baseball fans love to hate: the Houston Astros. They lost their two best players from last season and their best hitter has been injured — and they’re playing their best baseball since they won the 2022 World Series.
Let’s get to the grades. As always, we’re grading off preseason expectations, factoring in win-loss record and quality of performance, while looking at other positive performances and injuries.
Jump to a team:
AL East: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
AL Central: CHW | CLE | DET | KC | MIN
AL West: ATH | HOU | LAA | SEA | TEX
NL East: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
NL Central: CHC | CIN | MIL | PIT | STL
NL West: ARI | COL | LAD | SD | SF
Tarik Skubal is obviously the headline act, but the Tigers are winning with impressive depth across the entire roster.
Javier Baez is putting together a remarkable comeback season after a couple of abysmal years and will become the first player to start an All-Star Game at both shortstop and in the outfield. Former No. 1 overall picks Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson have put together their own comeback stories, while Riley Greene has matured into one of the game’s top power hitters.
Given their deep well of prospects and contributors at the MLB level, no team is better positioned than the Tigers to add significant help at the trade deadline.
I heard someone refer to them as the Zombie Astros, which feels apropos. Alex Bregman left as a free agent, they traded Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez has been injured and has just three home runs, and the Jose Altuve experiment in left field predictably fizzled.
But here they are, fighting for the best record in the majors and holding a comfortable lead in the AL West. They’re getting star turns from Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Jeremy Pena, while the risky decision to start Cam Smith in the majors with very little minor league experience has paid off, as he has now become their cleanup hitter.
If we ignore the COVID-19 season, the Astros look on their way to an eighth straight division title.
This could be at least a half-grade higher based on everything that has gone right: Pete Crow-Armstrong‘s attention-grabbing breakout, Tucker doing everything expected after the big trade, Seiya Suzuki‘s monster power numbers and Matthew Boyd‘s All-Star turn in the rotation. The Cubs are on pace for their most wins since their World Series title season in 2016.
There have been a few hiccups, however, especially in the rotation with Justin Steele‘s season-ending injury and Ben Brown‘s inconsistency, plus rookie third baseman Matt Shaw has scuffled, and the bench has been weak aside from their backup catchers.
Still, this is a powerhouse lineup, and the Cubs will seek to improve their rotation at the deadline.
They just keep winning of late, going from 25-27 and seven games behind the Yankees on May 25 to taking over first place from the slumping Bronx Bombers, a remarkable turnaround over just 36 games. They went 27-9 over a 36-game stretch ending with their eighth win in a row on Sunday.
George Springer‘s recent surge has been fun to watch, a reminder of how good he was at his peak, and Addison Barger has been mashing over the past two months.
Some of the stats don’t add up to the Blue Jays being this good — they’ve barely outscored their opponents — but there might be more offense in the tank from the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a healthy Anthony Santander, and the bullpen, a soft spot, is the easiest area to upgrade.
Their success is best summed up by the fact that Freddy Peralta is their lone All-Star, but they have a whole bunch of players who have contributed between 1 and 2 WAR.
Brandon Woodruff looked good Sunday in his first start in nearly two years, so that could be a huge boost for the second half.
I’m curious to see how Jackson Chourio performs as well. While his counting stats — extra-base hits, RBIs — are fine, his triple-slash line remains below last season, especially his OBP. He had a huge second half in 2024 (.310/.363/.552), and if he does that again, the Brewers could find themselves back in the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons.
The Rays started off slow, with a losing record through the end of April, but then went 33-22 in May and June to claw back into the AL East race — as the Rays usually do, last year being the recent exception.
Two key performers have been All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero, who has a chance to become just the third player to hit 40 home runs in his age-21 season, and All-Star first baseman Jonathan Aranda.
Due to the league wanting the Rays to play more home games early in the season, the July and August slate will be very road-heavy, so we’ll see how the Rays adapt to a difficult two-month stretch, especially since their pitching isn’t quite as deep as it has been in other seasons.
No, they’re not going to be the greatest team of all time. But they might win 100 games — even though Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, their huge offseason acquisitions, have combined for just two wins in 10 starts.
The lineup, of course, has been terrific, with Ohtani leading the NL in several categories and Will Smith leading the batting race. By wRC+, it’s been the best offense in Dodgers history.
