The Super Bowl has come and gone, we are still pretty far away from the NBA and Stanley Cup Playoffs, and while many are focused on the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Thursday marks the start of the 2025 MLB Season. After another Spring Training session in Florida and Arizona, the wait for America's Pastime ends this week.
To kick off the start of the 2025 campaign, here are my predictions for the National League by division, including Team MVPs, Team Cy Youngs, and top players to watch in 2025. Additionally, I take a look at top offseason acquisitions for each club, as well as early award picks for the entire league.
American League East:
1. New York Yankees (93-69, #1 Seed)
Team MVP: OF Aaron Judge
Team Cy Young: LHP Max Fried
Player to Watch: C Austin Wells
Biggest Offseason Move: Trading for RHP Devin Williams (Brewers)
The Yankees lost the World Series and then the best young player in the world in Juan Soto. However, they reloaded with the likes of OF Cody Bellinger, 1B Paul Goldschmidt and then signed former Brave Max Fried to a massive contract. With Gerrit Cole now out with elbow surgery, and reigning ROTY Luis Gil out until mid-season with a strained lat, Fried will take on a lot of pressure. The Williams addition is a huge one in my eyes. He’s a proven stud at the closer spot and should provide stability in the back end. While there is no Soto, the Yankees arguably got more balanced on paper. Will these smaller moves get them over the hump?
2. Baltimore Orioles (91-71, #1 WC)
Team MVP: SS Gunner Henderson
Team Cy Young: RHP Greyson Rodriguez
Player to Watch: INF Jackson Holiday
Biggest Offseason Move: Letting RHP Corbin Burnes leave in FA (Diamondbacks)
Baltimore is a confusing team. They have tons of young talent, and yet even with new ownership, they won’t spend. After trading for Burnes before 2024 they just let him walk even after their staff was decimated from injuries. Although closer Felix Bautista will return from Tommy John, the rest of the pitching raises a lot of questions. The only reason why I won’t put the Red Sox over them is because of the firepower in the lineup. Henderson broke out in a huge way last year, C Adley Rutschman is primed for a bounce back, and Holiday was the #1 prospect last year and is just 21 years old. I’m betting on the young guns in 2025. If the pitchers don’t get hurt, the O’s could make a very deep playoff run.
3. Boston Red Sox (86-76 #3 WC)
Team MVP: 3B Rafael Devers
Team Cy Young: LHP Garrett Crochet
Player to Watch: OF Roman Anthony
Biggest Offseason Move: Trading for Garrett Crochet (White Sox)
My favorite team, the Red Sox, had a quiet offseason after getting Crochet and signing 2x World Series champ, RHP Walker Buehler. Then, they woke up and signed Alex Bregman to bolster their lineup which sees SS Trevor Story and 1B Triston Casas return from injuries that robbed them of their 2024 seasons, and the reigning All Star MVP, OF Jarren Duran. Bregman also gives top prospects INF/OF Kristian Campbell and INF Marcelo Mayer much needed time to develop in a low-pressure environment. Anthony is another story. As the #2 prospect in all the land, he should crack the roster very soon. However, the bullpen is a bit of a mess. It includes many guys coming off of injury, like RHP Liam Hendricks, who was a back-to-back Reliever of the Year winner, but there are still many questions there.
4. Toronto Blue Jays (77-85)
Team MVP: 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr
Team Cy Young: RHP Kevin Gausman
Player to Watch: SS Bo Bichette
Biggest Offseason Move: Signing OF Anthony Santander (Orioles, 5 years - $92.5 Million)
The Jays may have won the Santander sweepstakes, but there really isn’t much else going for them. Vlad Jr is unwilling to sign an extension as of now, and is on the last year of his deal. Bichette saw a huge drop off in play last season and has no trade value. They have stars but little franchise direction and a middle of the pack farm system. They are the definition of mid.
5. Tampa Bay Rays (70-92)
Team MVP: RHP Taj Bradley
Team Cy Young: RHP Taj Bradley
Player to Watch: INF/OF Christopher Morel
Biggest Offseason Move: There have been no notable offseason transactions
The Rays are another sad story of the decline of a small market team. After being a perennial playoff team, but never winning it all, Tampa now enters another rebuild. The one positive is that many pitchers including Shane McClanahan return from elbow surgery (he will start the season on the IL with a triceps injury). The lefty was on a rise to stardom since coming up in late-2020 before Tommy John derailed his progress. With him, and righties Bradley and Ryan Pepiot, there is hope for the future, but the lack of offseason moves shows me the direction of the franchise.
