Juan Soto to Yankees and 15 Offseason Moves That Shaped the 2024 MLB Playoff Picture

Championships are won and lost with the moves that are made during the offseason, whether it's shoring up the roster in free agency or swinging a blockbuster deal to acquire a key piece of the puzzle.

With the MLB playoff field now set and the start of another exciting postseason right around the corner, now is the perfect time to look back at the offseason moves that have had the biggest impact in 2024.

Ahead, we've highlighted 15 players who were either signed by playoff teams in free agency or acquired via trade, and their contributions this year have played a major role in their club reaching the postseason. Players are listed alphabetically by last name.

Let's start with some honorable mentions.

The following players also joined playoff teams during the offseason and will be in a position to make an impact in October:

OF Harrison Bader, NYM
DH Jake Bauers, MIL
RP Aaron Bummer, ATL
C Victor Caratini, HOU
RP Jeremiah Estrada, SD
IF Adam Frazier, KC
OF Trent Grisham, NYY
C Kyle Higashioka, SD
1B Rhys Hoskins, MIL
RP Jared Koenig, MIL
RP Kenta Maeda, DET
DH J.D. Martinez, NYM
RP Yuki Matsui, SD
3B Joey Ortiz, MIL
OF Hunter Renfroe, KC
RP José Ruiz, PHI
RP John Schreiber, KC
SP Luis Severino, NYM
IF Donovan Solano, SD
SP Marcus Stroman, NYY
OF Tyrone Taylor, NYM
OF Alex Verdugo, NYY

Transaction: Acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for IF Joey Ortiz, LHP DL Hall

The Orioles needed an ace to anchor their pitching staff, and they got their guy when they traded consensus Top 100 prospect Joey Ortiz and controllable left-hander DL Hall to the Milwaukee Brewers for Corbin Burnes on Feb. 1.

It was a steep price to pay for a player poised to reach free agency at the end of the season, but it also plugged the most glaring hole on the roster for a team on the rise.

With 2.92 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 181 strikeouts in 194.1 innings, he has again been one of baseball's most dominant pitchers, and injuries to Kyle Bradish, John Means and Grayson Rodriguez have made his presence atop the rotation even more important.

Transaction: Acquired from Chicago White Sox in exchange for RHP Drew Thorpe, RHP Jairo Iriarte, OF Samuel Zavala, RHP Steven Wilson

No team in recent memory has more aggressively bought and sold in the same offseason than the San Diego Padres last winter.

Outfielder Juan Soto was traded to the New York Yankees in December, and then three months later, they flipped top pitching prospect Drew Thorpe—who was acquired in that deal—and three others to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Dylan Cease.

Cease, 28, has ended up serving as the ace of the staff in San Diego with Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove both missing time, and he went 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 224 strikeouts in 189.1 innings in his Padres debut.

Transaction: Signed to a five-year, $95 million deal in free agency

Despite already having a pair of bullpen aces in Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu, the Houston Astros added one of the best relievers in baseball when they signed Josh Hader to a five-year deal in January.

With Pressly taking a step backward in his effectiveness this year, it has proved to be a more important deal than initially expected. And, after some initial shakiness, Hader has provided his usual dominance in the ninth inning.

The 30-year-old struggled to a 6.39 ERA with a blown save and two losses during the first month of the season, but since the beginning of May, he has converted 32 of 35 save chances with a 3.24 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 13.0 K/9 in 58 appearances.

Transaction: Signed to a one-year, $23.5 million deal in free agency

The Los Angeles Dodgers had already signed Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in free agency and traded for Tyler Glasnow when they splurged on a power-hitting outfielder to bolster an already stacked lineup.

Teoscar Hernández had a solid track record of middle-of-the-order production, but after a lackluster 2023 campaign with the Seattle Mariners, he opted for a high-value one-year deal in an effort to rebuild his stock.

The 31-year-old has done just that, posting a 137 OPS+ with 32 doubles, 33 home runs and 99 RBI, earning a starting nod in the All-Star Game and logging a career-high 4.3 WAR in 154 games as the primary left fielder.

