The 2025 MLB season is here, and, man, I am very excited. After a long, tiring off-season, some teams got a lot better, but some did nothing to improve for the 2025 season. Here are three potential winners and three potential losers in the off-season for the 2025 season.
Winner: Boston Red Sox
Do not sleep on the Red Sox this season. After missing the playoffs in 2024, the Red Sox added two-time world series champion Alex Bregman from the Houston Astros, securing him with a three-year deal worth $120 million. They also picked up Garret Crochet in a trade with the Chicago White Sox and signed Aroldis Chapman to the bullpen. The Red Sox look to be a beast of a team with already stellar hitters like Rafael Devers, Trevor Story and Tristan Casas. The Red Sox will compete against the Orioles and the Yankees for the playoffs, as well as the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. If it all goes well, watch out for the Red Sox.
Loser: Baltimore Orioles
I understand from a lineup standpoint the Orioles have Gunnar Henderson, Adley Ruschtman, Ryan O’Hearn, Cedric Mullins, newly added Tyler O’Niell and Jackson Holliday coming off his rookie season. But, they did not improve their starting pitching depth in spring training. That’s going to be their downfall and why I have them marked as losers. The Orioles last season had Corbin Burnes, who they got in a trade from the Milwaukee Brewers, but they let him walk to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Their pitching depth is OK but not great. They still have Cade Povich and Zach Eflin, but they added 41-year-old Charlie Morton, who hasn’t been good in a long time. The starting pitching will hurt their postseason chances while the Yankees and Red Sox got better. If the Orioles get onto a cold start, it is going to be a LONG Year
Winner: Chicago Cubs
Painful to say as a White Sox fan, but this offseason is a very good one for the Cubs. While they had to say goodbye to World Championship pitcher Kyle Hendricks and outfielder Cody Bellinger, the Chicago Cubs had a huge improvement this offseason with additions of Former World Series champions Justin Turner, Ryan Pressley and Kyle Tucker. They also signed Matthew Boyd and Jon Berti. The Cubs will improve from 2024 and give the Milwaukee Brewers a competition for the National League Central. I will also urge you not to sleep on the Cubs. They can surprise everyone this season.
Loser: Pittsburgh Pirates
Sure, Pittsburgh has Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Andrew McCutchen, Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz, however, THIS TEAM NEEDS SERIOUS HELP BUILDING AROUND PAUL SKENES! They have not made the playoffs since 2015. They hardly did ANYTHING besides singing Tommy Pham. There is no hope at the moment for Pittsburgh. I doubt manager Derek Shelton will even survive 2025. I figure he’ll be the first manager to get fired this season. Pittsburgh Pirates fans, I am so sorry that Bob Nutting has torn the team down. What’s worse, you could lose Paul Skenes.
Winners: New York Mets
Steve Cohen and the New York Mets grabbed the biggest free agent, Juan Soto on a 15-year, $765 million contract. They also resigned Pete Alonso and have also resigned pitcher Sean Manaea. While their pitching is solid, the Mets lineup, along with Franscisco Lindor, Franscisco Alverez, Brandon Nimmo Jesse Winker and Jeff McNeill should not be slept on. The Mets will compete with the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies for the division, but this team is good enough to pull through. The Mets can become world series champions one day.
Loser: Seattle Mariners
Let’s get the cat out of the bag: the offseason for the Seattle Mariners was nothing more than hibernation. The Seattle Mariners might have solid pitching, but they needed to improve their offense. They didn’t. They brought Mitch Hanniger back before releasing him and signed Donavan Solano and Jorge Polanco on one-year deals. They had chances to sign hitters such as Alex Verdugo, Willy Adames, Anthony Santander, Tyler O’Niell, Alex Bregman and Gleyber Torres. What did they do? NOTHING!! It’s bad enough Justin Turner, who spent half of last season with the Mariners, spoke with USA Today after singing with the Chicago Cubs and called the Mariners moves, “absurd, that they didn’t add a big bat after narrowly missing the playoffs, despite having a strong pitching staff.” The Mariners will need a lot of luck and have things go their way to even make the playoffs.
The Baseball season is still young, and we can expect a surprise at some point during the season. While I am confident in my predictions here, I’m crossing my fingers that the Los Angeles Dodgers will cross home plate and take the 2025 World Series.
