MLB's 5 best under-the-radar pickups from the 2025 offseason

This offseason will be remembered as the winter of Juan Soto, when the Mets emerged victorious over the Yankees for the most expensive player in the sport's history on one side of the country while the Dodgers (supposedly) broke the game with their spending on the other. Top free-agent pitchers Blake Snell, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried all found new teams, the Astros traded away Kyle Tucker and another pitching sensation out of Japan landed in Los Angeles. 

But for all the major moves that have defined Major League Baseball's hot stove over the past few months, there were also a handful of under-the-radar signings and trades that could move the needle, even if they didn't capture the biggest headlines at the time. 

Since "under-the-radar" is a subjective phrase, we'll include a few ground rules for this piece: The list below only includes players making less than the qualifying offer this year (which knocks out Walker Buehler, who received exactly that — one year, $21.05 million — from the Red Sox and could be primed to cash in next winter if he can build off another spectacular October). In addition, the 25 players who signed for the most total guaranteed money this winter are not included (which eliminates Nick Pivetta and Ha-Seong Kim, who could be a bargain for the Rays at two years and $29 million or for whichever team ends up getting him after he's inevitably traded for prospects), nor are players who were worth at least 3.0 bWAR last season (which eliminates some of the top trade acquisitions, including Tucker and Garrett Crochet). Lastly, because anyone the Dodgers, Mets or Yankees acquired this offseason tended to garner attention, this list instead focuses on MLB's 27 other teams. 

With that, here are five moves