Ten Most Disappointing Acquisitions in Baseball This Season
Michael Conforto Has Struggled Since Leaving the Mets
Never had changing socks felt so good. After experiencing the misery of being on a team that set the dubious record for most losses in a season, left hander Garrett Crochet was traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox over the winter.
Crochet is one of the main reasons Boston is likely headed to the postseason this year, making him one of the best ten winter acquisitions made by contending teams. He in fact is at the top of a list published recently at MLB.com, in which columnist Thomas Harrigan identifies those valuable acquisitions such as Juan Soto, Max Fried, and Kyle Tucker among others.
His article inspired me to examine the opposite idea, guys who have turned out to be the least effective winter acquisitions for 2025. Here are ten players who inspired their new homes with much preseason hope, only to end up as disappointments.
1. Willy Adames, San Francisco Giants
The Brewers have the best record in baseball despite losing their All-Star shortstop, while the Giants are on the outside looking in in part because of the struggles of Adames.
2. Anthony Santender, Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto is playoff-bound in spite of a disappointing season in which Santander has an embarrassing .179 batting average with six hore runs,, a major disappointment for an All-Star who slugged 44 last year in Baltimore.
3. Christian Walker, Houston Astros
Somehow the Astros keep winning, but Walker has had very little to do with it. He does have 22 home runs, but that total is a mere two-thirds of the 36 he hit for the Diamondbacks in 2024.
4. Luis Severino, Athletics
After signing a three year deal, Severino has rewarded the franchise by having fewer wins and more losses than anyone in the rotation.
5. Jonathan India, Kansas City Royals
The former Rookie of the Year has seen a slight decline in batting average while his power numbers have been cut in half, not a good return for Brady Singer, who leads the Reds in wins.
6. Jose Iglesias, San Diego Padres
His .227 batting average is over a hundred points lower than the .337 he put up for the Mets last year.
7. Jurickson Profar, Atlanta Braves
Everyone now knows his 2024 season was an anomoly as, in addition to a PED suspension early in the season, Profar has only half of the 101 RBI he had last year with San Diego
8. Ryan Pressley, Chicago Cubs
The former Houston closer had been in declline for several years, but still the Cubs had to hope that his ERA would not balloon up an entire run and hastened his release.
9. Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers
He has managed to accumulate twenty saves as the closer, but his ERA is nearly two points higher than his combined 2.00 with the Padres and Marlins last year.
10. Michael Conforto, Los Angeles Dodgers
His home runs and RBI numbers are only half of what he had in San Francisco last year, and his batting average is an anemic .194.
