Today marks the beginning of the 2025 MLB season! 30 teams will compete for a chance to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy. In reality, though, it feels like 29 other squads are chasing the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

After a crazy off-season that saw many big-name players change teams and sign massive contracts, the landscape of Major League Baseball will look very different in 2025 than it did last year.

With that in mind, let’s look at the 12 teams that will make the playoffs and who will end up winning the World Series.

American League

AL East winner

Boston Red Sox

The AL East is as wide open as it has been in recent years since every team has the potential to win the division. The New York Yankees, who won the East last season, lost one of the MLB’s best players in Juan Soto and are dealing with injuries to key contributors, including Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Giancarlo Stanton. The Baltimore Orioles lost All-Star pitcher Corbin Burnes to free agency. The Toronto Blue Jays will have the drama of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s free agency hanging over their heads all season, which will likely serve as a distraction. We also have to mention the Tampa Bay Rays, who will be playing all of their home games at the Yankees’ Spring Training site while Tropicana Field is still being repaired from damage caused by Hurricane Milton this past Fall.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox added 25-year-old Cy Young candidate Garret Crochet, former All-Stars Aroldis Chapman and Walker Buehler, and 2024 Gold Glove winner Alex Bregman, which answers some of the questions they had at third base. The Red Sox also brought back numerous impactful players, including eight of the team’s nine leaders in bWAR (baseball-reference.com‘s Wins Above Replacement). Plus, Boston’s farm system has three of the top 12 prospects in all of Major League Baseball. Those young guys might be able to come in and help the team win if they’re called up this season. Most importantly, they’re led by manager Alex Cora, who has won two World Series Championships in his coaching career.

Don’t get me wrong; the divisional race for the AL East crown could be one of the most intense we have seen in MLB history. But if the Red Sox can take care of the Blue Jays and Rays while letting the Yanks and Orioles take a natural step back, then Boston can swoop in to win the division.

AL Central winner

Detroit Tigers

Though they fell to the Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, the Tigers had a strong ending to the 2024 campaign, finishing the season with a 28-13 record over their last 41 games. That included a Wild Card Round sweep of the Houston Astros and a highly competitive five-game series with Cleveland.

After Cleveland and Detroit finished the regular season tied for third in the MLB in ERA with 3.61 runs, the Guardians lost seven pitchers to free agency, including Alex Cobb, who joined the Tigers. At the same time, Detroit brings back reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal while adding World Series Champion and former Los Angeles Dodger Jack Flaherty, giving this squad the best pitching staff in the division, especially with the addition of 2021 number-three overall pick Jackson Jobe, who will likely be a key part of the Tigers’ rotation after only playing in two games last season.

Detroit also made some changes to its batting lineup to bolster its playoff chances. They signed former All-Star Gleyber Torres, allowing 23-year-old infielder Colt Keith to move to first base. And while the Tigers didn’t make a lot of notable free agency moves this off-season, that was the case for the rest of the AL Central.

Any team in the AL Central (outside of the White Sox) can win the division. Detroit’s pitching staff makes them the favorite, in my opinion.

AL West winner

Texas Rangers

After winning the 2023 World Series, there were understandably high expectations for the Rangers. However, they lost numerous important players to injury, including two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, 2023 All-Star Josh Jung, and 22-year-old leftfielder Evan Carter. With all of those injuries, the Rangers finished third in the AL West.

The pitching staff won’t need to be lights out this year because the Rangers could have the best offense in Major League Baseball. They added Joc Pederson, Jake Burger, and Kyle Higashioka. Infielder Marcus Semien is bound to have a bounce-back season after his OPS (on-base plus slugging) fell from 0.826 in 2023 to 0.699 in 2024. I expect him to return to his career average of 0.763 at the very least. Outfielder Wyatt Langford will probably build on his impressive rookie season, which saw him earn AL Player of the Month honors in September. And, of course, there’s Corey Seager, who is coming off his third consecutive All-Star Game appearance. This offense will be much closer to its 2023 form (third in runs scored) than its 2024 form (18th in runs scored).

With the Athletics and Angels not expected to be all that good, the division will be a three-team race between the Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and the Houston Astros. I don’t expect Texas to post another 3-10 record against Seattle, so I think the Rangers can win the West by keeping pace with the Astros and simply improving their record against the Mariners.

Wild Card Teams

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles were second in home runs last season and seventh in team batting average. Though MVP candidate Gunnar Henderson will start the season on the injured list, he’ll eventually return and inject even more offense into a lineup that is bringing back nine of its top ten players from last season in terms of bWAR. If they can see some pitching improvement – which will be expected with the return of All-Star reliever Félix Bautista, who missed the entirety of 2024 – then they’ll once again be a playoff team.

New York Yankees

Despite injuries, the Yankees are still going to be in the thick of the playoff hunt. Team captain Aaron Judge will build off his 2024 MVP campaign. They also added Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt to round out the starting lineup. If Jazz Chilsholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, and Austin Wells can perform well at the plate, then they’ll be in a good position to reach the postseason.

Houston Astros

For the last ten years, the Astros have been a threat to win the World Series, and I don’t expect that to change this season. They still have Jose Altuve and Yordan Álvarez leading the charge offensively. Though they lost Justin Verlander, they have one of the league’s best pitching staffs with Frambler Valdez, Hunter Brown, and Spencer Arrighetti, who combined for an ERA of 3.59 last season, which would have been the third-best ERA in all of baseball. The Astros will once again be in the playoff mix. If they aren’t, then we might be witnessing the end of the best run in franchise history.

