3 Teams that won the off-season and how it affects the Miami Marlins

2. NEW YORK YANKEES

The team that the Miami Marlins beat in the 2003 World Series had a pretty good off-season. The Bronx Bombers badly needed to upgrade the lineup and that's exactly what they did. They made one of the biggest splashes of the off-season, by acquiring LF Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres.

If the blockbuster trade wasn't enough, they then proceeded to improve the rotation by signing Marcus Stroman to a team-friendly deal. Stroman wanted to pitch for his hometown team and got his wish, while the Yankees got their discount.

You can argue that third base and the bullpen could use help, but acquiring a generational hitter and a high upside arm can do a lot for them. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if they won their division, though the Baltimore Orioles look good as well.

The Miami Marlins don't have the resources that the New York Yankees have, but with a better farm, a trade for an lite bat would've been possible. Remember, the San Diego Padres previously traded for Soto as well. The Fish won't have to worry about the Bombers, unless the team makes a World Series run and faces them there.

NEXT: A NATIONAL LEAGUE POWERHOUSE

1. LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Could there have been anyone else at that spot? LA entered the off-season with major starting pitching questions, those questions were resolved rather effectively to say the least. Elite Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is now on the team. I still question that 12 year deal, but you can't argue with a bold splash such as this.

Yamamoto was only one major starting pitching acquisition, Tyler Glasnow was another. They even signed him to an extension. That was very good, but pales in comparison to what they did to improve their lineup. They signed SP/DH Shohei Ohtani to a record deal. The Ohtani deal is especially huge, it was first reported as a 10 year/$700 million deal, which raised quite a few eyebrows at the time.

Shohei Ohtani is a two-way player and will be joining their rotation in the 2025 season. In the meantime, he will be the team's DH and face of the franchise along with some others. It's an added bonus that they stole him away from the Los Angeles Angels, a team that's run so bad that it almost feels like a crime to kick them while they're down.

The Los Angeles Dodgers had arguably the best off-season of any team. They addressed their biggest need, improved their team, will likely receive more money by advertising and promoting Ohtani and put an exclamation point on being LA's team.

It's going to be tough to beat LA if the Miami Marlins make it to the playoffs and face them. We can only hope that their recent NLDS issues continue to keep them from a deep playoff run. In the meantime, we can only hope to have ownership that spends the same way on the team.