If they can get some combo of Snell, Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow healthy, plus Ohtani eventually ramped up to a bigger workload on the mound, the Dodgers still loom as World Series favorites.
They are on pace for 95 wins, mainly on the strength of Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez, who are a combined 23-7 with 11.8 WAR. Jesus Luzardo‘s ERA is bloated due to that two-start stretch when he allowed 20 runs, but he has otherwise been solid as well.
But, overall, it hasn’t always been the smoothest of treks. The bullpen has imploded a few times and the offense has lacked power aside from Kyle Schwarber. Bryce Harper is back after missing three weeks, and they need to get his bat going. Look for some bullpen additions at the trade deadline — and perhaps an outfielder as well.
The Cardinals have been a minor surprise — perhaps even to the Cardinals themselves. St. Louis was viewing this as a rebuilding year of sorts — not that the Cardinals ever hit rock bottom and start completely over. They had a hot May, winning 12 of 13 at one point, but the offense has been fading of late, with those three straight shutout losses to Pittsburgh and six shutout losses since June 25.
The starting rotation doesn’t generate a lot of swing and miss, with both Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas seeing their ERAs starting to climb. Brendan Donovan is the team’s only All-Star rep, and that kind of sums up this team: solid but without any star power. That might foretell a second-half fade.
All-Star starting pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, plus a dominant bullpen, have led the way, although after starting 12-4, the Giants have basically been a .500 team for close to three months now. Rafael Devers hasn’t yet ignited the offense since coming over from Boston, and the Giants have lost four 1-0 games.
These final three games at home against the Dodgers before the All-Star break will be a crucial series, as Los Angeles has slowly pulled away in the NL West.
This was an “A-plus” through June 12, when the Mets were 45-24 and owned the best record in baseball, even though Juan Soto hadn’t gotten hot. Soto finally got going in June, but the pitching collapsed, and the Mets went through a disastrous 1-10 stretch.
The rotation injuries have piled up, exacerbating the lack of bullpen depth. Recent games have been started by Justin Hagenman (who had a 6.21 ERA in Triple-A), journeyman reliever Chris Devenski, Paul Blackburn (7.71 ERA) and Frankie Montas, who has had to start even though he’s clearly not throwing the ball well. The Mets need to get the rotation healthy, but also could use more offense from Mark Vientos and their catchers (Francisco Alvarez was demoted to Triple-A).
At times it has felt like Cal Raleigh has been a one-man team with his record-breaking first half. But he will be joined on the All-Star squad by starting pitcher Bryan Woo, closer Andres Munoz and center fielder Julio Rodriguez, who made it on the strength of his defense, as his offense has been a disappointment.
The offense has been one of the best in the majors on the road, but the rotation has been nowhere near as effective as the past couple of seasons, with George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller all missing time with injuries. They just shut out the Pirates three games in a row, so maybe that will get the rotation on a roll.
They’re just out of the wild-card picture while hanging around .500, so we give them a decent grade since that exceeds preseason expectations. It feels like a little bit of a mirage given their run differential — their record in one-run games (good) versus their record in blowout games (not good) — and various holes across the lineup and pitching staff.
But they’ve done two things to keep them in the race. One, they hit a lot of home runs. Two, they’re the only team in the majors to use just five starting pitchers. The rotation hasn’t been stellar, but it’s been stable.
The Padres are probably fortunate to be where they are, given some of their issues. As expected, the offensive depth has been a problem.
Not as expected, Dylan Cease has struggled while Michael King‘s injury after a strong start has left them without last year’s dynamic 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation (although Nick Pivetta has been one of the best signings of the offseason). Yu Darvish just made his season debut Monday, so hopefully he’ll provide a lift.
The Padres haven’t played well against the better teams, including a 2-5 record against the Dodgers, but they did clean up against the Athletics, Rockies and Pirates, going 16-2 against those three teams.
For now, the Reds are stuck in neutral. Leave out 2022, when they lost 100 games, and it’s otherwise been a string of .500-ish seasons: 31-29 in 2020, 83-79 in 2021, 82-80 in 2023, 77-85 in 2024 and now a similar record so far in 2025.
The hope was that Terry Francona would be a difference-maker. Maybe that will play out down the stretch, but the best hope is to get the rotation clicking on all cylinders at the same time. That means Andrew Abbott continuing his breakout performance, plus getting Hunter Greene healthy again and rookie Chase Burns to live up to the hype after a couple of shaky outings following an impressive MLB debut.
