We've made it, everyone: the final weekend of the 2025 regular season. The playoff picture is almost set — although the New York Mets, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros are doing their best to throw a wrench into the works — and before you know it that 162-game marathon will become a one-month sprint to a World Series title.
So, before we look ahead to October, we thought we'd take this moment to look back at the year that was around the league. This week's MLB Power Rankings are still ordered by overall team success and talent — with apologies to the Colorado Rockies for the umpteenth week in a row — but rather than simply telling you which teams are playing well and which teams aren't, we're going to take this time to evaluate each team's regular season by handing out a letter grade from A to F.
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30. Colorado Rockies: F
At 43 wins, the Rockies have officially managed to exceed the bar for modern futility set by the 2024 White Sox, so, uh, congratulations I guess. If we wanted to find a silver lining or two here, we could highlight Hunter Goodman’s breakout season or drafting Ethan Holliday in the first round of the draft or one or two shrewd moves at the trade deadline or something.
But really, what’s the point? Even on the timeline of a years-long rebuild, what steps did Colorado take in the right direction? What evidence did the Rockies provide that they’re even an inch closer to fielding a legitimately competitive baseball team? The Major League roster is a mess, the farm system is a mess, the player development team sure seems to be a mess; it’s all bad right now, but hey, at least Coors Field is a fantastic place to while away a few hours.
-Chris Landers, FanSided.com
29. Chicago White Sox: C-
Look, all of these grades are relative: The point is not to simply evaluate how competitive each team was in 2025, but to what extent they did or did not accomplish their goals. For the White Sox, the goal was simple: Develop your homegrown talent in hopes of finding a foundation upon which to build moving forward.
By that metric, well, things definitely could’ve been worse. Colson Montgomery will need to cut down on the swing-and-miss long term, but he’s got major power and sure looked the part of a starting shortstop as a rookie. Kyle Teel has come on strong and looks like Chicago’s catcher of the future. Davis Martin, Shane Smith and Sean Burke have all flashed at times.
Again, we’re talking baby steps here, and there’s only so high a grade you can give to a team that’s struggling to get over the 60-win mark. But this feels like the first glimmer of hope we’ve gotten on the South Side in a long time.
-CL
28. Minnesota Twins: F
Is there any other choice here? The Twins entered the 2025 season hoping to contend in the AL Central. They end it a smoldering wreck, having shipped off – or planning to ship off (looking at you, Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez) – darn near everything of value at the trade deadline while their ownership group refuses to cede control to someone with deeper pockets. Sure, Minnesota acquired some nice pieces in that complete fire sale, but then again, that’s the least you’d hope for when you cut ties with so many established big leaguers. More to the point, though: Does anyone trust the Pohlads to spend what’s necessary to field a winner unless everything goes right?
-CL
27. Washington Nationals: D
I honestly might be a bit generous here. I, and many others, thought that the Washington Nationals would take a step forward. There weren’t World Series expectations or anything, but it felt like they could’ve at least been somewhat in the Wild Card conversation. Instead, it feels like they’ve taken three steps back. In fact, their 92nd loss of the season suffered on Friday ensured they wouldn’t even match last season’s 71-91 record.
What makes this season even worse is that their two first-half bright spots, James Wood and MacKenzie Gore, have both taken massive steps back in the second half. I have no doubt that both of these players will be All-Stars down the line, but the second half has been ugly. Frankly, there isn’t much to get excited about other than those two players and C.J. Abrams. The pitching is a mess, and guys like Luis Garcia Jr., Keibert Ruiz and Dylan Crews haven’t exactly impressed.
This Nationals team has what feels like an eternity to go before they can be competitive, and it just didn’t feel like that entering the year.
-Zachary Rotman, FanSided.com
26. Pittsburgh Pirates: D-
If you can figure out what the Pirates are doing, please let us know. They don’t seem to be rebuilding, considering that Ben Cherington refused to move on from several valuable rentals at the trade deadline – and the one big trade he did pull the trigger on, for star closer David Bednar, just raised more questions about his leadership moving forward. And they also don’t seem any closer to contending, no matter how great this homegrown starting rotation might shape up as soon as 2026.
If you wanted to give this team an “F” for every year in which Bob Nutting remained in control, I wouldn’t blame you. Really, the only thing that saves them from a failing grade this year is the continued development of one of baseball’s best farm systems, which saw Konnor Griffin rocket to the top of the Minor League ranks while adding another tantalizing righty, high schooler Seth Hernandez, in the draft. Again, though, none of that will matter unless and until this team is willing to sign a free agent or develop one meaningful bat.
-CL