The Good, Bad and Meh MLB First Impressions on New Teams in 2025

The 2025 MLB season turned three weeks old on Thursday, which technically means we're just three weeks removed from the offseason. It's not a lot of time in a vacuum.

But then again, nobody ever said time is a necessary ingredient for getting a first impression.

So, let's go right ahead and assess the first impressions of 11 players who changed teams in blockbuster transactions over the winter. They range from "Good" to "Bad" to "Meh." The first two are self-explanatory. We'll otherwise defer to The Simpsons for an explainer for the latter.

Naturally, on-field performance is what matters most here. But it's also important to consider other storylines, such as the most expensive player in MLB history bemoaning his lineup protection.

We'll start with one of the biggest international amateur signings ever and work our way toward the only $765 million man in the history of sports.

How Acquired: $6.5 million signing bonus

2025 Stats: 4 GS, 13.2 IP, 11 H (1 HR), 12 K, 13 BB, 3.29 ERA

If nothing else, Rōki Sasaki's first outings for the Dodgers deserve a style point or two.

His stuff just plain looks good, and his splitter and slider have been especially effective. The two pitches have a combined 48.6 whiff rate and have limited hitters to two singles in 17 at-bats.

As for Sasaki's actual performance, the nicest thing to say is that he's been successful at keeping hits and runs off the board. Yet his overall impact—and at least on one occasion, his demeanor as well—has been less than ace-caliber, mainly owing to the difficulty he's had throwing strikes.

Among pitchers who've made at least three starts, only fellow Dodger Tyler Glasnow has a lower strike rate than Sasaki. Hence all those walks, though it does bear noting that five of them came in a rocky debut in Japan.

Sasaki is still just 23 and the Dodgers aren't exactly sinking a bunch of money into what is essentially a long-term experiment on his upside. For now, though, the effort to turn him into an ace needs a lot of work.

First Impression: Bad

How Acquired: 2-player trade with Chicago Cubs (Bellinger), 3-player trade with Milwaukee Brewers (Williams)

Cody Bellinger's 2025 Stats: 16 G, 67 PA, 1 HR, 2 SB, .186 AVG, .239 OBP, .288 SLG

Devin Williams' 2025 Stats: 8 G, 7.0 IP, 7 H (0 HR), 8 K, 6 BB, 5.14 ERA

Why include Cody Bellinger and Devin Williams in a two-for-one special?

They got traded to the same team, for one thing. For another, neither trade really cost the Yankees that much. And for three, the early returns have been a letdown.

Bellinger gets a bit of a pass on account of those bad chicken wings, and we're not going to ignore the impression he's made with his glove. But the bat just isn't playing, with a particular problem being that his strikeout rate is up from 15.6 to 26.9 percent.

As for Williams, the traffic he's had on the bases is a huge departure from the norm, as he ran a WHIP under 1.000 for the Brewers between 2020 and 2024. He's been hit hard, too, averaging 93.0 mph on his exit velocity.

Williams has settled down lately, going four straight outings without allowing a run after coughing up five in his first four appearances. The same can't be said of Bellinger, who is 4-for-29 in his last eight games.

First Impression: Bad

How Acquired: 5-player trade with Chicago White Sox

2025 Stats: 4 GS, 26.0 IP, 15 H (1 HR), 28 K, 8 BB, 1.38 ERA

The Red Sox are clearly big believers in Garrett Crochet, as he's thus far cost the franchise four top prospects and $170 million.

Crochet was arguably the best pitcher in MLB on a pitch-to-pitch basis in 2024, so there was never any question that the talent was there. The bigger question is how much of a workload he could handle, especially after he was capped at four innings per start in the latter half of 2024.

The lefty is doing a fine job of providing Boston with an answer. In his four starts, he's pitched into the sixth inning three times and into the eighth twice.

His rate of strikeouts is down from 12.9 per nine innings in 2024 to 9.7 this year, with his average fastball tumbling 1.5 mph. But this is clearly by design, and the thought process is about as hard to argue with as the results.