National League

NL East winner

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves were still able to make the playoffs last season despite losing former MVP and four-time All-Star Ronald Acuña Jr. (who missed over 100 games) and 2023 All-Star pitcher Spencer Strider (who only made two starts) to injuries. With both of those guys available for most of the regular season and (hopefully) the playoffs, the Braves will finish the regular season with a much better record than 89-73. More importantly, those guys will help Atlanta make a deep run in October.

They lost Max Fried to free agency, but they’ll make up for that lost production with Chris Sale, who returned to his All-Star form in 2024 with a 6.2 bWAR (second amongst all MLB pitchers). With Strider expected to return in April and guys like Sale, Reynaldo López (1.99 ERA in 2024), Spencer Schwellenbach (3.35 ERA), and Grant Holmes (3.56 ERA) rounding out the rotation, the Braves will once again be one of the top pitching teams in baseball.

NL Central winner

Chicago Cubs

I think the NL Central will be one of the weakest divisions in baseball, if not the weakest. But somebody has to win that division, and I think it’ll be the Cubs in 2025, who haven’t made the playoffs in five years.

After a season where the Cubbies were 12th in runs scored and 17th in batting average, Chicago made a huge trade this off-season by acquiring outfielder Kyle Tucker, who is coming off his third consecutive All-Star Game appearance. Amongst all players who had at least 200 at-bats last season, he was 24th in batting average, third in on-base percentage, fifth in slugging, and third in OPS behind only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. The Cubs got an elite hitter to go with Seiya Suzuki, Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, and Dansby Swanson, who were four of Chicago’s top five players in terms of bWAR. Tucker will bring some juice to a lineup that was 13th in OPS, so I expect them to finish in the top ten this year.

Even though they ranked tenth in ERA last season, they added eight new pitchers through trades and free agency, including a new closer in Ryan Pressly, a new starter in Matthew Boyd, and three new relievers (Ryan Braiser, Nate Pearson, and Eli Morgan). Meanwhile, every other team in the division lost key contributors.

This division is still up in the air after the Cubs lost their first two games of the regular season to the Dodgers, but Chicago is still positioned to win the NL Central, in my eyes.

NL West winner

Los Angeles Dodgers

I don’t think there is any doubt that the Dodgers are the best team in baseball. They added pitcher Blake Snell, which means they now have four Cy Young-caliber players in their rotation. Simultaneously, their batting lineup is littered with MVP candidates. The Dodgers have six of the top 50-ranked players in terms of bWAR. Also, Shohei Ohtani is the unquestioned best player in baseball right now.

The Dodgers already have two wins on the board after beating the Chicago Cubs 4-1 and 6-3 in the Tokyo Series. Even though their batters were held to a 0.219 batting average – lower than the regular-season batting average of the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who set the record for most losses in modern MLB history – they still managed to score ten runs on 14 hits. That should scare everybody. This team is averaging five runs a game when they don’t play well. Can you imagine how deadly they’ll be when they hit their stride and Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman return to the lineup?

This team should be the favorite to win the 2025 World Series. After finishing the 2024 regular season with 98 wins, I think they will easily clear the 100-win mark. They could even surpass the 110-win threshold, which would put them in rare air. If that happens, then they’ll be just the eighth team ever to hit that mark.

With Ohtani, Freeman, and Betts in the lineup and the continued ascension of pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, it’s certainly possible they will make history.

Wild Card Teams

New York Mets

They made it to the NLCS last season and only improved during the winter. The New York Mets made the biggest addition of the off-season when they signed Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract. Putting him between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso at the top of the lineup will make the Mets a scary team to go up against. Now that New York has solidified its five-man rotation, there is a lot to feel good about in Queens.

Philadelphia Phillies

It feels like the window is starting to close on Philadelphia’s core. The average age of their top ten players when it comes to bWAR is over 30. This tells me that this is the last shot for this team to win a World Series before they begin blowing things up. Zack Wheeler, who is coming off an All-Star season, once again leads the pitching staff, which finished with the 11th-best ERA in the MLB. The pitchers won’t have to carry this team, but the batters will. They finished fifth in runs last season and will probably have to repeat that performance if they want to contend for a championship.

Arizona Diamondbacks

The D-Backs were an offensive juggernaut last season after they finished fifth in home runs, second in hits, tied for first in batting average, and first in RBIs. Their downfall was pitching, where they were 27th in team ERA. After signing Corbin Burnes – who is coming off of his fourth consecutive All-Star game appearance – to be the team’s new ace, I expect their pitching efforts to be much better.

2025 World Series – Dodgers vs. Rangers

The Rangers are only two years removed from winning the World Series, so they clearly have the experience to make it back to the Fall Classic. Add on the fact that they will probably be one of the best offensive teams in baseball, and I think they will win the American League Pennant.

The Dodgers just need to stay healthy, and there’s a pretty good chance that they will once again make it back to the World Series. Think about it this way: LA won the 2024 World Series while Shohei Ohtani was dealing with a torn labrum in his left shoulder. If he, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts can maintain their health throughout the regular season and the playoffs, then they’ll once again be playing for the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Both of these squads have terrifyingly good batting lineups. However, LA has a pitching staff littered with former and future Cy Young winners. Yamamoto, Ohtani, Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and (if he’s available in the playoffs) Clayton Kershaw will strike fear into any opponent. They basically have five legit aces on their team.

The Rangers’ best pitcher is Jacob deGrom, who is still elite, but the fall-off after him is noticeable. I don’t think Nathan Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle, Jack Leiter, and Kumar Rocker are good enough to contain a Dodgers’ batting lineup that has three bonafide MVP candidates and several other high-caliber players.

LA’s bats will prove too much for Texas to handle over a seven-game series.

Dodgers over Rangers 4-2