Take me out to the ballgame
The 2025 Major League Baseball season is just a week away – if you don’t count the Dodgers/Cubs series that already took place in Japan – so time for me to treat your eyes and brains to what has become an annual “teams to watch” article.
maybe they are primed to make a leap or maybe they are a mess
As always, this is not a prediction that these four teams that missed the playoffs last year will make the playoffs this year. They are simply squads who should be interesting to watch in some way. Maybe they are primed to make a leap or maybe they are a mess, who knows?
Two of my four spotlight teams from last year made the postseason: the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. The other two, the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs, had winning records, but fell just short. So let’s see who we’ve got this year. Odds are from FanDuel.
And by the way, if you’re a T-Mobile customer, they are bringing back their annual free season of MLB.tv promotion on March 25, so check your app.
Athletics (+22,000 to win the World Series, +650 to make the playoffs)
The A’s have been terrible on the field the last three years and off the field, it was even worse. For ages, the team’s owner had been itching to get out of Oakland and refused to spend money, either on the roster or the stadium. And so 2024 was the franchise’s final season in Oakland, as they flee to Las Vegas, the “in” sports city of the moment.
their temporary home is a tiny minor league stadium
In the meantime, the team will play in Sacramento for the next three years as its stadium is built on the Las Vegas Strip. That’s one part of the intrigue – their temporary home is a tiny minor league stadium, with subpar amenities and no protection from the searing California summer heat.
On the diamond, the A’s (just A’s, no city name until they move to Las Vegas) could start trending upwards. They have a very promising young hitting core of JJ Bleday, Lawrence Butler, Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, and Jacob Wilson, with established All-Star Brent Rooker the old man at 30. If Zack Gelof can bounce back from a bad year at the plate, the lineup could be fun.
The starting rotation should be solid and they have All-Star Mason Miller at closer.
Boston Red Sox (+1,800, -144)
The Red Sox have had great run through most of this century, winning the World Series four times since 2004. Lately, however, they’ve struggled, making the playoffs just once in the last six years and not having a winning record in the last three.
But they were .500 last season, which means they weren’t hopeless, and much of their struggles were the product of injuries. And boy, the team had a heck of an offseason. They grabbed a true ace for their rotation in Garrett Crochet plus Walker Buehler, and for good measure, added Aroldis Chapman to the bullpen.
The Red Sox’ lineup can mash and added Alex Bregman, a needed right-handed bat. They are deeper than last year and have a strong farm system, which should help should the injury bug strike.
Arizona Diamondbacks (+3,300, -115)
The Diamondbacks made a surprising run to the World Series in 2023, but just barely missed the playoffs in 2024. They actually finished with the same record as playoff participants New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, but lost the tiebreaker.
if Carroll gets back to his previous self, the bats should light up the scoreboard
This was the best hitting team in baseball last year and that was with Corbin Carroll severely regressing from his breakout 2023 season. They made a couple changes to the lineup that might downgrade it slightly, but even so, if Carroll gets back to his previous self, the bats should light up the scoreboard.
The pitching staff looks to be quite good, as well, especially with the addition of former Cy Young award winner Corbin Burnes.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan calls the D-Backs “Dodgers Lite.” The NL West is one of the toughest in the league, but that’s one reason to keep an eye on Arizona: their battles with the Dodgers, the San Diego Padres, and even the San Francisco Giants should be tons of fun.
Tampa Bay Rays (+4,500, +180)
The Rays are one of MLB’s model franchises, showing most years how it’s possible to construct a successful team on a budget. Last year, though, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and had a losing record (80-82) for the first time since 2017.
The franchise is also in an unfortunate state of flux. Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof of Tropicana Field, so the team will play at 11,000-seat Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training facility. The roof is expected to be ready by next season.
And because of the damage and delays, the team called off plans for a new stadium, putting their existence in the Tampa-St. Pete area in jeopardy.
On the field, the move to an outdoor stadium should help the bats, which were among the least powerful in the league. On the flip side, it will hurt the pitching staff, which had a high fly ball rate last year. It was also a unit that was devastated by injury last year, though. Drew Rasmussen missed most of the season and Shane McClanahan missed all of it, so if they can come back strong, they will be a huge boost to a team battling with New York, Boston, Baltimore, and Toronto in a juggernaut AL East.
