Power Ranking All 6 MLB Divisions Entering 2025 Season
A year ago, the AL Central (Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers) and NL East (Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets) each produced three playoff teams.
However, it's fair to say neither of those divisions is seen as the best in the sport ahead of the new season.
With that in mind, here's a power ranking of all six MLB divisions entering the 2025 season.
6. National League Central
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To the credit of the NL Central, it doesn't have one team that looks headed for 100 losses. But it's also hard to be sure if this division will produce a 90-game winner in 2025.
Bet against the Milwaukee Brewers at your own risk, but while they will get both Christian Yelich and Brandon Woodruff back from injuries, it's hard to think they won't take a step back from the 94 wins they posted a year ago after losing both shortstop Willy Adames and closer Devin Williams.
The St. Louis Cardinals opened the offseason with the thought that they would take a step back in 2025 and divert resources toward player development. Paul Goldschmidt, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn weren't retained, but they still look a lot like the team that won 83 games a season ago.
At least for now, they haven't found a club that Nolan Arenado was willing to waive his no-trade clause for. Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras didn't want to be traded and each have NTCs of their own. And there's no indication St. Louis ever shopped star closer Ryan Helsley.
On paper, the Chicago Cubs would seem to be the favorites to win the NL Central.
They responded to a disappointing 83-79 season to open the Craig Counsell era by trading for both Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressley in separate deals with the Houston Astros. They should be improved in 2025, although it's unclear to what extent.
The Cincinnati Reds—now led by future Hall of Famer Terry Francona—are a team with a ton of young talent, headlined by the electric Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene.
They should benefit from Matt McLain returning after missing the entire 2024 season with a shoulder injury, and a possible bounce-back year from Jeimer Candelario.
But were the offseason pickups of Brady Singer, Austin Hays, Gavin Lux and Taylor Rogers enough for the Reds to go from 77 wins in 2024 to the postseason in 2025?
And then there's the Pirates, who largely sat on their hands this winter despite likely having a limited window to win with reigning NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.
No offense, but re-signing Andrew McCutchen (38), signing Tommy Pham (36) and trading for first baseman Spencer Horwitz wasn't a particularly inspiring offseason on the heels of Skenes' incredible rookie campaign.
Even with a full season of Skenes, are the Pirates likely to win much more than the 76 games they did a year ago?
5. American League West
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The Texas Rangers had a hangover after winning their first World Series in 2023, settling for just 78 wins a year ago.
They still feel like the best pick in the AL West but are putting a lot of trust in players such as Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Chris Martin who have lengthy injury histories and/or are long in the tooth.
Texas' other team—the Houston Astros—acquired Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes this offseason, but it saw Alex Bregman depart in free agency and traded Kyle Tucker to the Cubs.
The Astros won 88 games last season, winning a weak AL West. Their ceiling in 2025 doesn't seem to be much higher than that.
Meanwhile, the Mariners wasted arguably the best pitching staff in baseball—Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo—with an underwhelming offense that limited them to 85 wins.
Full seasons with Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles—along with the possibilities of bounce-back campaigns from Julio Rodríguez, J.P. Crawford and Mitch Garver—might give the M's enough offense to win 90 games in 2025.
However, it still feels like they're at least a bat or two away from being able to make a deep October run.
The Athletics went 32-32 after the All-Star break last year, a huge improvement from the 37-61 record they posted in the first half of the season.
Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday are part of an improving core of hitters, and the A's added both Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs to their starting rotation in the offseason.
A playoff berth might be a bit too much, but the A's should be better than the 69-93 record they posted last season.
The Angels are similar in that they won't be a playoff contender, but with the additions of Yusei Kikuchi, Jorge Soler, Kenley Jansen and Travis d'Arnaud, Ron Washington's squad should improve from being a 99-loss team a year ago.
American League Central
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As noted, the AL Central produced three playoff teams last year—Cleveland, Kansas City and Detroit—and had another with a winning record in the Minnesota Twins at 82-80.
Of course, all four teams benefitted from playing one of the worst in MLB history—the 41-121 Chicago White Sox—13 times. Even if the White Sox lose 105 games instead of 121 this season, it may mean that another team in the division who bulked up their record against them a year ago finishes under .500 in 2025.
You can make cases that all three playoff teams the AL Central produced a year ago could see some slight regression.