Throw in Nick Lodolo and solid Nick Martinez and Brady Singer, and this group can be good enough to pitch the Reds to their first full-season playoff appearance since 2013.
The Yankees have hit their annual midseason swoon — which has been subject to much intense analysis from their disgruntled fans — and that opening weekend sweep of the Brewers, when the Yankees’ torpedo bats were the big story in baseball, now seems long ago.
Going from seven up to three back in such a short time is a disaster — but not disastrous. Nonetheless, the Yankees will have to do some hard-core self-evaluation heading to the trade deadline.
The offense wasn’t going to be as good as it was in April, when Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham and Ben Rice were all playing over their heads. So, do they need a hitter? Or with Clarke Schmidt now likely joining Gerrit Cole as a Tommy John casualty, do they need a starting pitcher? Or both?
From the book of “things we didn’t expect,” page 547: The Marlins are averaging more runs per game than the Orioles, Padres, Braves and Rangers, to name a few teams. They’re averaging almost as many runs per game as the Mets, and last time we checked, the Marlins weren’t the team to give Soto $765 million.
An eight-game winning streak at the end of June has the Marlins going toe-to-toe with the Braves for third place in the NL East even though the starting rotation has been a mess, with Sandy Alcantara on track to become just the fourth qualified pitcher with an ERA over 7.00.
Heading into the season, I thought that if any team was going to challenge the Dodgers in the NL West, it would be the Diamondbacks. The offense has once again been one of the best in the majors, but the pitching issues have been painful.
After the aggressive move to sign Corbin Burnes, he went down with Tommy John surgery after 11 starts. Meanwhile, Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt each have an ERA on the wrong side of 5.00. Rodriguez was better in June before a shellacking on July 4, while Gallen remains homer-prone, so it’s hard to tell if improvement is on the horizon. Their playoff odds are hovering just under 20%, so there’s a chance, but they need to get red-hot like they did last July and August.
It feels like it has been more soap opera than baseball season in Boston, with the Devers drama finally ending with the shocking trade with the Giants.
If you give added weight that this is the Red Sox, a team that should be operating with the big boys in both budget and aspirations and instead seemed to only want to dump Devers’ contract, then feel free to lower this grade a couple of notches, even if the Red Sox are close in the wild-card standings.
On the field, the heralded rookie trio of Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer hasn’t exactly clicked, with Campbell returning to the minors after posting a .902 OPS in April. A big test will come out of the All-Star break, when they play the Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Twins and Astros in a tough 15-game stretch.
After last season’s surprise playoff appearance, it’s been a frustrating 2025 — although I’m not sure this result is necessarily a surprise.
There were concerns about the offense heading into the season and those concerns have proven correct. They were getting no production from their outfield, so they rushed Jac Caglianone to the majors to much hype, but he has struggled and might need a reset back in Triple-A. Even Bobby Witt Jr., as good as he has been (on pace for 7.5 WAR), has seen his OPS drop 140 points.
On the bright side, Kris Bubic emerged as an All-Star starter and Noah Cameron has filled in nicely for the injured Cole Ragans, so maybe they trade a starter for some offense.
Coming off a catastrophic 2024 season, nobody was expecting anything from the White Sox. Indeed, another 121-loss season loomed as a possibility. While they’re on pace to lose 100 again, they’ve at least played more competitive baseball thanks to their pitching.
Rookie starters Shane Smith and Sean Burke have shown promise, while rookie position players Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero and now Colson Montgomery are getting their initial taste of the majors.
There has been the mix of calamity: Luis Robert Jr. has been unproductive and is probably now untradable, and former No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn hit .189 and was traded to the Brewers.
The Twins are one organization that might like a do-over of the past five seasons. It feels like they’ve had the most talent in the division, but all they’ve done is squeeze out one soft division title in 2023. Now, the Tigers have passed them in talent and other factors, such as payroll flexibility.
There’s still time for the Twins to turn things around in 2025, but outside of that wonderful 13-game winning streak, they haven’t played winning baseball.
Overall, it’s been yet another bad season, despite Paul Skenes‘ brilliance. Really, do we talk enough about him? Yes, we do talk about him, but he has a 1.95 ERA through his first 42 career starts. Incredible.
