Are the red socks good enough to reach the playoffs?
The club is better now than at the end of last season. The launchers staff has improved significantly both in terms of talent and depth, and the rotation now has a true AS in Garrett Crochet, which could compete for a Cy Young award this season. Even without any external addition, the alignment should obtain an impulse of healthy seasons of Trevor Story and Triston Casas, and that does not even take into account the potential impact that Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell could have as rookies.
Is that enough? The problem is that the rest of the league has not been sitting in their hands.
Everyone knows what the Los Angeles Dodgers have done, and the World Series defenders are strong favorites to become the first team to repeat since the Yankees won three in a row between 1998 and 2000. However, although Dodgers They will not be a problem unless the red socks really make the autumn classic, the other American league contenders have also improved, and the EAST of the American League remains in a mined field that the club will be difficult to navigate.
So how do red socks fit in the overview? Here is a look around the game while the low season ends.
To the East: The Yankees still govern
Last year, Boston finished 81-81 and thirdly, and will be directed to 2025, it will probably be screened that the red socks will end third again.
The red socks must remain ahead of Toronto and Tampa Bay, who have made some additions, but are delayed behind Boston in terms of general talent. The Yankees also suffered a massive setback when Juan Soto went to the Mets, but effectively turned by bringing left -handed Max Fried, Devin Williams and gardener Cody Bellinger. Fried must form a team with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon to give New York one of the best initial rotations in baseball, and even if Bellinger is not the same player who won the MVP of the 2019 National League, he is still an excellent defensive player which should benefit from Yankee Yankee the short right field porch of the stadium.
And, of course, New York still has Aaron Judge.
When leaving their first appearance in the World Series in 15 years, the Yankees enter 2025 as the favorites to repeat as East champions. Baltimore Orioles also remain a contender, although frankly this low season has been a disappointment. The new owner David Rubenstein has not opened exactly the checkbook and the team of launchers of the Orioles has taken a step back after the loss of Corbin Burnes against the diamondbacks. Even so, the player’s nucleus of Baltimore’s young position is so good that Orioles should still easily reach the playoffs.
The red socks will have their work for them trying to keep the pace, and although they can take a step forward, they have not done enough to clearly settle as one of the teams to win.
To the central: Reales, Tigers aim to generate impulse
The central is in an interesting place. On the one hand, no one in the division has made great low season splashes. On the other hand, four teams ended above .500 and three arrived at the playoffs. All these teams have reasons to believe that they can lead their impulse to 2025.
While the Guardians won 92 games and arrived at Los Alcs last season, the royals deserve to be considered the favorites to win the central. Bobby Witt Jr. is an incandescent talent and the real ones have continued to reinforce the list around them, more recently signing Carlos Estévez to underpin the bullpen. Kansas City made an improvement of 30 games from the 106 loss of 2023 and should be better prepared to take another step now.
Tigers could also be prepared for a step forward after the incredible increase in last summer season. Detroit already presents the winner of the Cy Young Tarik Skubal award and now Jackson Jobe, one of the best launching perspectives in baseball, could be prepared to join him about the rotation of the tigers. The twins are also still a talented group, despite the brutal end of their season.
A factor that potentially works in favor of Boston is the Chicago White Sox. Last year, the other four teams from Al Central could get fat against the White Sox, who ended up as the worst team in the modern history of the MLB. That played a underestimated role in helping the division to produce four winning teams, and if the white socks can be “bad regular”, even a season of 100 loss would represent an improvement of 21 games! – Then the division as a whole must collectively reach the earth.
That would probably mean that no more than a team of bunned Als, which would help open the door so that the red socks return to the image of the playoffs.
To the West: Bregman’s drama is coming about stars
Houston’s stars are not going anywhere, but the way in which this low season has developed that perennial contestants could be online to step back.
Houston exchanged the right gardener All-Star Kyle Tucker and the established man Ryan Pressly with the puppies, and although he remains unpleasant from this article, Alex Bregman currently seems to move on. That is a great production, and although the stars brought Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes to help replace them, Tucker and Bregman have been cornerstones of the recent success of the club. Losing them will have an impact.
Texas should be much better in 2025 after the lousy defense of last year’s title, even if the club is the healthiest he has been in a long time. Jacob Degrom returns from Tommy John surgery, and if he is even close to his usual self, he will give the Rangers one of the best pitchers in baseball in the front of his rotation. The Rangers also brought Nathan Eovaldi and added some power to acquire Jake Burger and Joc Pederson.
The sailors, who lost the playoffs for a game last year, have basically done nothing. They have added only an important player, the painting player Donovan Solano in a one -year contract, and they are still exactly the same as the last two years. A team with one of the best initial rotations in baseball and an alignment that is not good enough to do the job.
Athletics played much better in the second half and have actually had a fairly active season, but they should not smell the playoffs. And as for the angels? Even if they get a healthy and productive season from Mike Trout, they have never demonstrated any ability to compete even with him in the alignment. There is no reason to expect this season to be different.
Put everything together and the West does not seem to be something special. If the red socks cannot beat the runners -up in the center and the west because, at least, the second or third point of the wild card, then they will have to take a long and hard look in the mirror.
NL EAST: Soto shakes the loaded division
The red socks should be grateful that they do not play in the National League, because the upper circuit is where most heavy hitters are these days. The particular Mets made the biggest splash of the low season by landing Juan Soto, putting the club in a position to challenge the Dodgers after falling short on the NLC last year.
The NL East as a whole seems to be a glove once again. Although they had a quiet low season, the Philis still have one of the largest payrolls and added talented headline Jesús Luzardo and Jordan Romano. Atlanta Braves have not done much beyond signing Juressson Profar, but they should also recover Ace Spencer Stider, and MVP candidate Ronald Acuña Jr. could be ready to debut in May.
The nationals have a young and exciting talent, but not enough to finish higher than the room, and the Marlins probably look at another long year.
NL Central: puppies with the aim of affirming
Everything that was considered puppies were among the most disappointing baseball teams last year. After the poaching of the manager Craig Counsell of the brewers, they launched themselves at an 83 -victory season and saw how Milwaukee sailed to another division title.
Now the puppies have Kyle Tucker, giving them the type of premium talent that has lacked them in recent years. Chicago should be much better equipped to compete with the brewers, who lost Willy Adames and Devin Williams, but should remain a Playoffs caliber club.
Although one step below the elite of the game, Cincinnati’s reds have had a low productive season and could be found in the hunt for bunned. Perhaps its greatest incorporation will prove to be the future manager of the Hall of Fame Terry Francona. The cardinals are entering a reconstruction phase and could still change the third base Nolan Arenado, and pirate fans have Paul Skenes to wait, but probably not much more.
NL West: Dodgers on its own level
It could be argued that Los Angeles Dodgers last year were a 10 MLB Top team of all time in full health in pure talent. Now, the World Series defending champions have been further charged, gathering one of the most impressive squadrons we have seen.
This winter, the Dodgers have added to the left -handed Blake Snell and the feeling of 23 years Roki Sasaki to a rotation that could also include Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and a Shohei Ohtani that returns. They added to Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates to his bullpen, signed the gardener Teoscar Hernández and brought the gardener Michael Conforto and the Korean picture player Hyseong Kim, further reinforcing an alignment that still presents Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Foreman.
Parents, giants and diamondbacks have reasons for optimism. The San Francisco Landing campocorto, Willy Adames, was a great gain and Arizona hooking Corbin Burnes was one of the biggest blows of the low season. But the Dodgers are at a completely different level, and except for an extraordinary series of setbacks, there is no reason for Los Angeles to not go to their 12th NL West title in 13 years, and potentially another championship after that.
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