Transaction: Signed to a minor league deal in free agency

A steady defender and solid contact hitter throughout his time in the big leagues, Jose Iglesias seemed like he might be running out of opportunities when he failed to make the Miami Marlins roster out of camp in 2023.

He played a handful of games for the San Diego Padres' Triple-A affiliate before opting out of his deal and spending the rest of the season watching from home, but the Mets gave him a shot on a minor league deal this spring.

The 34-year-old spent the first 55 games of the season playing at Triple-A, but he quickly played his way into a regular role once he was promoted to the majors. In 282 plate appearances, he hit .341/.387/.456 for a 141 OPS+ with 3.0 WAR in 83 games.

Transaction: Acquired from the New York Yankees along with C Kyle Higashioka, RHP Drew Thorpe, RHP Randy Vásquez, RHP Jhony Brito in exchange for OF Juan Soto, OF Trent Grisham

In his first season as a full-time starting pitcher in the big leagues, Michael King put together one of the most impressive breakout performances of the 2024 season.

The 29-year-old had a 2.75 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 127 strikeouts in 104.2 innings with the New York Yankees in 2023, but he did that over nine starts and 40 relief appearances in a swingman role before being traded to San Diego in the Juan Soto blockbuster.

King ended up being a staple in the starting rotation, finishing 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 201 strikeouts in 173.2 innings, and he has another year of arbitration eligibility remaining in 2025 before reaching free agency.

Transaction: Signed to a one-year, $750,000 deal in free agency

Despite a 5.38 ERA in 88.2 innings with the Cincinnati Reds in 2023, the Cleveland Guardians made the somewhat surprising decision to sign Ben Lively to a guaranteed MLB deal in free agency.

The 32-year-old entered the 2024 season with a 5.05 ERA in 208.2 career innings in the majors, but he has been an invaluable member of a Guardians rotation that has been hit hard by injuries and ineffectiveness.

Lively ended up finishing second on the team in games started (29) and innings pitched (151.0), going 13-10 with a 3.81 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and a 118-to-49 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and he will likely be part of the club's playoff rotation.

Transaction: Signed to a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency

A top prospect in the Washington Nationals system and a young starter on the rise during his time with the Chicago White Sox, Reynaldo López never quite lived up to expectations early in his career.

He found new life as a reliever in 2022 and 2023, posting a 3.02 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 10.0 K/9 with six saves and 31 holds in 129 appearances, but the Atlanta Braves signed him during the offseason with the intention of shifting him back to a starting role.

The 30-year-old won the No. 5 starter job in spring training, but emerged as much more than that as the season unfolded, helping to ease the loss of Spencer Strider with a breakout season.

López finished with a 2.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 146 strikeouts in 134.2 innings, earning his first All-Star selection in the process.

Transaction: Signed to a three-year, $45 million deal in free agency

Seth Lugo filled a variety of roles during his seven seasons with the New York Mets, but he spent the bulk of his time pitching out of the bullpen before the San Diego Padres gave him a shot at starting in 2023 while pitching on a one-year deal.

He finished with a 3.57 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 140 strikeouts in 146.1 innings in his lone season in San Diego, and parlayed that performance into a three-year, $45 million deal during the offseason that includes an opt-out after 2025.

The 34-year-old turned in a career year in his Royals debut, going 16-9 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 181 strikeouts in 206.2 innings, earning his first All-Star selection and slotting in as the co-ace of the staff alongside Cole Ragans.

Transaction: Signed to a two-year, $28 million deal in free agency

Left-hander Sean Manaea joined his fourth team in as many years when he signed with the New York Mets during the offseason, and he was something of an unknown commodity after an inconsistent 2023 season with the San Francisco Giants split between the rotation and bullpen.

After an up-and-down start to the year, he found his groove during the second half, rattling off a stretch of 11 starts where he went 6-1 with a 2.63 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 82 strikeouts in 72.0 innings while recording nine quality starts during that span.

