Dodgers' weakness? Yankees or Astros? Best pitcher deal? 5 burning MLB questions

The hot stove hasn't cooled off during the holidays.

Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and Max Fried are all finally signed, and each one of their contracts surprised to some degree. But which team negotiated the best deal between that trio? Which American League contender is having the best offseason? Where will Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman sign, and for how much?

FOX Sports MLB experts Deesha Thosar and Rowan Kavner weigh in on those topics and more in our latest roundtable.

1. Which of the big three pitcher contracts do you like best from the respective teams’ perspective?

Thosar: Maybe it's partly due to the shock of the signing, but I like the deal the Diamondbacks worked out with Corbin Burnes. Even though they weren't linked to him all winter, Burnes' residency in Arizona clearly made the organization a top candidate internally, and they capitalized on that advantage to secure the top free agent starting pitcher left on the market. The D-backs already had a strong rotation (Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery) without Burnes, and those supporting arms will decrease the pressure for him to uphold an entire pitching staff. 

The NL West, dominated by the Dodgers, is arguably baseball's toughest division, and the D-backs needed someone with the top talent of Burnes (2.94 ERA since 2021) to become a viable contender. As far as the money (six years, $210 million), Burnes was always expected to earn at least $35 million per year on a long-term deal, and the D-backs deserve credit for being able to deliver.

Kavner: Blake Snell with the Dodgers. I didn't anticipate Max Fried getting the biggest contract (both by years and total value) of any pitcher this winter. I would have been