By Thomas Mangieri
With the MLB regular season underway, there is no time like the present to make predictions about what this season may hold and what the final divisional standings will look like. With the offseason shaking many things up and fans getting looks at new additions this spring training, 2025 looks promising for some teams and more of the same for others.
The National League (NL) East is one of the best divisions in the MLB. The Philadelphia Phillies have the best odds to win the division according to FanDuel Sportsbook, followed by the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Washington Nationals, and the Miami Marlins. The NL East will be a dogfight between the Braves, Phillies, and Mets. The Phillies are the strongest team overall in the division with one of the best rotations in the MLB, and they only got better this offseason. They added left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo to an already elite rotation and brought in outfielder Max Kepler to add more consistency to the lineup.
The Braves are second since they will start this season without two of their top players, outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and starting pitcher Spencer Strider. With Acuña and Strider out, the team will be weaker but still solid.
According to ESPN, “Spencer Strider, who succumbed to elbow surgery after only two starts last spring, should return to the top of the rotation before the end of April; Acuña will return to the top of the lineup shortly thereafter.”
The Mets are another great team in the division; they are third because while they have an explosive offense, they still lack starting pitching. The addition of Juan Soto is a great addition to the team, but Clay Holmes to replace Luis Severino in the already weak rotation is not going to work in the Mets’ favor. If the Mets can get a solid starter at the deadline to add to their weak rotation, the team will be better suited to compete for a top spot.
The Washington Nationals are not going to be a great team this year, but the future is bright with all of the young stars they have currently. Dylan Crews, James Wood, and CJ Abrams are all great bats and were top prospects when they were coming up through the minor leagues.
The Marlins are the weakest team in the division this year. The team has some promising young talent in Xavier Edwards and Connor Norby and will get back Cy Young award-winning pitcher Sandy Alcantara from Tommy John Surgery, but will more than likely finish at the bottom of the division.
The NL Central has a ton of young talent within and will be another competitive division in 2025. The Chicago Cubs are predicted to win the division, followed by the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cubs are looking to compete and take the top spot from the Brewers. They have a solid rotation, young bats like Pete Crow-Armstrong mixed with experienced veterans like Dansby Swanson. This team can compete and will do so in this division; they will have some fierce competition with the Brewers.
While losing Devin Williams in a trade, the Brewers added to their rotation with Nestor Cortes in return. The team still has solid bats, but it does not seem they will be as successful as last year.
The Reds are predicted to sit in third because this team just needs more; the team did make a lot of acquisitions in the offseason and focused on defense. They have a strong rotation but a weak bullpen. It does not seem that their rotation or bats will be better than the Cubs and Brewers. The Reds do fight and might upset the division and potentially win it if they can add to their bullpen and bring in extra bats by the deadline.
In the past years, a lot of talent has come through the Pirates, but their ownership does nothing to build around it. They have a generational talent in Paul Skenes and an exciting new arm in Bubba Chandler, who is projected to be called up this year. The team has no real star on offense beyond Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz, although Cruz has struggled in the past year. The Pirates’ ownership seems content with tanking for the next few years and more than likely will not be competitive in 2025.
The Cardinals’ playoff window closed last season, and they have realized it. The team is not looking great, and after trying and failing to trade Nolan Arenado this offseason, it does not seem like they will be trying to compete this year.
MLB.com journalist John Denton said, “The Cardinals’ plans of training focus on creating more playing time for their young core in the season ahead.”
The NL West is a solid division with three of the league’s best teams. The Los Angeles Dodgers are favored to win yet again, followed in the standings by the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies.
The Dodgers have talent at every position, with three former MVPs in their lineup, including one of, if not the, greatest players of all time in Shohei Ohtani. They have depth in every category and will be a team looking to defend their World Series title come October.
The Padres are well-rounded on offense, as well as having great starting pitching depth, with a decent bullpen. If the bats can be consistent on the team, they should be able to make the playoffs this year and compete.
The Diamondbacks are coming off a disappointing season riddled with injuries to pitching and most of their players not producing like they did in 2023. They added Corbin Burnes to address the pitching concerns of last season, but the team still doesn’t have the strongest bullpen. Losing Christian Walker doesn’t help the bats of the team, either. However, if players like Corbin Carroll can produce as they did in 2023, the team will be back in the playoff mix.
The Giants are a middle-of-the-pack team and more than likely won’t compete for the division title this season. The team has talented bats and a solid rotation and bullpen but doesn’t have the firepower to compete with the likes of the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, or Padres. For this, they get fourth place in the division, and unless things change soon, that’s how it will be for a while.
The Rockies haven’t been competitive for a while and should see the bottom of the division again in 2025. With an up-and-coming star in Brenton Doyle, who broke into his own during the second half last year, and youngsters Ezequiel Tovar and Michael Toglia, the team has some pieces to build around. The future is still uncertain for the team since they still have more holes in their roster to fill.
The American League (AL) East this year should be interesting, with the Boston Red Sox looking competitive again and hoping to compete with the likes of the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. I predict the final standings for this division will have the Orioles on top, followed by the Yankees, Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, and last place going to the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Orioles are coming off a sad playoff run where they got swept out of the playoffs yet again. While still needing to address some pitching issues on the team after the loss of Corbin Burnes, the team will find a way to overcome that.