In other words, he sure looks like the No. 1 the Red Sox want him to be.

First Impression: Good

How Acquired: 4-player trade with Houston Astros

2025 Stats: 21 G, 100 PA, 5 HR, 4 SB, .301 AVG, .410 OBP, .578 SLG

Kyle Tucker came into this year having averaged 35 home runs and 6.5 rWAR per 162 games over the previous four seasons. Accordingly, hopes were high.

Perhaps this comes across as setup for a punchline, but nope. Tucker has been spectacular, and it really is that simple.

He did get off to a cool start, and some of that coolness has returned lately. But in the middle is a 10-game run in which he hit .425 with five homers, five doubles and 14 runs batted in, with eight of those ending with the Cubs flying the W.

Unsurprisingly, Tucker's Statcast profile is a sea of red. Of particular note is that his expected slugging percentage (.633) is even higher than his actual slugging percentage.

The Cubs absolutely should want to extend Tucker, lest he become a free agent at the end of 2025. As for the fact that they haven't yet, the only defense they have right now is that they'd be buying very high.

First Impression: Good

How Acquired: 5-year, $92.5 million contract

2025 Stats: 19 G, 83 PA, 2 HR, 0 SB, .216 AVG, .301 OBP, .351 SLG

Speaking of buying high, the Blue Jays signed Anthony Santander fresh off a season in which he smashed his previous career best for homers by 11.

That probably always was an unsustainable performance, but Santander just hasn't given the Jays much to cheer for. He didn't get his first homer until April 12, and his three-run shot on Tuesday matched his RBI total for the season to that point.

That Santander is warming up is the good news, but let's stop short of saying he's hot. Though he is on a seven-game hit streak, he's only hitting .276 in the process.

What's under the hood doesn't look much better. Beyond his generally poor batted ball metrics, Santander has also lost 1 mph off his average bat speed from 2024.

True, Santander typically is a slow starter to the tune of a .663 OPS in April. But even with this noted, he seems to have a bunch of rust to shake off.

First Impression: Bad

How Acquired: 3-year, $120 million contract

2025 Stats: 19 G, 85 PA, 4 HR, 1 SB, .321 AVG, .365 OBP, .564 SLG

Offensively, at least, the Red Sox could not have asked for a better start by Alex Bregman.

He's hit safely in 13 of 19 games, with multiple hits in six of those. His latest feat was a 5-for-5 showing at Steinbrenner Field on Tuesday, in which he homered twice and drove in four.

Considering that Bregman's Gold Glove-winning defense is a big reason why he's at third and Rafael Devers is now DH'ing, the expectation is obviously that he should be getting it done in the field as well.

The irony is that he's not. The Red Sox lead the majors with 20 errors, and a team-high four of those are on Bregman. He's looked plenty spry in the field, but his throws have been, shall we say, adventurous.

This is not to say the Red Sox won't gladly take what Bregman is doing at the plate. But if they had their druthers, all the Bregman-Devers drama from spring training wouldn't be blowing up in their face right now.

First Impression: Meh

How Acquired: 5-year, $182 million contract

2025 Stats: 2 GS, 9.0 IP, 10 H (0 HR), 4 K, 8 BB, 2.00 ERA

Blake Snell is on the injured list right now with shoulder inflammation, so the fair thing to do here would be to give him an "Incomplete."

Also in the interest of fairness, Snell's shoulder issue might explain why he was so shaky in his first two starts. Notably, he allowed exactly five hits and exactly four walks in each of them, also recording exactly two strikeouts.

Further, Snell's average fastball was just 94.8 mph. That is 0.4 mph below his career norm, as well as 1.1 mph below where he sat for the San Francisco Giants in 2024.

At this point in the season, Snell's other saving grace is that this is just not his time of year. He's much more of a second half kind of guy, posting a 2.32 ERA after the All-Star break compared to a 3.95 ERA before it.

All of this said, explaining Snell's slow start is not the same as excusing it. When it comes down to it, this is not the first impression he wanted to make.