American League Central:
1. Cleveland Guardians (90-72, #2 Seed)
Team MVP: 3B Jose Ramirez
Team Cy Young: RHP Tanner Bibee
Player to Watch: C Bo Naylor
Biggest Offseason Move: Trading away 1B Josh Naylor (Diamondbacks)
The Guards had an odd offseason for a division winner. They traded Naylor, their premier power bat, and 2B Andres Jimenez away. They do have rookie Juan Brito and 2024 first overall pick Travis Bazzana in the pipeline to come up. Bibee looks to take a jump and solidify himself as a top young ace in the league, and he’ll have to if Cleveland wants to repeat as AL Central champs.
2. Kansas City Royals (88-74, #2 WC)
Team MVP: SS Bobby Witt Jr
Team Cy Young: LHP Cole Ragans
Player to Watch: OF/C MJ Melendez
Biggest Offseason Move: Trading for 2B Johnathan India (Reds)
The Royals had a surprise playoff run on the backs of Witt and Ragans. The pair looks to lead the charge again into 2025, a season ripe with hope that hasn’t been felt in a while. Adding India gives KC a solid veteran bat up the middle, but aside from him and signing reliever Carlos Estevez, they didn’t do much to challenge the Guardians. They’ll go as far as Witt’s star power will take them.
3. Detroit Tigers (86-76)
Team MVP: LHP Tarik Skubal
Team Cy Young: LHP Tarik Skubal
Player to Watch: RHP Jackson Jobe
Biggest Offseason Move: Signing RHP Jack Flaherty (Dodgers, 2 years - $35 Million)
The Tigers came out of nowhere down the stretch, upset the Astros, and nearly made the ALCS. Skubal is the reigning Cy Young award winner and Jobe is the top pitching prospect in the league. Detroit welcomes back Flaherty, whom they traded away at the deadline to the Dodgers. However, they didn’t do much to add to an average lineup, as they missed out on Alex Bregman, who would have been a huge get for them. For a team that was a Cinderella last season, they seem content to run it back while other Wild Card contenders beefed up.
4. Minnesota Twins (82-80)
Team MVP: SS Carlos Correa
Team Cy Young: RHP Pablo Lopez
Player to Watch: INF Royce Lewis
Biggest Offseason Move: Signing OF Harrison Bader (Mets, 1 year - $6.25 Million)
The Twins saw a regression after finally winning a playoff game for the first time in an eternity in 2023. All of their stars had issues, especially with injuries. Their lack of spending in the offseason confuses me. Minnesota is banking on guys like Correa, Lewis, and oft-injured OF Byron Buxton to turn it around. In a weak division like the Central, this can work, but I don’t see this team amounting to much.
5. Chicago White Sox (42-120)
Team MVP: INF/OF Andrew Vaughn
Team Cy Young: RHP Sean Burke
Player to Watch: C Kyle Teel
Biggest Offseason Move: Trading away Garrett Crochet (Red Sox)
After losing the most games in MLB history, the White Sox traded away their only good player in Crochet. While they netted a haul, there’s nothing going for them. Sadly Drew Thorpe, their top young arm who got offseason elbow surgery for a bone spur, will undergo Tommy-John. In the lineup there isn’t much either, but Teel (the Red Sox first rounder in ‘23) may make his debut sooner rather than later.
American League West:
1. Houston Astros (87-75, #3 Seed)
Team MVP: OF Yordan Alvarez
Team Cy Young: LHP Framber Valdez
Player to Watch: RHP Hunter Brown
Biggest Offseason Move: Trading OF Kyle Tucker away (Cubs)
Houston lost arguably their two best players in Tucker and Bregman, but still have Alvarez, and they added slugging and slick fielding 1B Christian Walker in free agency via the Diamondbacks. They still have Josh Hader in the back of the pen to go along with Valdez in the rotation and up-and-comers like Brown and Hayden Wesneski. These aren’t the same Astros that went to four Fall Classics and won two of them, but they are still the kings out west.