The Yankees lost a lot before this season even began, losing Juan Soto in free agency and Gerrit Cole to injury for the entire season; they will still find a way to manage. The Yankees finally have a solid closer in Devin Williams, which was a big hole last season. While the loss of a bat as good as Soto’s will be missed this year for the Yankees, it won’t particularly hurt the team too much since the team has proved that it can hit and hit for power.
They replaced Anthony Rizzo with Paul Goldschmidt and upgraded from Alex Verdugo to Cody Bellinger in the outfield. The team will still be scary and could win the division along with being the number one seed in the AL.
The Red Sox are finally shaping up to be something this season, and hope is high to see where the team will finish. The future is now for the Red Sox, and they made a push toward something this past off-season with the signing of Alex Bregman and trading for Garett Crochet. The Red Sox should be a fiery and fun team to watch this season if these trades pan out.
This season could be the Blue Jays last shot at being competitive, and their window is closing at the end of this year with names like Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. almost guaranteed to leave in free agency. While there may be some bad blood between him and the franchise, Gurrero has stated that he plans to compete this year; however, with a Blue Jays team that just doesn’t have as much energy as it used to, I don’t see them going anywhere this season.
The Tropicana Field roof is not the only thing that has failed the Tampa Bay Rays; the management has failed the team and the fans. After the team essentially collapsed last year, it traded away a ton of its talent before the season and at the deadline.
It seems things haven’t changed that much since, with the Rays trading Jose Siri, a standout player for the team last year, to the Mets and not getting a ton in return. The Rays are not going to make too much noise this season and are most likely about to head into another rebuilding stage if they aren’t already in one.
The AL Central gets a lot of hate for being one of the weaker divisions in the MLB, but recently, the teams have gotten a lot better, and the division is shaping up to be fairly competitive this year. My predicted final standings have the Kansas City Royals taking home the pennant, followed by the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox.
The Royals are a great, well-coached team, making their first berth in the postseason in a while last year as a Wild Card team. The Royals are back this year, with a potential MVP candidate in Bobby Witt Jr. leading the charge on the team with veteran Salvador Perez, who has witnessed success on the Royals before.
The team has strong starting pitching and a solid bullpen to back it. The Royals lack some bats, but that will not last with some big names coming up. Jac Caglianone, who had a monster spring training, could be coming up soon to add to the offense of the Royals. With the Royals getting a taste of playoff success last season, there is no doubt they can beat out the other teams in their division for the one spot in the AL Central.
The Guardians have been a solid team in past years, and that should continue this year. While not as exciting of a team, the team still has two of the best in their position with third baseman Jose Ramirez and closing pitcher Emmanual Clase. It should be interesting to see how the Guardians will look to keep their spot atop the AL Central as it gets more competitive than it has been in years.
The team has more depth in its rotation than other divisional rivals and has solid bats to pair with. The team should make another playoff berth this season, and it’s up to see if the team can dominate like they did last year to earn a spot in the postseason.
The Twins are coming off missing the playoffs last season due to the struggles of their younger players and injuries to their core, with players like Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, and Joe Ryan being injured for a good amount of the season. This spring training has shown that the Twins have developed that young core more and are sure to make some noise this year if they can stay healthy. While placed third on this ranking, if the team plays to their potential and they can get a full season out of Byron Buxton, the Twins could be on top of their division by season’s end and punch their ticket to the postseason.
The Tigers struggle with offensive production, but hopefully, some of the younger guys coming up and the addition of Gleyber Torres can address this issue. The Tigers’ rotation is possibly the best in the division, headlined by last season’s American League Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal.
The 2024 White Sox set the record for the most losses in MLB history. They traded away their best pitcher Garrett Crochet for young talent, but it will take time for the farm to make its way to the major league roster. There’s not much else to say about the White Sox except it can’t get much worse than it is now.
Statistically, The AL West was the worst division last year, with the division winner being the only one to make the playoffs with under 90 wins, but this year, the division should look more competitive. My prediction for the AL West has the Houston Astros winning the division one again, followed by the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Athletics, and last place belonging to the Los Angeles Angels.
The Astros will be on top of the AL West for the fifth time in a row this year. While the team lost Alex Bregman to free agency, they added a significant bat in Christian Walker, which was a significant upgrade. The team still has a good bullpen, good rotation, and great bats, which makes them the best-rounded team in the AL West and the team to beat in the division.
The Rangers are coming off of a World Series hangover of a season; their season was plagued with injuries to key players, with Corey Seager being out all season, as well as regression from players like Adolis Garcia and Josh Jung. This season, they will get back to their winning ways after having a great spring training.
Sports Illustrated journalist David Roloff said, “One through nine, players can hit home runs, but strikeout ratios will be a factor. This lineup isn’t going to be bunting and working walks.”
The Mariners have a solid core of the team in their offense, a stellar rotation that is the best in its division and one of the better in the league, as well as an alright bullpen. The team has everything that a team needs to succeed. The Mariners will be in the same boat they were in last year, missing the playoffs because the team can’t hit when it matters.
There were sparks of the team improving on this at the end of the season last year when they were out of playoff contention; however, they must have forgotten how to hit over the offseason because their spring training wasn’t too good. If the Mariners can figure it out this season, they have the talent to win the division or at least compete for a wildcard spot.
The Angels did not make much noise this offseason; unsurprisingly, the team is bad and has wasted every good thing thrown its way. Mike Trout is declining, and the terrible contract they gave Anthony Rendon still hurts the team. They won’t make too much noise this season and are most likely going to be one of the worst teams in the league. The team is headed in the direction of a rebuild in the coming years, which could start sooner rather than later.
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Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Sports.