The 32-year-old turned in a clunker in his final start of the regular season, allowing seven hits and six runs (five earned) in 3.2 innings on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers, but he had pitched like an ace for the better part of two months prior to that loss.

Transaction: Signed to a 10-year, $700 million deal in free agency

Shohei Ohtani the two-way superstar earned a record-setting $700 million deal in free agency, but the DH-only version has been awfully good in his own right this season while he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

In his Los Angeles Dodgers debut, the 30-year-old hit .310/.390/.646 while leading the National League in OPS+ (190), home runs (54), RBI (130), runs scored (134) and total bases (411) in a 9.2-WAR season, adding 59 steals for baseball's first 50/50 season.

Now his first career playoff game awaits in this year's NLDS, and the impact he has already made in his first year with the Dodgers speaks volumes to the return on investment the team is likely to receive over the life of his contract.

Transaction: Acquired from the Boston Red Sox along with $17 million in exchange for IF Vaughn Grissom

The Chris Sale to Atlanta deal has a chance to go down as one of the most lopsided, most impactful deals in recent MLB history.

After battling injury to make just 11 combined starts in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the veteran left-hander stayed healthy enough to make 20 starts last season, finishing with a 4.30 ERA in 102.2 innings.

The Braves bought low, hoping he could fill a spot on the staff behind Spencer Strider and Max Fried, but he ended up being the ace of the staff in a season that should end in a long-awaited first Cy Young Award.

The 35-year-old won the NL Triple Crown, finishing 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 225 strikeouts in 177.2 innings. Back spasms kept him out of action on Monday, and he is not expected to be available for the Wild Card Series, but the Braves don't make the playoffs this year without his production.

Transaction: Acquired from the San Diego Padres along with OF Trent Grisham in exchange for RHP Michael King, C Kyle Higashioka, RHP Drew Thorpe, RHP Randy Vásquez, RHP Jhony Brito

Juan Soto has made it awfully difficult for the New York Yankees to even consider letting him walk in free agency after a fantastic debut in pinstripes.

The 25-year-old will hit the open market this winter as one of the most hyped free agents of all time and coming off a huge 2024 season where he hit .288/.419/.569 for a 178 OPS+ with 31 doubles, 41 home runs, 109 RBI and 128 runs scored in a 7.9-WAR campaign.

The burden fell on Soto and Aaron Judge to shoulder the offensive load for the Yankees throughout the 2024 season, and the end result was a 94-win season and an AL East title with that tandem leading the way.

Transaction: Signed to a two-year, $32 million deal in free agency

Michael Wacha had not reached 25 starts or 150 innings pitched since the 2017 season prior to this year, but he had been consistently effective when healthy while pitching for six teams in the last six years.

He went 14-4 with a 3.22 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 134.1 innings with the San Diego Padres in 2023, then joined teammate Seth Lugo in jumping ship and joining the Kansas City Royals in free agency.

The 33-year-old went 13-8 with a 3.35 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 145 strikeouts in 166.2 innings, joining Lugo, Cole Ragans and Brady Singer to form one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball and lead the Royals to an unexpected playoff appearance.

Transaction: Signed to a 12-year, $325 million deal in free agency

After winning the Japanese League's equivalent of the Cy Young Award three years in a row, Yoshinobu Yamamoto immediately became one of the most hyped international free agents since Shohei Ohtani when it was announced he would be posted for MLB clubs this past offseason.

He ended up joining Ohtani on the Los Angeles Dodgers, inking a massive 12-year deal prior to his age-25 season. And after a strong start to the season, he missed nearly three months with a strained rotator cuff.

Yamamoto returned to the mound on Sept. 10 and now lines up as the No. 2 starter for the team's upcoming postseason run. In 18 starts, he went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 105 strikeouts in 90.0 innings, flashing top-of-the-rotation potential and poised to enter his prime years in a Dodgers uniform.