2. Texas Rangers (85-77)
Team MVP: SS Corey Seager
Team Cy Young: RHP Nathan Eovaldi
Player to Watch: RHP Jack Lieter
Biggest Offseason Move: Trading for INF Jake Burger (Marlins)
The winners of the 2023 World Series missed out on the playoffs entirely last year. Many key contributors like OF Adolis Garcia and 2B Marcus Semien had down years and that hurt the team. Seager is still as good as ever, and Eovaldi is an underrated starter. RHP Jacob deGrom is set to return to the rotation, as well as rookie RHP Kumar Rocker. With Lieter added in, the rotation is a solid one, but there aren’t many guys that move the needle for me on the Rangers, especially with the lack of bullpen firepower.
3. Seattle Mariners (84-78)
Team MVP: OF Julio Rodgriguez
Team Cy Young: RHP Logan Gilbert
Player to Watch: RHP Bryce Miller
Biggest Offseason Move: There have been no notable offseason transactions
The Mariners are honestly a joke to me. They have a plethora of valuable arms in Gilbert, Miller, RHPs Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Bryan Woo. Their lineup was downright atrocious in the second half and they did nothing to fix it. Miller and Woo have been involved in trade talks, but the front office hasn’t pulled the trigger which just doesn’t make sense. Julio Rodriguez is a young stud and should be a star in the league, yet they don’t get him help. A great rotation can only take you so far.
4. The Athletics (71-91)
Team MVP: OF Brent Rooker
Team Cy Young: RHP Mason Miller (Reliever)
Player to Watch: SS Jacob Wilson
Biggest Offseason Move: Signing RHP Luis Severino (Mets, 3 years - $67 Million)
The homeless A’s will play in a minor league stadium for the next few years before they officially become the Las Vegas A's. They surprisingly added Severino in free agency but outside of him and the flamethrowing Miller there isn’t much to the pitching. Rooker and the rookie Wilson add some intrigue to the lineup but the A’s are in the middle of a painful rebuild. Not much to see with them.
5. Los Angeles Angels (69-93)
Team MVP: OF Mike Trout
Team Cy Young: RHP Ben Joyce (Reliever)
Player to Watch: RHP Caden Dana
Biggest Offseason Move: Trading for OF Jorge Soler (Braves)
I hate what the Angles have done to Mike Trout. They wasted his prime. Thankfully, Shohei Ohtani got out while he could. Trout and the hardest thrower in the league, Joyce, is the only reason why I would even think about watching the inferior AL team.
American League Awards:
Most Valuable Player: SS Bobby Witt Jr - Royals (2nd Place: SS Gunner Henderson - Orioles)
Witt was a beast last season hitting .322 with 32 bombs and 109 RBI to go along with 31 steals and a Gold Glove win. He should run away with this award at some point, and I think he’ll do it at just 24.
Cy Young: LHP Cole Ragans - Royals (2nd Place: LHP Garrett Crochet - Red Sox)
Another Royal, Ragans pumps upper-90’s with a demonic curveball. I love his stuff and makeup. He should only improve on his 3.14 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, but in 186.1 innings he K’d up 223, just 5 away from first in the AL. I’m buying Ragans’ stock for ‘25.
Rookie of the Year: RHP Jackson Jobe - Tigers (2nd Place: SS Jacob Wilson - A’s)
Jobe underwhelmed a bit in his debut as a reliever but he will bounce back as a true rookie this year. He has by far the best stuff of any prospect and is just 22. If the Tigers want to make the playoffs again, Jobe will be their second starter behind Skubal.
Reliever of the Year: RHP Devin Williams - Yankees (2nd Place: Emmanuel Clase - Guardians)
He may have lost all his aura after having to shave his beard and cut his signature braids (scratch that, the Yankees have now allowed facial hair) but the 2020 and 2023 winner in the NL brings his disgusting “Airbender” changeup to the Bronx. The Airbender is one of the most unhittable pitches in the world, and with the Yankees needing stability alongside playoff hero Luke Weaver, Williams should deliver.
Manager of the Year: Alex Cora - Red Sox (2nd Place: Matt Quatraro - Royals)
Cora got an extension last year and the front office spent this winter. The Red Sox were in a playoff spot mid-summer while playing many inexperienced minor leaguers. With the roster improved and playoffs on their mind, AC should take this award home with ease.
Final Thoughts:
While many of these predictions will probably end up being wrong, it’s always a fun thing to try to project a season, especially a long one like baseball. Hopefully you’ve learned something along this pre-season journey with me, and enjoy the 2025 Major League Baseball season! Stay tuned for more baseball related content coming throughout the campaign!
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