The Miami Marlins and other teams were graded what?!

The Athletic rated the off-seasons for all 30 teams and it was a questionable list to say the least. I'm going to focus on the Miami Marlins (C rating); New York Mets (A- rating); Philadelphia Phillies (A- rating) and the Atlanta Braves (B+ rating). In other words The Fish and our division rivals. These ratings are not only ridiculous but are based on just looking at big signings and ignoring everything else. Let's look at why...

The Athletic rated the NL East and the Miami Marlins in a ridiculous way.

Let's start with the Miami Marlins. That's the only rating that is at least somewhat understandable. The Miami Marlins defense is being questioned even though it actually got better. As long as The Fish keep improving the bullpen, I think that rating should only be higher. The team improved the lineup and the farm system, while keeping the core intact. This is a better team and the C rating while understandable in a way (not enough impact bats were acquired), is still a bit low. I think that The Athletic really rated The Fish on signing popular players here.

The New York Mets didn't get better. They replaced Jacob deGrom with Justin Verlander in the rotation. Yes Verlander was phenomenal in 2022, he's also turning 40 before the season starts and isn't projected by any projection system to be a Cy Young contender again. deGrom on the other hand is better and younger. They also replaced Chris Bassitt (3.42 ERA in 2022) with Jose Quintana (projected 4.04 ERA) and Taijuan Walker with an unproven Kodai Senga. Neither the bullpen or the lineup improved. A- rating for a team that was eliminated in the NL Wild Card round after a second half collapse and now got worse?!

The Atlanta Braves basically did nothing but lose their closer and 5.7 WAR in 2022 SS Dansby Swanson. They didn't even replace him, how exactly are they having a better off-season than the Miami Marlins?! The Philadelphia Phllies signed Trea Turner and then their pitching staff got worse. It's as if The Athletic focused on the Trea Turner signing and ignored everything else, as if repeating the record is automatic and any signing will only improve upon it. Very amateurish grades by The Athletic that are pretty ignorant of the reality of the off-season.