MLB 2025 American League Preview
2025 National League Preview
AL East
2024 Record: 94-68
After falling short in the World Series, the Yankees made some significant off-season moves which should go a long way towards securing the AL East again and more post-season success.
Even though Juan Soto has departed to the cross-town Mets, the additional Cody Bollinger from the Cubs and Paul Goldschmidt from the Cardinals. On the mound, Max Fried joins an already solid rotation and closer Devin Williams (from Milwaukee) may lead the league in saves.
The middle of New York's lineup sells trouble for opponents. Besides Goldschmidt and Bellinger, 2024 AL HR leader Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will provide more than enough pop. Catcher Austin Wells emerged last season as a reliable backstop.
2024 Record: 74-88
Max Scherzer inked a one-year deal with the Blue Jays, a team that desperately needed help in the starting rotation. The Jays also hope to get some quality late innings from right-hander Jeff Hoffman, a free agent from Philly who had 10 saves and 89 Ks in 66.1 innings and will be the Jays' closer opening day.
Hoffman inked a long-term deal (3 years) during the off-season and middle reliever Yimi Garcia is on board for two years. The Blue Jays didn't have any problems scoring runs last season, it was keeping the other guys from rounding the bases that caused them to fade badly in the second half and finish in last place in the division.
Scherzer will join a rotation that already features Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios. If the pitching holds up, Toronto could improve markedly from last season.
On the offensive side, Toronto snatched Anthony Santander from Baltimore via free agency. Santander was third in AL homers last season, stroking 44 while driving in 102 runs. Toronto's lineup should be locked and loaded with a wealth of young talented batsmen like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andres Gimenez, and Bo Bichette.
2024 Record: 91-71
Two straight years of making the post-season and losing in the opening round has left Baltimore fans with a bad feeling. Losing starter Corbin Burnes and HR and RBI leader Anthony Santander in the off-season didn't help matters.
Still a young squad overall, the O's are going to have to rely on established players Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle to shoulder most of the offensive load, along with Tyler O'Neill, via the Red Sox.
The rotation could be very good, with Zach Eflin resigned and Tomoyuki Sugano coming aboard along with Charlie Morton, Grayson Rodriguez and Team Kremer. The bullpen, which has been injury-prone, needs to keep Felxi Bautista, Seranthony Dominguez and Yennier Cano healthy to assure success.
2024 Record: 81-81
The Red Sox weren't too happy about finishing third in the AL East last season and missing the playoffs with a .500 record. A flurry of off-season trades and free agency signings demonstrate the front office commitment to improve in 2025.
To that end, signing Alex Bregman from Houston was one of the bigger deals this winter. A career third baseman, Bregman is likely to move to second, with Rafael Devers remaining at the hot corner.
Shoring up their rotation, the Sox acquired Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and Walker Buehler from the Dodgers. Fastball phenom Aroldis Chapman has also signed on and is expected to compete for the closer role with Liam Hendriks and Justin Slaten.
A lot of things have to go right for the Red Sox, especially on the mound. Bregman will help offensively, but the division is very tough.
2024 Record: 80-82
Even though the Rays fell out of contention for a playoff spot by the end of July, they didn't make many changes to the 2024 squad that spent most of the season hovering around .500 but never able to break through, finishing with an 80-82 mark.
Besides Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe, most of the starters for the Rays are unknown to most fans. Ha-Seong Kim comes over from San Diego to play shortstop, but other than that, manager Kevin Cash will stick to his revolving-door pitching staff and rely on defense and clutch hitting to get the job done. The Rays have the look of a last-place team this season.
AL Central
2024 Record: 86-76
Detroit added Jack Flaherty to their starting rotation, which was already quite good, putting the Tigers among the contenders for the division title. Also added to the bullpen is righty reliever Tommy Kahnle, who should supply late-inning stoppage. With a rotation led by Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, the Tigers are positively positioned to capture the division title for the first time since winning it four straight seasons, 2011-2014.
Acquired from the Yankees, Gleyber Torres is expected to start at second base and possibly lead off. The Tigers gained valuable experience last season, taking out the Astros two straight in the playoffs before losing to Cleveland in five games. Detroit was the hottest team in the majors late in the season, going 3111 from August 10 to clinching a playoff spot on September 27.
Center fielder Matt Vierling and left fielder Riley Greene are the best position players in terms of offensive production, but the Tigers need to find more punch to complement their stellar pitching. They could be making moves at the trade deadline.
As a team, the Tigers batted just .234, 10th in the AL, but were tied for second with Cleveland, league-wide in ERA, at 3.61 in 2024.
2024 Record: 86-76
Kansas City was the biggest surprise of 2024, making the playoffs after losing 106 games in 2023. Another step forward could land them a first division title since 2015, when they powered through the playoffs to win the World Series.
If not for Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr. would have been league MVP. He led the league with a .332 batting average, swatted 32 home runs and drove in 109. Catcher Salvador Perez (.271, 27, 104) and its baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (.262, 19, 97) also had banner seasons in 2024.
As a team, the Royals batted .248, 5th in the AL and the pitching staff registered an ERA of 3.76, sixth-best. Starters Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo (16-9) and Michael Wacha (13-8) will need to repeat solid performances.
2024 Record: 92-69
Cleveland took the Central division wire-to-wire last season. An early five-game win streak had them at 17-6 on April 23rd and they never looked back. Challenges from the Royals and Tigers were fought off, but this year may be a different story.