Here’s an amazing thing about baseball. The Pirates are not a good team, but they recently put together one of the best six-game stretches in history. That’s not stretching the description. First, they swept the Mets — a good team — by scores of 9-1, 9-2 and 12-1. Then they swept the Cardinals — a good team — with three shutouts, 7-0, 1-0 and 5-0. They became the first team since at least 1901 to score 43 runs or more and allow four runs or fewer in a six-game stretch. And then they promptly got shut out three games in a row, making them the first to win three straight shutouts and then lose three straight shutouts.
Eighteen of our 28 voters picked them to win the AL West before the season, but it’s looking more and more like the 2023 World Series might be a stone-cold fluke in the middle of a string of losing seasons. That year, nearly everyone in the lineup had a career year at the plate, and the pitching got hot at the right time.
This year’s Rangers, though, have struggled to score runs, and while some have pointed to the offensive environment at Globe Life Field, they’re near the bottom in road OPS as well. It’s been fun seeing Jacob deGrom back at a dominating level, and Nathan Eovaldi should have been an All-Star.
Put it this way: If the Rangers can somehow squeeze into the postseason, you don’t want to face the Rangers in a short series. Indeed, if any team looms as an October upset special, it might be the Rangers.
The Nationals received superlative first-half performances from James Wood and MacKenzie Gore, while CJ Abrams is on the way to his best season. But there remains a lack of overall organizational progress, which finally led to the firings on Sunday of longtime GM Mike Rizzo and longtime manager Dave Martinez. A 7-19 record in June sealed their fate, as the rotation has been bad and the bullpen arguably the worst in baseball.
Until the Nationals figure out how to improve their pitching — or, better yet, find an owner who wants to win — they will be stuck going nowhere.
That fell apart in a hurry. Sunday’s loss was Cleveland’s 10th in a row, a stretch that remarkably included five shutouts. Indeed, the Guardians have now been shut out 11 times; the franchise record in the post-dead-ball-era (since 1920) is 20 shutouts in 1968.
There’s nothing worse than watching a team that can’t score runs, so that tells you how exciting the Guardians have been. Last year, the Guardians hit exceptionally well with runners in scoring position, keeping afloat what was otherwise a mediocre offense. That hasn’t happened in 2025 (trading Josh Naylor didn’t help either). Throw in some predictable regression from the bullpen, and this season looks lost.
We can’t give this a complete failing grade due to the emergence of All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson (the Athletics’ first All-Star starter since Josh Donaldson in 2014) and slugging first baseman Nick Kurtz, who have a chance to finish 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year voting. Plus, we have Denzel Clarke‘s circus catches in center field.
But otherwise? Ugh. The Sacramento gamble already looks like a disaster, three months into a three-year stay. The team is drawing well below Sutter Health Park’s 14,000-seat capacity, with many recent games drawing under 10,000 fans. Luis Severino bashed the small crowds and the lack of air-conditioning.
The A’s had a groundbreaking ceremony for their new park in Vegas, renting heavy construction equipment as background props. Maybe they should have spent that money on more pitching help.
Based on preseason expectations, the Braves have clearly been the biggest disappointment in the National League — fighting the Orioles for most disappointing overall.
What’s gone wrong? They haven’t scored runs, as the offense continues its remarkable fade from a record-setting performance just two seasons ago. The collapses of Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies lead the way, with lack of production at shortstop and left field playing a big role as well. Closer Raisel Iglesias has struggled, and the team is 11-22 in one-run games. Spencer Strider hasn’t yet reached his pre-injury level and Reynaldo Lopez made just one start before going down.
The Braves haven’t missed the playoffs since 2017, but that run is clearly in jeopardy.
The Orioles have a similar record to the Braves but have played much worse, including losses of 24-2, 19-5, 15-3 and two separate 9-0 shutouts.
They will spend the trade deadline dealing away as many of their impending free agents as possible, and then do a lot of soul-searching heading into the offseason. After making the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, will this season just be a blip? While the pitching struggles aren’t necessarily a big surprise, what has happened to the offense? Are some of their young players prospects or suspects?
After two months of Cleveland Spiders-level baseball, it would be easy to make fun of the Rockies. Especially since they recently announced Walker Monfort — son of the owner — was promoted to executive VP and will replace outgoing president and COO Greg Feasel.