The Guardians still don't have much of anything in the starting rotation behind Tanner Bibee—especially until Shane Bieber returns from Tommy John surgery—and if the Emmanuel Clase-led bullpen is just very good instead of all-time great as it was a year ago, they could take a step back.
It's also worth pointing out Cleveland replaced the 31 home runs and 108 RBI Josh Naylor had a year ago by bringing back Carlos Santana for a third stint with the team in what will be his age-39 season.
A year ago, the Royals won 86 games, a 30-win improvement from the prior season.
Bobby Witt Jr. is a superstar, but this is still a lineup that's very top-heavy, especially if Salvador Perez starts to decline a little in his age-35 season. Carlos Estévez and Lucas Erceg should be a nice one-two punch in the bullpen, and this is still one of the deeper starting rotations in baseball.
But while you feel good about Cole Ragans continuing to be one of the game's elite starters, will Seth Lugo be able to match his magical first season in Kansas City? The 35-year-old faced an AL-high 836 batters over 206.2 innings last year, finishing runner-up in Cy Young voting. What happens if he's a bit more mortal in 2025?
The Tigers went on a great run not only into the postseason but also past the Astros in the ALWCS a year ago.
Tarik Skubal is arguably the best pitcher in baseball, and the Tigers brought back Jack Flaherty in free agency. Still, having some skepticism about both holding up over a full season is fair.
It's also fair to question whether the Tigers needed to bring in a big bat or two, and while Gleyber Torres could be a nice addition, he feels a bit underwhelming as your top offensive acquisition.
Minnesota didn't do much this offseason, but it has a strong rotation headlined by Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober. Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax are an excellent bullpen tandem. And the Opening Day lineup, while not perfect, has some pretty good pieces.
The problem is arguably the three best position players on the team—Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis—are all major injury concerns.
It remains to be seen which team(s) won't return to the playoffs for a second year in a row from the AL Central, but it's unlikely they'll have three representatives again. It's hardly certain they'll have two. But four of the five teams in the division enter the season realistically in the hunt.
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3. National League East
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The Phillies, Braves and Mets were all playoff teams a year ago, and you can argue they all improved in the offseason.
The defending NL East champion Phillies may be returning a similar lineup, but they doubled down on what was already one of the best starting rotations in baseball by acquiring Jesús Luzardo to join Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez.
They took a gamble by letting both Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez leave in free agency and signing Jordan Romano coming off of an injury. But even if the window might be closing on the current core, a team led by Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto figures to reach the postseason for the fourth year in a row.
Meanwhile, the Braves had to settle for 89 wins and a wild-card berth last season, snapping their streak of six consecutive NL East titles.
Much of their roster comes with injury concerns, whether it's Chris Sale and Ozzie Albies, or Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider, though the latter pair should return in the first half after missing most of 2024.
If healthy, though, a team that also includes Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, Marcell Ozuna, Reynaldo López and Raisel Iglesias should win 95-plus games.
And then there's the Mets, who went on a great run to the NLCS last year and reeled in the offseason's biggest fish by signing Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million deal.
With that context, you would think the Mets would be World Series favorites. A lineup with Soto, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos should be a championship-caliber one.
But there are legitimate questions about the starting pitching in Flushing, with Frankie Montas already out for an extended period of time and Sean Manaea likely to open the season on the injured list.
Add in that Kodai Senga only made one start last year and Clay Holmes is moving to the starting rotation after making his name as a reliever, and there are a lot of things that need to break New York's way in terms of pitching.
And that says nothing of what was a pretty underwhelming 2024 season from star closer Edwin Díaz.
The Washington Nationals are probably a year—and a recommitment to spending in free agency—away from being a contender again. But with James Wood, CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews, Luis García Jr. and MacKenzie Gore, they do have a nice young core building.
Other than getting Sandy Alcántara and Eury Pérez back from Tommy John surgery, the Miami Marlins don't have much to look forward to in 2025, a season that will likely end with 100-plus losses.
2. American League East
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The AL East is a division with five teams that you could realistically see making the postseason, a claim that is probably only true about one other division in baseball (NL Central).
In all likelihood, the AL East will produce multiple playoff teams in 2025.
Granted, the Toronto Blue Jays won just 74 games last season and are at a strange place organizationally with both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette entering contract years.