Stud closer Emmanuel Clase backs up a rotation lead by Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Luis Ortiz. Middle relief was a strong point and 2024 and should be reliable again, though the division is shaping up to be the best in the AL, supplanting the long-standing superiority of the East.
Carlos Santana returns to first base for a third stint with the Guardians (dating back to when they were known as the Indians), replacing Josh Naylor. His bat and that of Jose Ramirez will provide most of the power in the middle of the lineup. Cleveland was 9th in the AL with a .238 batting average, which implies that they'll rely heavily on pitching in 2025.
2024 Record: 82-80
Minnesota slumped badly in the second half. Injuries, a lack of power hitting, and unreliable pitching (10th in ERA, 4.26) relegated the Twins to the lower echelon of the division. A 54-42 record at the All-Star break was squandered in August and September. From August 17 through the end of the regular season, the Twins went 12-27, as the Tigers and Royals surged past them.
Can they complete in 2025? That depends largely on how well starters Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober perform and whether center fielder Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa can stay healthy after missing a third and nearly half the season, respectively, with injuries. Having traded their home run and RBI leader from 2024, Carlos Santana, to Cleveland, the Twins may be prone to power outages in 2025.
2024 Record: 41-121
What can you say about a team that set the record for futility with a record 121 losses in 2024 other than it could have ben worse? The White Sox actually won their final two games of the season and were 5-5 their last 10 games.
Chicago was a league-worst in ERA (4.68) and in batting average (.221) last season. Getting to .500 in 2025 would constitute nearly a dream season, but a finish with fewer than 100 losses would be a reasonable accomplishment. Not sure they can recover that quickly.
AL West
2024 Record: 78-84
The West was the weakest division in the American League, with just Houston (88-73) and Seattle (85-77) finishing above .500. Houston had the best batting average in the league (.262), while the Mariners led with a team ERA of 3.49.
That leaves the Rangers in rebound mode after a disappointing 2024 campaign, perhaps suffering a hangover from winning the World Series in 2023.
Texas had the fourth-worst ERA in the league (4.35) and have made movs to remedy that condition. Nathan Eovaldi resigned to complete a starting rotation of Jacob DeGrom, Jon Gray, Tyler Maile, and Cody Bradford. A healthy DeGrom is key to the success of the staff.
The Rangers also added some power to the lineup, getting Jake Burger from the Marlins and Joc Pederson from the Marlins. Combined with Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia, and Corey Seager all returning, the Rangers look to have the deadliest lineup in the division, if not the entire league.
Starter Max Scherzer (to Toronto) and closer Kirby Yates depart, but either Chris Martin or Robert Garcia should emerge as the closer.
2024 Record: 88-73
Houston won the division handily last year, but 2025 could be more of a struggle with the Rangers looking to return to the post-season, the Mariners' solid pitching and even the Angels adding offensive punch.
Jose Altuve will once again lead off for the Astros, though he may be splitting time between second base and left field. Isaac Paredes replaces Alex Bergman, who went to Boston, but Jordan Alvarez, Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz, and Jeremy Pena assure that the Houston lineup will still be solid.
After Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown, the rotation is questionable. Houston was 4th in ERA in the AL last year. Anything close to that keeps them in contention.
2024 Record: 85-77
Making very few moves in the off-season, the Mariners were, however, able to keep their strong rotation of right-handed arms intact. Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, and Bryan Woo is likely the best staff in the league. Seattle led the AL in ERA. Closer Andres Munoz had 22 saves in 2024 and fanned 77 in 59 innings.
Seattle will have to depend on their pitching if they hope to not fall just short of reaching the playoffs as they have the past two seasons. Catcher Cal Raleigh's 34 homers and 100 RBI were the team's best, but the numbers fall off fast after that.
This formula hasn't worked for two straight seasons, but the Mariners are sticking to it. Adding a bat or two at the trading deadline may be in Seattle's best interests.
2024 Record: 63-99
Completely falling apart after letting Shohei Ohtani go and Mike Trout playing in just 29 games, the Angels are hoping to get back on some kind of winning track in 2025, but they haven't finished at or above .500 since 2015 and haven't been in the playoffs since they won the division in 2014 with a 98-64 record.
They've added Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks to the starting rotation and Kenley Jansen is one of the most experienced closers in the business. The offensive stats aren't horrible, and getting Trout back will surely improve the lineup, but they appear to be still a distance from contending, even in what could be the weakest division in the majors.
2024 Record: 69-93
The A's were downright stinky in 2024, but they were better than the Angels by a full six games. Adding Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs should help a pitching staff that was the third-worst in the league, but probably not enough to make the A's a contender.
New York Yankees
Projected 2025 Record: 102-60
Toronto Blue Jays
Projected 2025 Record: 90-72
Baltimore Orioles
Projected 2025 Record: 86-76
Boston Red Sox
Projected 2025 Record: 83-79
Tampa Bay Rays
Projected 2025 Record: 72-90
Detroit Tigers
Projected 2025 Record: 95-67
Kansas City Royals
Projected 2025 Record: 92-70
Cleveland Guardians
Projected 2025 Record: 85-77
Minnesota Twins
Projected 2025 Record: 74-88
Chicago White Sox
Projected 2025 Record: 67-95
Texas Rangers
Projected 2025 Record: 91-71
Houston Astros
Projected 2025 Record: 89-73
Seattle Mariners
Projected 2025 Record: 78-86
Los Angeles Angels
Projected 2025 Record: 78-86
Oakland Athletics
Projected 2025 Record: 68-94
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