5 teams that spent the least money in free agency | MLB 2022 

Signing records have already been set for this year's MLB 2022 free agency market. We have seen the largest contracts permeating headlines for weeks now. Amid all the noise, it may seem as though every team has spent the kitchen sink in the MLB 2022 market for this year's upcoming MLB season.

While it may not seem like it, there were several teams this year that did not go all-in had very frugal offseasons. Here are five teams that spent the least money in the MLB 2022.

MLB 2022 - the 5 teams that spent the least

"Here the top 5 & bottom 5 spenders in free agency this offseason" - @ FOX Sports: MLB

5 - Milwaukee Brewers - $12.9 million

March 22 was a busy day for the Milwaukee Brewers front office. They did not bring in any new talent. Instead, they re-signed nine players who were up for contract arbitration. However, these do not count toward free agency signings as the aforementioned players are already in the organization. Apart from a few Minor League signings and picking up catcher Pedro Severino from the Orioles, there was no excitement in Milwaukee this MLB 2022 offseason.

4 - Baltimore Orioles - $7.9 million

Perhaps on this list because of how little they have done, the Orioles did make something of a splash picking up veteran Venezuelan catcher Robinson Chirinos. Apart from the modest one-year contract signed by Chirinos, they have only signed one other player, Jordan Lyles, to an MLB contract. The remainder of their budget was spent on arbitrations or Minor League contract signings.

3 - Cincinnati Reds - $5.5 million

Many expected the Cincinnati Reds to make some big moves after losing slugger Nick Castellanos to the Philadelphia Phillies. There was talk in the MLB free agency market to replace him with Yasiel Puig, who last played in the 2018 for Cincinnati, but in the end, he went on to play in the South Korean league.

The Cincinnati Reds will miss Nick Castellanos

2 - Cleveland Guardians - $900 million

The Guardians lost a few mid-range players after the 2021 MLB Season, like Ryan Lavarnway and Wilson Ramos. However, GM Mike Chernoff has either been dragging his feet or is outright not interested in pursuing anything that might bump the Cleveland Guardians up from last year's second-place finish in one of MLB's softest divisions - the American League Central.

1 - Oakland Athletics - $0

It is not often in the days of hundred-million-plus contracts that a team's offseason expenditures amount to zero, but that is where the Oakland Athletics find themselves on the eve of the MLB 2022 season. The only move they made was signing pitchers Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas to deals to avoid arbitration, which does not count towards expenditures in the MLB 2022 free agency market.

"I spent 25 cents on a gumball yesterday... which is more than the Oakland Athletics spent in Free Agency this entire off-season. Absolutely mad." - @ Jeffrey Morse

It is hard to believe that the New York Mets are spending over $42 million more on one player than the Cleveland Guardians are paying out in total for the MLB 2022 season. These teams are set to be surprised if they can pull together a respectable record this MLB season despite spending virtually no money at all.