But they added Anthony Santander, Max Scherzer, Jeff Hoffman and Andrés Giménez this offseason, so clearly general manager Ross Atkins—whose seat may be warm—believes the Jays will contend this season.
The New York Yankees won the AL East last year with 94 wins and reached the World Series, but it's unclear how relevant that is now.
Gone are Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, Anthony Rizzo, Nestor Cortes, Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle. In are Max Fried, Devin Williams, Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt.
The 2024 Yankees weren't a perfect team, but they were probably a better one than what manager Aaron Boone will begin his 2025 season with, especially with Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and Luis Gil already injured.
Are the Baltimore Orioles better now than a year ago? It's complicated.
Replacing Corbin Burnes and Santander with Charlie Morton, Tyler O'Neill and Tomoyuki Sugano was underwhelming for a team that probably only has a few years to win with Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman.
At the same time, the bullpen should be drastically improved with the return of Félix Bautista and a full season of Seranthony Domínguez.
If one of their talented young players—Jackson Holliday, Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo—develops into a star, they could definitely win more regular-season games than the 91 from a year ago.
The Boston Red Sox have unquestionably improved this offseason, by acquiring an ace in Garrett Crochet and a star infielder in Alex Bregman.
If one of Walker Buehler or Lucas Giolito recaptures their ace form, Boston will have an elite rotation with Tanner Houck and Brayan Bello also behind Crochet. Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer—three of the top position-playing prospects in baseball—could all make their debuts this season.
It may be a bit of a risk to roll with Liam Hendriks and Aroldis Chapman as your two highest-leverage relievers at this stage of their excellent careers, but if the lineup and rotation are as good as expected, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow can upgrade the bullpen at the trade deadline.
Finally, the Tampa Bay Rays are set to get ace Shane McClanahan back after he missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. They also added Ha-Seong Kim—who should return from shoulder injury at some point during the first couple months—which will give manager Kevin Cash flexibility in the infield.
But while Junior Caminero could be this year's breakout superstar, it's a little difficult to pick the Rays because of their stadium situation.
Hurricane Milton destroyed Tropicana Field, forcing the Rays to play their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is a beautiful place for spring training but figures to be ghastly in the summer.
Because of that, they will only play 16 of their 51 games between July and August at home. That will be a tough stretch to overcome.
1. National League West
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The NL West may not have five teams that could make the playoffs this year—looking at you, Colorado Rockies—but the top is so good that it still edged out the AL East.
Obviously, not a ton needs to be said about the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are the reigning World Series champions and will be objectively better on Opening Day than when they hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy last October.
Not only did they re-sign Teoscar Hernández and Blake Treinen, but they also added Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Roki Sasaki, Michael Conforto and Hyeseong Kim.
Three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani will return to the mound this year, with Tyler Glasnow and Tony Gonsolin among the other arms manager Dave Roberts didn't have at his disposal last October but now will.
A year ago, the Dodgers won 98 regular-season games. Would it shock anyone if Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman help lead them to 10 more wins this year?
If the Arizona Diamondbacks were in any other division in baseball, they would probably be favored to win it. Nonetheless, they look like a force to be reckoned two years after a shocking NL pennant run.
Corbin Burnes is joining a rotation with Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt. Imagine if one of Jordan Montgomery or Eduardo Rodríguez has a resurgence in 2025.
The Snakes acquired Josh Naylor from Cleveland to backfill Christian Walker, who departed in free agency. But their biggest lineup improvement in 2025 might be internally.
Two years ago, Corbin Carroll looked destined for superstardom. He had a sophomore slump in the first half of 2024 with a .635 OPS, but his .919 OPS after the All-Star break is much more indicative of what type of player he is.
Don't forget about the San Diego Padres, either. They did lose the aforementioned Scott in free agency, along with Ha-Seong Kim and Jurickson Profar. But despite them being mentioned in trade talks for much of the offseason, Dylan Cease, Michael King, Robert Suárez and Luis Arráez all still remain in San Diego.
And any lineup that is led by Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill is going to be a problem.
It's unclear how much better the San Francisco Giants will be after new president of baseball operations Buster Posey signed Willy Adames and Justin Verlander this offseason. But with a healthy Jung Hoo Lee and those additions, Bob Melvin's squad should improve on the 80 games they won last year.
Again, the Rockies are the only blemish on this division. But the guess here is that the NL West will be sending three teams to the playoffs.
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