First Impression: Bad

How Acquired: 7 years, $182 million contract

2025 Stats: 19 G, 86 PA, 1 HR, 1 SB, .195 AVG, .267 OBP, .286 SLG

Willy Adames is another historical slow starter, as his .685 OPS in April is his worst for any month.

This said, he wishes he had a .685 OPS right now. He's instead at .553, and it's hard to make the case that he's been unlucky.

Sure, his exit velocity and hard-hit rate are actually up relative to 2024. But he's also lost 2.5 mph off his average bat speed, which makes it less than a coincidence that he has yet to tap into his primary strength of pulling the ball in the air.

There are also concerns present for Adames on defense. He was a Gold Glove-caliber defender between 2019 and 2023, but his Defensive Runs Saved slipped to minus-16 in 2024 and he's already at minus-five this year.

In other words, that one legitimately awesome play he made on Julio Rodríguez looks like an outlier. 

First Impression: Bad

How Acquired: 6-year, $210 million contract

2025 Stats: 3 GS, 15.1 IP, 15 H (3 HR), 14 K, 9 BB, 5.28 ERA

Corbin Burnes' contract isn't a bargain, per se, but let's grant that it came in lighter than expected after the Yankees signed Max Fried for $218 million.

So far, though, the 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner hasn't looked very ace-like. Though "only" nine are earned, he's permitted 11 runs in three starts, with a 1.565 WHIP that dwarfs his 1.020 average between 2020 and 2024.

As we discussed earlier this week, it's likely just a matter of time before Burnes irons out his control issues. That'll go a long way toward leveling out his performance, as he proved in 2024 that he doesn't need too many strikeouts to be effective.

It is nonetheless still jarring to see him continue to struggle with swings and misses. He's only in the 38th percentile with his 23.8 whiff rate, whereas he was in the 98th percentile at his peak in 2021.

As Burnes has also lost 1.1 mph off his cutter since then, there's a real pattern of fading dominance for the Diamondbacks to stress over.

First Impression: Bad

How Acquired: 8-year, $218 million contract

2025 Stats: 4 GS, 24.0 IP, 23 H (2 HR), 28 K, 5 BB, 1.88 ERA

Remember when the Yankees hit nine homers and hung 20 runs on the Brewers on March 29?

Well, an interesting footnote for that game is that it also saw Max Fried make his debut for the Bronx Bombers. It wasn't his best work, as he got lifted in the fifth inning and was charged with six runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks.

He's pretty much been on a tear ever since then, however.

Fried's last three starts have yielded 19.1 innings of three-run ball, wherein he's struck out 24 and walked only three. His escalating trust in his sweeper is paying off, as hitters are 0-for-5 with a 40.0 percent whiff rate against it.

With Gerrit Cole out for the year, the Yankees needed either Fried or Carlos Rodón to heed the call to be their new No. 1. Fortunately for them, at least one of them is answering it.

First Impression: Good

How Acquired: 15-year, $765 million contract

2025 Stats: 19 G, 83 PA, 3 HR, 1 SB, .221 AVG, .361 OBP, .412 SLG

Juan Soto is not having a bad season for the Mets.

This is worth saying because it is literally true. Though it's 191 points below where he left off in 2024, Soto's .773 OPS is still good for a 125 OPS+. That means he's been 25 percent better than average, which is...well, good.

And yet, his average, on-base and slugging percentages are all trending toward career lows, and are well below even his unspectacular career norms (.258/.395/.468) for April. This is...well, not good.

The same naturally goes for him lamenting to Mike Puma of the New York Post that not having Aaron Judge behind him has meant fewer pitches to hit. Even if he isn't wrong, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso have ears and feelings, you know.

The thing is, though, that Soto isn't technically wrong that he's getting fewer strikes to hit this year. He is indeed factually correct, and was therefore being honest if nothing else. And with the Mets in first place in the NL East at 12-7, it's not as if all Heck is breaking loose around Soto.

Ultimately, it's fair to say that Soto is testing the Mets' patience. It is not fair to say, however, that he's breaking it.

First Impression: Meh

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.