On the other hand, the Rockies are doing something right: They just drew 121,000 for a three-game series against the White Sox.
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Jorge Castillo
NEW YORK — The Yankees designated two-time batting champion DJ LeMahieu for assignment Wednesday, presumably ending the infielder’s seven-year tenure with the organization despite being owed $22 million through next season.
“Tough decisions,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “In the end, it ultimately comes down to how this roster sits and what’s best. You want to provide your manager with enough chess moves to deal with on a day-in and day-out basis in-game.”
Manager Aaron Boone explained that the move resulted from “an evolving conversation” in recent days that included multiple meetings with LeMahieu, a respected veteran in the Yankees’ clubhouse.
It comes a day after Boone announced that Jazz Chisholm Jr. would shift back to playing second base every day from third base, bumping LeMahieu from the team’s everyday second baseman to a bench role. Boone acknowledged LeMahieu took the demotion “not necessarily great” but emphasized that LeMahieu did not ask for his release.
“It’s been a tough couple of days,” Boone said. “Some hard conversations. And then ultimately coming to this decision, conclusion, obviously not easy for [who’s] been a great player. He’s done a lot of great things for this organization. So, difficult, but at the end [we] feel like this is the right thing to do at this time.”
LeMahieu, who turns 37 on Sunday, batted .266 with a .674 OPS in 45 games this season after starting the season on the injured list with a strained calf. He has been better since June 1, hitting .310 with a .754 OPS in 96 plate appearances as the Yankees’ primary second baseman, but Cashman ultimately decided the production wasn’t enough to offset his defensive liabilities.
The Yankees signed LeMahieu to a six-year, $90 million contract before the 2021 season — fresh off LeMahieu hitting .364 during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign to become the first player to win a batting title in both leagues in the modern era — envisioning him as an everyday utility player bouncing between infield positions.
LeMahieu made 36 of his 55 starts last season at third base before going on the injured list in early September with a right hip impingement for the remainder of the year. That injury, according to Cashman, inhibited LeMahieu’s ability to play third base, and led to LeMahieu informing him that he couldn’t physically handle playing the position anymore.
“He was always just sharing that the recovery was really difficult,” Cashman said. “The physical toll on him to tee up at that position was a problem and so therefore that position is a problem.”
The limitation was cemented during spring training when LeMahieu strained his left calf in his first Grapefruit League game playing third base, forcing the Yankees to conclude that LeMahieu was no longer an option at the position. He only played second base in his nine rehab games before making his season debut May 13 as a second baseman with Chisholm on the injured list with an oblique strain.
Three weeks later, Chisholm, who started the season as the team’s everyday second baseman, came off the injured list to play third base despite LeMahieu’s range at second base being glaringly limited. Chisholm, who feels most comfortable at second base, accepted the assignment and returned to third base, a position he picked up last season after the Yankees acquired him from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline through the World Series.
The calculus changed Sunday when Chisholm, with the Yankees in the midst of a six-game losing streak, told reporters that he hurt his shoulder making a throw from third base three weeks earlier and the injury impacted his throwing. Two days later, Chisholm, who had made three throwing errors in his final four starts at third base, was the Yankees’ starting second baseman again.
With Chisholm, an All-Star this season, stationed at second base, former MVPs Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger entrenched at first base and Giancarlo Stanton occupying the DH spot, playing time would have been sparse for LeMahieu.
Factoring in that the Yankees’ options at third base behind Oswald Peraza, who is also the team’s backup shortstop, would have been catcher J.C. Escarra, Cashman determined that LeMahieu’s presence hampered the team’s flexibility to an extent that would have handcuffed Boone’s in-game decision-making. Infielder Jorbit Vivas, a light-hitting versatile defender, was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace LeMahieu on the roster.
“I wouldn’t say he’s unwilling to still make the attempt and maybe spell over there,” Cashman said of LeMahieu. “But it was something that he was without sharing that was steering clear of to the extent he could.
“Because, again, like anything else, he’s got a lot of pride. He’s a great player. He wants to contribute to the team. He loves this team. He loves this organization. But he felt that was an avenue that was no longer a realistic avenue and that kind of ties our hands a little bit more moving forward.”
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