2025 MLB Season Preview

The time has finally arrived. WE are now set to start a six month regular season journey that covers 162 games. At the end of the tunnel is fall ball. A World Series title is the prize waiting at the end of the journey. Everybody has the same goal, but some are better equipped for it than others.

There's going to be questions going into the season that came up and in a big way this winter. Can Soto be worth the contract the Mets gave him? Can the Dodgers and Yankees repeat from last season? Will new teams emerge from the Central divisions in both leagues to challenge the top dogs? Can anybody wrestle the NL West away from the Dodgers? We will have all the answers to those questions and more as the spring and summer roll along.

Here's how we see the 2025 MLB season playing out.

American League:
AL East:
1. Baltimore Orioles (92-70)*
2. New York Yankees (87-75) (WC)*
3. Toronto Blue Jays (85-77) (WC)*
4. Boston Red Sox (83-79)
5. Tampa Bay Rays (82-80)

Things looked a little different from where I was originally going to go here with picking this division. Facts are that the two best teams in the AL East reside in the Bronx and Baltimore. Reason that the Orioles get the nod is due to health. Henderson might miss opening day but will be healthy most of the year, as is the expectation for Adley Rutschman. The O's have probably the most balanced pitching staff in not only the East, I'll go so far as to say the entire AL at this point. i would have put the Yankees right up there with them, but there's one problem. Injuries. They lost two of their main starters, Lucas Gil and Garret Cole, for a big chunk of time this season (Cole's out for the year). Still there's enough talent in the lineup in the Bronx to be able to get into the post season. For the Blue Jays, I'm sure the Vlad Guerrero contract is going to be weighing on their minds as the summer rolls along. Even with that, there's expectations for Vladdy to have a huge year and power this team once again. Right behind them are going to be the Red Sox, who got much better by adding Alex Bregman late in the offseason. There's plenty of offensive upside to keep Boston in the mix, but what has them holding back a little is going to be pitching. Which is going to be a reversal of fortune of sorts for the Rays this summer. Tampa has the arms to be able to keep them in a lot of games this year, but the bats are what scares me. If the biggest offseason acquisition is Danny Jensen behind the plate (which is a good pickup) is the biggest punch added, that's gonna lead to a last place finish in Tampa.

AL Central:
1. Detroit Tigers (86-76)*
2. Kansas City Royals (84-78)
3. Cleveland Guardians (82-80)
4. Minnesota Twins (80-82)
5. Chicago White Sox (52-110)

You got a solid top three pitching staff for the Tigers, with Tank Skubal set up to have another big season. He's got solid help behind him in Flaherty and Olsen. Detroit has some offensive punch to it, with Greene and Carpenter heading the charge in the heart of the order. The biggest threat to what's going on in the motor city is going to be in the shape of the Royals. Kansas City has the starting staff, which is topped off by Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. They will be able to compete with the top teams in not only this division, but in the entire AL. To go along with said pitching, the Royals offense is deep and balanced, lead by Salvatore Perez. They have the talent here to not only challenge for the division title, but keep pace in the wild card race in this league. Right behind them are the Guardians, who have won the division twice in the last three season. This year, Cleveland takes a slight step backwards. They still have a good, top heavy lineup. But its the depth in that batting order that may cause Cleveland to start taking a step backwards this season, even if it is a slight one. Now for the Twins, you finished just above .500 last year. This year the same result might not happen. Sure, they still have Correa and Buxton, but not much real protection for the two of them in their lineup. The pitching is average at best in Minnesota. You can't get any worse than what the White Sox did a season ago. They still a very bad team in Chicago, even with adding Austin Slater. They may miss Andrew Benintendi for a little at the start of the year, but him and Slater are expected to be the face of this bad team.

AL West:
1. Texas Rangers (87-75)*
2. Houston Astros (85-78) (WC)*
3. Seattle Mariners (84-79)
4. Athletics (78-84)
5. Los Angeles Angels (70-92)

For the first time in ten years, the Rangers will lay claim to the best team in the West. A year after finishing under .500, Texas is going to surprise quite a few people and walk away with the crown. Why? They got Jacob deGrom at the top of the rotation along with Nathan Evoldi, they got a hell of a one two at the top of the rotation. With Simian and Seager as the table setters, and Garcia and Jung there to knock them in, it going to be tough to beat. The team that's going to be hot on their heels is going to be the Astros. You can make all the arguments you want on Houston, but the facts are, they are still a very good team. Pitching might keep them a step or two behind the Rangers in this division as its not as deep. But my goodness can this team hit. They got Altuve, Parades and Alverez at the top and a solid lineup behind them. Those guys are going to be tough to try and get out. And not to take anything away from the other really solid team in this division, the Mariners. Seattle is going to get a full season of Julio Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena tag teaming in that outfield. But will they have enough offense to be able to keep pace with a solid pitching staff? This one is still weird to say that they area just the Athletics for the next couple of seasons. While they are getting ready to move to the park in a few years, the A's are trying to get a competitive team on the field and they got a decent team here now. Brent Rooker is healthy and expected to carry the offense. Pitching is the big story here. By adding Louis Sevirino, it shows the A's are going to make steps. The same thing, at least it looks that way, are trying to be made with the Angels as well. Offense on Anaheim is still built around Mike Trout if he can actually play a full season. He's done that only once in the last five years, so they need him to stay on the field and produce if they want to have a chance to stay reverent here.

National League:
NL East:
1. Philadelphia Phillies (91-71)*
2. New York Mets (90-72 (WC)*
3. Atlanta Braves (89-73) (WC)*
4. Washington Nationals (73-89)
5. Miami Marlins (63-99)

For the second year in a row, the NL East crown will reside with the Phillies. They have a solid lineup all the way through it, with Bryce Harper still at the heart of it. Trying to decide who's going to hit leadoff is a mystery, but one thing is for sure. Kyle Schwarber needs to cut down on his strikeouts. What's going to keep Philadelphia at the top of this division is the pitching staff. They got a solid five man rotation that compete with most in the NL. Right behind them are the Mets, who are looking to build off last seasons success. To try and improve things, Alonso was brought back and the biggest one of all is signing of Juan Soto. For what he's been paid, he had better deliver. The only thing holding New York back is not having Jeff McNeil or Brett Baty at the start of the year cause of injury. But still there's decent enough bats to keep them in the mix again this season. Only thing holding the team back from passing the Phillies would be pitching. Just don't feel that starters are gonna hang as well as they could. Right behind them are going to be the Braves, who are coming off an injury plagued season last year. With Ozuna, Olsen and Albes in the middle of that lineup, Atlanta has the potential to be good again this year. They could get Spencer Strider back late in April, but Max Freid isn't there anymore and that's what holds Atlanta back from finishing higher. Last season, nobody in the NL hit fewer home runs than the Nationals. So they brought in Josh Bell and Nathanial Lowe to help improve those numbers. With CJ Abrams still at the top of the lineup, Washington has a few pieces that might be worth building around. The pitching staff seems alright, but it won't be enough to be able to really compete with the three teams ahead of them this season. Closing out this division this year will be the Marlins. Having Sandy Alacantra at the hope of the rotation in Miami gives the team hope for its future with pitching. They just need to really be able to build around him. Xavier Edwards shows some promise at the top of the batting order, but lets be real here. With the talent on the other clubs in this division, the Marlins are going to be in the basement of the East again.

NL Central:
1. Milwaukee Brewers (86-76)*
2. Chicago Cubs (83-79)
3. Cincinnati Reds (81-81)
4. St Louis Cardinals (76-86)
5. Pittsburgh Pirates (74-88)

There had been some debate as to who might come out of this division. At the end of the day its only one team, and that's going to be the Brewers. They have a solid lineup, lead by Yellich and Hoskins right in the middle of things. They can hit and field really well in Milwaukee. What leaves a little to be desired for me is that pitching staff. Can it hold up not only over a long season but going into as the playoffs as well. The only team that is really a contender to them this year is going to be the Cubs. On paper, the boys from Chicago have the offensive ability to be able to hang with Milwaukee for the division title. With Happ, Tucker and Suzuki setting the table, Chicago might be able to push enough runs across. Chicago has a decent one two punch at the top of its rotation in Justin Steele and Jameson Taillon, but behind them makes me a little nervous. Right behind them are the Reds, who are a very interesting case. They have one of the most dynamic young players in the sport in Elly De La Cruz, who's no doubt going to be built around in Cincinnati. Him and Austin Hayes right in the middle of the lineup will provide plenty of excitement. They have them there, now just be able to really build around them. Pitching is decent but not enough to get them above .500. As for the Cardinals, the team seems to be continuing a slide down in the standings. For the time being, St Louis still has Nolan Arenado in the middle of things. Will he be there still by the end of the season is up in the air. There's really no plan in place it looks like, to get a new face of the team to start building around. It feels like its been forever that the rebuild started for the Pirates, yet here we still are. Pittsburgh has two major pieces on their pitching staff to really build around in Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. O'Neil Cruz has shown some potential to be a very good everyday player that they can build around, but they not close to being ready yet.

NL West:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (100-62)*
2. San Diego Padres (87-75) (WC)*
3. Arizona Diamondbacks (86-76)
4. San Francisco Giants (82-80)
5. Colorado Rockies (61-101)

Another year, another division title for the Dodgers in the West. There's no doubt in anybody's mind that the defending world champions are going to go on another deep run. The pitching staff got better by adding Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell. The Los Angeles offense is the most loaded in all of the game of baseball. It will end with a 4th straight division title. As for the other playoff team to come out of the West, that distinction will go to the Padres. San Diego finished in a playoff spot a season ago, and there isn't anything that's going to stop that again this year. They have the best overall hitter in the game in Luis Arraez,. And with the talent hitting behind in Tatis Jr, Machado, Merrill, and Bogaerts, this team is going to be really good. San Diego has the offense that might be able to hang with LA this year. Only thing that could hold it back is the pitching staff. King and Cease are really good, and Pivetta has some upside. After that, they fall behind LA. Now you look at at team like the Diamondbacks, they have a team that could make a lot of noise in the wild card picture. The top of the Arizona rotation, which is Gallen, Burns and Kelly are going to be solid to go up against. There's plenty of flexability in that offensive lineup where Torey Lovullo can change it up any night and it can still be very productive. Just finishing above .500 this season are going to be the Giants. Pitching in San Francisco could be decent with Webb and Ray at the top and Verlander providing a decent third starter. What's going to really tell the tail on the Bay this season is Willy Adames. He got a massive payday from the Giants and they are expecting big things from him. Can they really have the right mix around him to stay in the hunt. Finally, the Rockies are going to be bringing up the rear again this season. Look, Freeland is a solid ace at the top of the rotation, you can't deny that. The depth behind him you can. Tovar and Bryant in the middle of the lineup is good, but there's nothing else behind them. Looks like its gearing up to be yet another long season of baseball in Colorado.

Boxing Great Passes

When the discussion of Boxing comes up, everybody has an opinion of who the greatest fighters are in the history of the sport. Who's at the top of the list is different for everybody. One thing is for sure. The name George Foreman is usually in discussion for a top five fighter ever. The big guy was not only a great fighter, but made a name for himself outside of the ring as well. He was one of the greatest ever, and the world lost a good on. Earlier this week, at the age of 76, Big George Foreman passed away.

Cause of his death has yet to come out.

There's a lot that can be talked about with what he did in the ring. A career that started in the ring in 1969 and went all the way to his last pro fight in 1997, George had done it all. He had a 76-5 lifetime fight record, including winning the world title twice. The more famous battles were against the likes of Ken Norton, Joe Frasier and of course Mohammad Ali. The list of his in ring accomplishments are too numerous to really list here. Plus if your a sports fan in general, you already know what that name carries for his exploits in the ring. They really are the stuff of legend.

It's also what Big George was able to do away from the ring that makes him great. The biggest thing is the lean, mean, fat reducing, grilling machine that bears his name. According to some reports, George made more money off the endorsing of the grill than he ever did during his boxing career. He was also known for his work in the church. George turned to religion after a health scare following a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977. That is partially what lead to his first retirement that year. His charity work as well away from the ring left a big impact on the community in which he lived and served.

George was married five times and had 12 children.

It's March, It's Pure Madness

It's Time! March Madness has arrived. 64 of the best teams in College Basketball all fighting for the same goal, a national championship. All this is going to lead to a crazy month of upsets and more in a fantastic stretch of basketball. So Here's some of what you need to know going into the tournament.

If your a fan of SEC basketball, then this is your year, as the conference is sending FOURTEEN teams. That broke the Big East record of 11 set in 2011. So that has the best odds of a conference winning a title. But they aren't the only conference with multiple schools in the dance. Big Ten sent eight schools, Big 12 sent seven schools,  Big East sent five, the ACC and Mountain West sent four schools and the West Coast sent two schools. Every other conference sent one school for the dance.

If you got a #1 seed, getting to the elite eight isn't a lock. All four #1 seeds have made the elite eight just once in the last fourteen years. So if your Duke, Florida, Auburn and Houston, you got your work cut out for you this tournament. There's only one time in the history of this tournament that an elite eight has not had a #1 seed, that was back in 2023. For the final four, 2008 was the ONLY year, which is really hard to believe, that all four of the top seeds made it that far.

How confident are you in who going into this dance. Well, out of the top seeds, the one I have the MOST confidence in going into this is Duke making it to at least the final four. There's nobody in that East region with Duke that, at least on paper, scares me as being the team to knock them off. Alabama maybe the closest team to challenge them out of there, but even that might be pushing it,

Of the other three top seeds, Houston is the one I have the least faith in to come out of their region. Why? Because both Tennessee, Kentucky and maybe Clemson seem like they have the best odds to knock off Houston to come out of the Midwest. The other two schools I could really see throwing a monkey wrench in the top seeds plans, would be St Johns in the West and maybe Michigan State in the South.

These are just some thoughts to look at as we get ready for the dance. Final four from where I set are as follows: Duke, St Johns, Auburn and Tennessee. National Championship game will be Duke taking down St Johns.

NHL Trade Deadline Winners & Losers

Its one of the most fun days on the NHL calendar that isn't related to games. It's the NHL trade deadline. Teams make moves to either buy or sell as the head into playoff pushes. Some teams hit it out of the park with moves, while others totally missed the mark. Here's a look at some of the winners, and losers, coming out of the trade deadline.

Winners:
Dallas Stars
You wanna talk about having a hell of a day at the deadline, look no further than what happened in Dallas. They pulled off a double whammy. First, they acquired Mikko Rantanen in a sign and trade. Got him for picks from Carolina and then locked him up to an eight year contract extension worth $96 million. It fills a big need in the Dallas offense and keeps him in Texas for a long time afterwards. Sure it cost Logan Stankoven, but there's bigger upside with Rantanen. This coming after a trade made early in February to add Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci from the Sharks. Oh and they were also able to lock up Wyatt Johnson on a five year extension as well. All in all, a pretty good day in Dallas coming out of the deadline.

Florida Panthers
This was not only a last minute trade, but the biggest holy bleep trade of deadline day. The Panthers have made a habit of picking up other teams captains over the last couple of years at the deadline. First, Claude Giroux from the Flyers two years ago. Last year, Kyle Okpos from the Sabres. This year, a conditional draft pick was sent to the Boston Bruins for Brad Marchand. They also managed to pick up Seth Jones in an earlier deal as well. By adding those two guys, it makes the odds a lot better for the Panthers to try and look like a threat to go back to back again.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Lot to take in here in Tampa. A couple seasons ago, the Bolts gave up a lot of draft picks for Tanner Jeannot, a deal in which bit them right in the rear end. Now , the Lightning do something similar here, but this could pay off a lot better than that one did. The Bolts sent draft picks to Seattle (Detroit did as well), in order to land Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Seattle is keeping half of Gourde salary, while Detroit has 25% of it. Its adding major depth to a talented lightning team, one of those guys who already knows what its like to win here in Gourde. This is a huge move for Tampa.

Losers:
Carolina Hurricanes
A small part of me almost feels a little bad for the Hurricanes in this case. They had gone out of their way to try and get better a month ago. They sent quite a bit over to Colorado in order to get Rantanen. The got back four picks and Logan Stankhoven for Rantanen. Not quite the return they were hoping for and making this deal to land Mikko in the first place didn't even really pan out. Carolina is trying to get better and come over the hump in a sense and get to the third round or better. Just feels like all they did to get Rantanen and then trade him off feels like they come up short. Only time will really tell in that regards.

Winnipeg Jets
I can't totally take away from what the Jets did here. They did add solid pieces to their lineup. You made a couple of good moves adding Tanev and Schenn, but the lack of center depth could be a bit of a problem come playoff time. As of me writing this, Winnipeg still has an eight point lead for the division title over Dallas. But with the moves that both Dallas and even Colorado (adding a guy like Brock Nelson) makes me feel that the Jets had kind of a letdown in a sense with what they did at the deadline to even try and improve, or at least hold off the onrush that's about to happen.

Buffalo Sabres
Hockey in Western NY hasn't been fun the last couple of seasons, at least not come springtime. Buffalo hasn't made the playoffs since 2011, a streak that looks like it won't end this season. To make matters worse, in a four player trade with Ottawa, Buffalo gave up on Dylan Cozens for Josh Norris. A deal which makes very little sense. Norris has potential to possibly be a bigtime impact player. But for what he's worth he cannot for the life of him stay healthy and on the ice. The guy might be good but he can't seem to get out of his own way with injuries (not really his fault). Buffalo doesn't seem like they have been able to get the right mix of guys on the team at the right time to get anywhere close to finally breaking that glass celing and get into the post season.

Broadcasting Legend Passes

Hockey broadcasters. The men and wo-men who give life to the fastest, and coolest, game on Earth. Everybody has a few they remember for their calls and how they make the game what it was. One of those men was Mike Lange, the longtime voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He passed away last night at the age of 76.

IT'S A HOCKEY NIGHT IN PITTSBURGH!

That was one of Mike's catchphrases that he used to open up every single Penguins broadcast. He used so many during his career, too many to list here. That was part of Mike charm it made every broadcast must listen. Mike became the king of the catchphrase around the sport, and quite a few others have followed his lead.

Mike helped put the Penguins on the map with his style and energy night in and night out. He was the voice of the team for 46 years, starting in 1976 and retiring in 2021. From 1976 to 2006 he was the TV voice of the team and never missed a broadcast. At the end of the 2006 season, the Pens moved in a different direction and moved Mike from TV to radio. Still he kept right on going along, bringing the same style and energy over to the radio side of things.

It's been hard to imagine to imagine a Penguins broadcast without Mike on the call. Even as an Islanders fan, he made me want to tune into Penguins broadcasts just to hear what he was going to say next. He was a big reason why I wanted to get into the business of being a hockey broadcaster. Thanks for everything Mike.

Ladies and Gentleman, Elvis has just left the building!

A Change To The System?

