MLB’s free agent and trade market is slowing down for the holidays, as it usually does in the third week of December. Perhaps over the next couple of weeks Nolan Arenado will move or Corbin Burnes will pick his next team, but executives and agents report that the volume of conversation is slowing, even with dozens and dozens and dozens of free agents still unsigned.

“It’ll pick up again after New Year’s,” one evaluator said, “and more guys will find their next deal.”

As that happens, teams will continue to plug holes as their rosters near completion before the start of spring training. The Yankees will add another hitter, probably right-handed, as they rebound from Juan Soto’s departure. The Mets will continue to round out their roster depth around their new superstar, Soto. The Dodgers will probably land a reliever, the Padres will continue to hone their roster and somebody will try to pry Luis Castillo away from the Mariners.

With many transactions still to come before the 2025 season opens in Japan on March 18, let’s take stock of where things stand. Here are the current top 10 teams in baseball.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Teams have started to meet with Roki Sasaki, and if the 23-year-old right-hander picks the Dodgers — who would probably be the betting favorite among execs — their 2025 rotation would probably stack up this way: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani — which would be ridiculous.

But even if they don’t get Sasaki, the Dodgers will still be a formidable favorite to become the first team since the 1998-2000 Yankees to win back-to-back championships because of the extraordinary depth of their lineup, with Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman at the top and Max Muncy, Will Smith and newcomer Michael Conforto hitting somewhere in the bottom half. They tried (and failed) to land Devin Williams, but it figures that they’ll add at least one more power arm for their bullpen.

2. Philadelphia Phillies

So far, the Phillies’ expected makeover hasn’t happened. They signed Jason Romano for the bullpen, but it still needs more help, and the trade market has not been jumping at third baseman Alec Bohm; some evaluators speculate that this is because of concerns about his defense. The rotation, on the other hand, will be deep again, and the lineup is still loaded — Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, et al. The Phillies were widely regarded as the best team for most of 2024 and they should threaten the Dodgers for that spot again next summer.

But they could be busy before the start of their season. Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Ranger Suarez are all entering the final season of their respective contracts, and rival GMs have quietly predicted that president of baseball operations David Dombrowski will do something big before the 2025 season begins.

3. Atlanta Braves

The Braves limped into the playoffs last season before being eliminated quickly by the Padres, and in a sense, no team will add more to its club from the close of 2024 to the start of ’25 than Atlanta — with the expected return of Ronald Acuna Jr. and, at some point, Spencer Strider. Though the addition of those stars recovering from major injuries will be a major boost, the Braves, who have been relatively quiet so far this winter, still have needs in their rotation, bullpen (at least one more arm) and outfield.

4. New York Yankees

The response of the Yankees’ front office to the loss of Soto has been swift and bold, reflecting GM Brian Cashman’s belief that the team would be fine even if Soto departed. Cody Bellinger, the team’s newest addition, made it clear that he’s completely comfortable with wherever manager Aaron Boone chooses to use him — left field, center field or first base. That will depend largely on what else the Yankees do during the winter.

The rotation appears to be as good or better than any other in the American League: Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Clarke Schmidt, Carlos Rodon and Luis Gil, with Marcus Stroman also playing some role. But they still need help around Aaron Judge, who, without Soto, won’t get nearly as much lineup protection as he had last season, which was the best of his career.

5. San Diego Padres

As even Dodgers players have acknowledged, the Padres came closer than anyone to knocking out L.A. during the 2024 playoffs, and that combined with the continued potential of Jackson Merrill means you could move the Padres higher on this list. But they still need help while also managing payroll, which is why other teams say San Diego is willing to listen to offers for Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez (although some rival execs don’t think Arraez is going to move).

6. New York Mets

The Mets will inevitably be deemed as one of the winners of the winter after their record-breaking deal with Soto, who would seem to fit perfectly in manager Carlos Mendoza’s lineup hitting behind Francisco Lindor. Mark Vientos seems well-suited to bat behind the two MVP candidates and take advantage of the RBI opportunities.

But there are side effects, it seems, to the Mets’ signing of the most expensive player in baseball history, borne out in their current projected rotation:

• Kodai Senga, if healthy.

• Frankie Montas, who continues to be viewed as a pitcher of high potential despite his 4.84 ERA last season.

• David Peterson, who improved down the stretch last season.

• Clay Holmes, if he can make a successful transition to the rotation by repeating his delivery more consistently.

• Paul Blackburn, who had a 4.66 ERA in 14 starts last season.

Other teams expect that David Stearns, the Mets’ head of baseball operations, will continue to do what he has often done in the past and add depth — indeed, his pitching staff at the end of last season was much better than it was at the outset. But the bar of success in the National League East will again be high, and improvement is needed with the status of this current group.

7. Cleveland Guardians

Lest anyone forget, the Guardians finished one round short of reaching the World Series after earning a first-round bye with one of the AL’s two best records this past season. They should once again have an overpowering bullpen, behind a rotation that is almost certainly going to be better than the fragile starting staff of 2024. Assuming that Shane Bieber‘s rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery continues to go well, he’ll probably be part of the rotation at some point next summer.

8. Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles might be baseball’s greatest mystery at this point. On one hand, they have so much high-end talent — Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser — and are theoretically right in the middle of their window for championship contention, after piling up 101 wins in 2023 and making the playoffs this past season.

But Corbin Burnes, their 2024 ace, is in free agency, and there’s no expectation that he’ll return to Baltimore, considering his high price tag. Without him, the Orioles’ rotation is shockingly thin. There is still help available on the market, from trade candidates such as Cease and Jesus Luzardo to free agents such as Jack Flaherty — but they are pricey and, to date, there is little sign that the change in ownership earlier this year has changed the team’s working philosophy about free agency spending. Baltimore has exactly one player under contract for 2026 — the newly signed Tyler O’Neill, who worked out a three-year, $49.5 million deal to effectively replace Anthony Santander.

With no long-term obligations beyond O’Neill, the Orioles should have the long-term financial flexibility to make moves.

But … will they?

9. Seattle Mariners

It might be surprising to not see the Houston Astros in this top 10, but notice a recent trend in their season-to-season win totals: 95 in 2021, 106 in 2022, 90 in 2023 and 88 in 2024.

So far this offseason, the Astros’ talks with Alex Bregman have stalled — due to the gap between what he wants and what Houston owner Jim Crane has offered (in the same neighborhood as Matt Chapman‘s six-year, $156 million deal with the Giants). Maybe more significantly, the Astros traded their best all-around position player, Kyle Tucker, rather than attempt to pay him what his future market value will be.

So there is opportunity in the AL West, and the Mariners might be the team to take advantage of that, after finishing with a disappointing 85 wins in 2024. At the very least, they should have an excellent rotation, even if they deal Castillo to capitalize on his value in the spiked starting pitching market. But one way or another, the Mariners need offensive help. Does that mean signing Christian Walker to bolster the middle of the order? Does that take the form of a more consistent season from Julio Rodriguez? We’ll see.

10. Kansas City Royals

The Royals had a desperate need for a leadoff hitter — someone who could take advantage of the opportunities created by hitting in front of Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez — and they moved quickly, trading Brady Singer for Jonathan India. They do need one more hitter to emerge in the bottom half of their lineup, though. But look, 2024 was no fluke.

Best of the rest:Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox