Currently, the Juan Soto sweepstakes are running the show in MLB news. As free agency just began after the World Series was completed, Soto is the ultimate free agent this offseason. Most believe he’ll fetch at least 500 million dollars and at most 600 million, and sitting around 10-12 years for contract length. He’s on the cusp of receiving the second-largest contract in the history of the sport just behind Shohei Ohtani’s deal last offseason.

Almost every team will check in with Soto’s agent Scott Boras, but the usual big market spenders, such as the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets, lurk waiting to add an MVP candidate to their roster. 

Now, a short preview of each American League team’s outlook on 2025 early this offseason.

New York Yankees

Despite the brutal defeat at the hands of Freddie Freeman and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, it was a very successful year that premiered the harrowing two-headed monster of Juan Soto and the likely AL MVP Aaron Judge. If they retain Soto and add offensive depth to the lineup they might easily be the best team in the American League.

Baltimore Orioles

Last season saw a rocky finish for an Orioles team with high expectations competing for the American League pennant early in the season. They’ll be looking to re-sign their top free agents outfielder Anthony Santander and Cy Young caliber pitcher Corbin Burnes. Next season the Orioles should be in prime contention for the AL East and their young core headlined by Gunnar Henderson will surely bounce back strongly after losing in the wild card last month.

Boston Red Sox

For the third consecutive year the Red Sox failed to make the playoffs; an unnatural resemblance to the team they once were. The Red Sox look to have the pieces in the lineup but lack a true star in the rotation, it wouldn’t be surprising if they pursued some of the top free agents like Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Jack Flaherty, and others. They have potential, but they’ll need to play hardball with the Yankees and Orioles if they want to make the playoffs in 2025.

Tampa Bay Rays

Reports that Tampa Bay checked in on Juan Soto recently came out, which should be on every organizations to-do list, but for them it seems much more than a long shot to even come close to offering upwards of 600 million dollars. The Rays make do with one of the cheapest payrolls,  a great pitching staff, and a great developmental system. Hopefully next season they can avoid the amount of injuries they suffered and compete for a wild card spot. 

Toronto Blue Jays

The Jays might come out firing this free agency because of a lackluster 2024 campaign. The window of contention seems to be closing, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. remains one of the best 1st basemen in the league, so they might send the house on some top free agents in the near future or else another year of mediocre results could be on the horizon.

Cleveland Guardians

The Guards are set up very nicely for the 2025 season, they only have to worry about re-signing their ace Shane Bieber at the moment, which would add the cherry on top of one of best pitching staffs in the whole sport. Stephen Vogt’s super bullpen led squad will probably be the favorites to win the AL central next season.

Kansas City Royals

Their improvement from 2023 to 2024 showed pure genius from general manager J.J. Picollo as he brought in key additions to the rotation like Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha, and Seth Lugo proved to be the strength of the team, along with franchise players Salvador Perez and superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr carrying the offense. Next year they should be competitive in a tough AL Central, but unless they add a high-end free agent or two they could take a step back from playoff contention.

Detroit Tigers

The near-impossible late-season playoff run fueled by bullpen games and an unusual amount of rookies was incredible to see, even though it may not be sustainable over a full season. They will likely look to add a right-handed power bat to an unproven lineup and veteran starting pitching to an uncertain staff besides the AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. The Tigers currently boast the youngest team in baseball with an average age of 26, and this slew of young talent has re-energized the whole organization. They could see some incredible success in 2025 if their youthful core  steps up. 

Minnesota Twins

Next season is an important season for this Minnesota squad, since the Pohlad family is looking to move on from owning the team after forty years of ownership and manager Rocco Baldelli’s job may be in jeopardy unless the Twins return to the postseason. Just barely missing the playoffs due to a shocking falloff in the last month of the season, they still boast the talented trio of Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, and Carlos Correa. Availability is the biggest challenge for those three, but if injuries stay far away from Minnesota’s best players they could each be all-stars carrying their team to the playoffs.

Chicago White Sox

Perhaps the only brightside for the White Sox going into next season is the fact that it can’t get any worse.  Will Venable is hired into a near impossible situation, as the White Sox set the modern day MLB record for losses in a season with 121. Luis Robert Jr. was a diamond in the rough for this team but injuries have always set him back. There isn’t usually any hope around a Jerry Reinsdorf owned team nowadays, but White Sox fans will just have to deal with it. 

Houston Astros

Next season could look a lot different for Houston because Alex Bregman and Justin Verlander could be on different teams, both of which have been key components to the success of the franchise over the last seven seasons. A shocking loss to the Tigers in the AL wildcard round will almost definitely wake up Dana Brown to make a serious splash free agent addition to an already great roster. They will look to keep their run of dominance over the AL west in 2025.

Seattle Mariners

Now is the time for the Mariners to dive head first into one of the top free agent bats, even with the best pitching staff in baseball they missed barely missed the playoffs last season because of some offensive incompetence. Juan Soto would be the ultimate signing, but Willy Adames, Pete Alonso, or Alex Bregman would be also be excellent consolation prizes. With reinforcements in the lineup and the best starting rotation in baseball the Mariners would be one of the best teams in baseball searching for their first World Series.

Texas Rangers

Last year was a strange losing season after winning 2023 World Series Texas will be hoping for a resurgence from both the offense and the pitching. A restocking in the pitching staff this offseason would help out a lot, the Rangers should be looking at a bounceback season as long as they stay healthy.

The Athletics

It’s gut-wrenching to see the city of Oakland lose such a beloved franchise, it’s even worse when the Athletics rank last in payroll and had one of the worst teams in baseball last season. They’ll be playing in Sacramento while they await their new stadium currently being built in Las Vegas. Sutter Health Park is a minor league ballpark that only holds 14,000 people, this is an embarrassment to Major League Baseball and a slap in the face of the faithful Oakland fanbase. As long as John Fisher is the owner of the Athletics Its hard to believe they’ll be competitive any time soon.

Los Angeles Angels

Last season continued a long stretch of non-competitive Angels seasons where they now hold the longest playoff drought in the sport at ten years without a postseason appearance. The legendary Mike Trout still remains one of the most talented players in baseball, but his injuries keep adding up and he can’t stay on the field. The 2025 season looks to be another year of struggle for the Los Angeles Angels.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies won another NL East title last season, but their inner division rivals, the New York Mets, eliminated them in the second round of the playoffs. They only have one important impending free agent, Jeff Hoffman, so they should be returning most of the same team unless the rumors around trading Alec Bohm are true. Still one of the best teams in the National League, they are a sure contender for the top spot.

Atlanta Braves

Despite the absurd number of injuries, the Braves still made it to the playoffs, and it was truly a snake-bitten season for Atlanta. They lost Ronald Acuna Jr. for half the second half of 2024 and Spencer Strider for the whole season, as well as some down years for Austin Riley, Matt Olson, and Ozzie Albies to hurt the team. But the shining beacon of hope was the revival of NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale. They should be a playoff contender very easily in 2025.

New York Mets

Falling short of the World Series in the NLCS versus the Dodgers ended an extremely impressive season for the Miracle Mets. After a hopeless start to the season through May, some magic funneled into the team after Grimace threw out the first pitch. The stupendous season from NL MVP runner-up Francisco Lindor carried the Mets through some of the most important moments of 2024. For next year, they are heavy contenders for the Juan Soto bidding war, and owner Steve Cohen boasts the ability to spend endless amounts to create a championship-caliber team.

Washington Nationals

The Nats have the gears spinning on the rebuild train after the debut of James Wood, Dylan Crews, and CJ Abrams in 2024. They have the young pieces to create a contender in the future; perhaps, with the right free agents this offseason, they could have a season that resembles the Kansas City Royals’ return to the postseason in 2025.

Miami Marlins 

It does not look great for the Marlins for next season after an abysmal 2024. With no free agents on the docket, they’ll likely add some cheap veteran options in free agency with no plans to contend in the upcoming season. It will probably be another rough campaign for Miami, and its most important goal is to draft and acquire young prospects for the organization in the future.

Milwaukee Brewers

If they hadn’t lost Christian Yelich midway through the season, they would have made some more noise in the playoffs, but at least it was another year of dominating the NL Central. Jackson Chourio came up as their top prospect and had a wonderful rookie season. They have a franchise player in the outfield. Willy Adames seems to be on his way to another team this free agency, so they’ll look to add some middle infield help. The Brewers will likely remain atop their division in 2025. 

St. Louis Cardinals

Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt’s window of prosperity is over, even though they are stuck with Arenado until 2027. They finished second in the NL Central. It feels like they need a shake-up or big free agent signing to jump-start this organization back to the competitive nature of the past. The roster, for now, is a mixture of a lot of young players and a lot of older players. The hope is that guys like Nolan Gorman, Dylan Carlson, and Masyn Winn can take that next step into bigger roles for this team going forward. 

Cincinnati Reds

They took a step this season when many thought they might compete for the NL Central. Elly De La Cruz had a great season and showed the whole league that, at only twenty-one years old, he could be one of the most electric players in the sport. Hunter Greene had an amazing breakout season and is definitely one of the best pitchers in the National League. There are a lot of holes in the roster, especially in the starting rotation and back end of the lineup. Starting the off-season hot, they traded for Kansas City’s Brady Singer, who can be a solid starter with durability, and they gave up Jonathan India. Cincinnati could jump toward a wildcard competitor, but they must open up the checkbook in free agency.

Chicago Cubs

Even with the seventh-highest payroll in 2024, they couldn’t even break through for a wild-card berth. Chicago’s in a weird spot where they have a lot of money invested in Cody Bellinger and Dansby Swanson, but they are just good players, not great players. The Cubs need a showstopper somewhere on the roster because there was only one hitter to have an OPS above eight hundred, Seiya Suzuki. If Cody Bellinger can somewhat return to his incredible prime years with the Dodgers, then this team might look more formidable as a postseason hopeful. 

Pittsburgh Pirates

Paul Skenes won Rookie of the Year and showed potential to become one of the greatest pitchers of all time if he stays healthy, but the Pirates still finished last in the NL Central. It comes down to whether Pirates owner Bob Nutting is willing to spend some money for a big-time free agent, but it seems more likely he stays cheap as usual. They have a promising rotation and good offensive pieces like O’neil Cruz and Brian Reynolds, but they still lack a superstar in the lineup. Next year will be interesting for this group; hopefully, they will surpass the eighty-win mark since 2018.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The now reigning World Series champs will be celebrating all winter long. Shohei Ohtani’s MVP season will go down as the first and possibly only to have a designated hitter win the award because it is unheard of without a defensive contribution. It’s not crazy to say that the Dodgers might be better next season. They’ll be returning many of the starting pitchers injured last season, including Ohtani, so their chances of winning it again have never looked better.

San Diego Padres

How much more will they need to get to the World Series? In the last few years, the Padres have had great rosters with great players leading the way, but they haven’t made it all the way. Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar are the vital guys they could be losing in free agency, but they will no doubt be hunting for some of the bigger fish in the free agent pool. San Diego will be a World Series contender, no doubt.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Sharing the division with the Padres and the Dodgers makes it a gauntlet whenever they stroll through Southern California. They had the eighth-best record in all of MLB but missed the playoffs due to the National League wild-card race bloodbath. Christian Walker could be their biggest departure in free agency so they could add a power bat. They are a good team in a super competitive division, and they should be volleying for a playoff spot in 2025.

San Francisco Giants

2024 was a mediocre year for the Giants. This team could be a playoff contender if they make some splashes for top free agents, but for now the best way to describe them is stuck in neutral. Their ace Logan Webb is one of the best in the NL, but unless they can re-sign Blake Snell or bolster it with high-end pitchers it looks rather suspicious.  They should still be middle of the pack in the National League next season.

Colorado Rockies

Yet another sad and depressing season for the Rockies. It feels like rinse and repeat every year since they traded Nolan Arenado away to the St. Louis Cardinals. Only sixty-one wins in 2024 was the second-worst in the sport. The rebuild seems to have no timetable, but their duo of top twenty MLB prospects Chase Dollander and Charlie Condon look to have great potential, but they likely won’t reach the Major Leagues until the 2026 season. Next season doesn’t seem to have much competitive expectations for the Rox, but maybe the debut of Zac Veen can provide some excitement for the team’s future.