 

Spring Training has gotten underway. With that going, Rob Manfred took to the Mic to talk about a few things going on around the league. One thing being talked about is the payroll disparity among teams, this coming with CBA talks coming up. A lot of the concerns over this were sparked because of the Los Angeles Dodgers spending over the winter months.

Combined over the last two offseason, the Dodgers have signed Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Will Smith and Tyler Glasnow to nine figure contracts. Couple that with Juan Soto's big contract this winter, it leads to a lot of discussions about the system in the game. It came to light on Tuesday. Speaking during a spring training media event, Manfred reiterated prior comments while saying the Dodgers have "gone out and done everything possible, always within the rules that currently exist, to put the best possible team on the field, and I think that's great for the game."

Oh, the numbers get even more eye popping. According to ESPN, offseason spending has reached roughly $3.3 billion. Out of that, the Dodgers and Mets have accounted for more than 40% of that total. Nine teams, meanwhile, spent less than $20 million on free agents this winter.

That right there is a huge problem. Now, within the rules and parameters of free agency in Major League Baseball, the Mets and Dodgers have done nothing wrong this winter. They wanted players and went out and spent the money to go and get said players. I cant fault them for that, they want to go out and win. The Dodgers are the defending World Champions, while the Mets came within two wins of beating said Dodgers. And what the dodgers are doing now remind a lot of people of what the Yankees did at the turn of the century.

This finally got people talking about the disparity around MLB. You look at teams like the Rays, who can't go out and pull off getting guys like Soto or Othani. Part of that has to do with ownership issues, but that's another debate for another time. Teams like the Rays, White Sox, Natioanls ect. can't pony up the money like the Mets, Yankees or Dodgers can.

Maybe baseball should follow the leads of the other sports and actually have a salary cap. Have a floor that teams have to spend that much to start and can't exceed a limit. Sure there are going to be other issues at hand when the MLBPA and owners get together to talk, but competitive balance should be a bigger talking point when the two get to the table for CBA talks. There needs to be something done to get the balance back in order for baseball. It's starting to get out of hand. Will it actually change finally? Only time will tell.

4 Nations Set For Battle

The best of the best are gathered for battle. The 4 Nations tournament is finally here. For the next two weeks, the NHL is taking a pause so that the best players from the top four hockey nations can hook up. USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland are gathering over the next two weeks in Montreal and Boston for the first international best on best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. And its sure to be one hell of a tournament.

This is really simple. Four teams play a round robin style opener. Three games each. Two teams with the best point total face off in a final game. NHL rules will be used. OT during round robin is ten minutes. If still tied, we go to a shootout. Final game is played under the same overtime rules as the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we go till we have a winner. Simple as that.

Rosters are fully loaded with the best talent the four nations have to offer.

Goaltending is going to be a bigtime factor over the next two weeks , and the advantage has to go to the Americans in that department. The other three nations have fine goalies, all of them, but the US is top heavy in that department. On the blueline, Sweden and Canada have the best mix of stay at home and offensive threats. They can find the back of the net and shut down the opposition just as well. 

A small part of me feels bad for Finland going into this tournament. While yes, the do posses a good roster and a solid hockey team, on paper, they're the weakest of the four teams. Sweden has some punching upside up front, but its the defense and in net that's going to keep them hanging around. But really, its going to come down to the US and Canada, the two most balanced and loaded teams in this whole thing. When you have Crosby and McDavid leading your team, you always have a great chance in any tournament. I only hold some level of hesitation putting Canada over the top here because of what's in net. Nothing against Aiden Hill, Jordan Binnington or Sam Montembeault, but nobody knows how well these three guys can really hold up well on an international stage such as this one.

All four teams are good, not taking anything away from anybody. Having said that, based on the talent that's assembled, edge has to go to the Americans here.

Standings: 1) USA 2) Sweden 3) Canada 4) Finland

Final: USA 5 Sweden 3