25. Los Angeles Angels: C
Much like last season … and the one before that … and the one before that … and, OK you get it – the Los Angeles Angels are ending their season on a whimper. The Halos have lost eight straight games, plus their players are dropping like flies.
They just blew a game to the Colorado Rockies, who have the worst run differential in the modern era of baseball. Instead of playing spoiler to their division rival Seattle Mariners, they helped springboard them into first place of the American League West after getting swept in a four-game series. Zach Neto, José Soriano and Reid Detmers all went on the IL recently and their seasons are over. The same goes for players like Robert Stephenson, Tyler Anderson, Andrew Chafin and Jorge Soler. Ron Washington was forced to step away from the team on June 20 after the oldest manager in baseball needed a quadruple bypass heart surgery. The Angels posted the fourth-worst win percentage in baseball from the time Wash was forced to take his indefinite leave.
On a positive note, they already improved upon their franchise-worst record from 2024. Things are not nearly as bleak as they were last season in their first year without Shohei Ohtani. Neto is emerging as a star, Mike Trout is posting, Yusei Kikuchi and Soriano are solid anchors for the rotation, Taylor Ward and Jo Adell are having career years, Nolan Schanuel is rounding out his game and Detmers is settling in well to his new role out of the bullpen.
Perhaps without an interim manager and with a revamped pitching staff (hopefully) next year, the Angels can finally make a real attempt at ending the longest active playoff drought in baseball. 2025 was a bad year, but there is much more hope moving forward than there was after the franchise’s nadir in 2024.
–Evan Roberts, Halo Hangout
24. Baltimore Orioles: D
If you wanted to be even harsher than this, feel free. A division title and a deep playoff run were the expectations in Baltimore entering 2025, but both of them were more or less out the window by June. The pitching staff, left out to dry thanks to Mike Elias’ inaction over the offseason, quickly fell apart, while the O’s young core battled injuries and ineffectiveness that short-circuited any positive momentum
There was the occasional silver lining. Jackson Holliday took a meaningful step forward, top prospect Samuel Basallo sure looks like the part and Trevor Rogers has pitched like a Cy Young candidate for much of the season. The talent is still here, if Holliday, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser and the gang can ever get (and stay) healthy and rolling at the same time. Then again, this team should be long past the point of silver lining; the time for contention is right now – Henderson and Rutschman are already ready for extensions – and it doesn’t seem like Elias is the man to get them there.
-CL
23. Athletics: C+
The first half of the season was an unmitigated disaster for the Athletics in a year many hoped to see improvement, but to their credit, they’ve played some really good baseball down the stretch. They’ve gone 32-24 in the second half as of this writing, and if they can finish off a winning month in September, they will have finished their year with three straight winning months.
Their position player core has really come together nicely down the stretch, featuring guys like Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, and Jacob Wilson. Lawrence Butler has had a down year, but his potential is sky-high, too, and Leo De Vries is coming too. The A’s are an above-average offensive team already, and they have room to grow, which is very exciting.
On the pitching side, though, it’s hard to get too excited. Mason Miller is gone, and there isn’t much other than Luis Morales for the A’s to hang their hats on. The pitching is why they might not find their way back to the postseason in 2026, but if they’re willing to spend some money to address that area of the team, who knows what the future holds?
-ZR
22. Atlanta Braves: D
The Braves started this season as favorites to win the division and possibly the World Series. After a 2024 that was marred by injuries, Atlanta had hoped things would turn around in 2025. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Alex Anthoupolous didn’t add another starter in the offseason, and the bullpen as well. The Braves' bullpen has been shuffled most of the season. Jurickson Profar was the biggest addition, and he went down with a suspension just days into the season. Not what you would hope for after a down year. There was also speculation that the team wanted to remain under the tax threshold despite telling fans there was “dry powder” to add to the payroll.
Atlanta is poised to finish the season in fourth place in the NL East. They weren’t even good enough to make the playoffs, ending their streak of seven consecutive playoff appearances. The team is finishing strong on a season-high eight-game winning streak. Hopefully, this momentum carries into 2026.
-Steven Teal, House That Hank Built
21. St. Louis Cardinals: D
It’s hard to identify a single short- or long-term goal the Cardinals managed to actually accomplish this season. For those hoping for one more playoff push in the John Mozeliak era, St. Louis has been out of meaningful contention for months now. For those hoping for a jumpstart on a seemingly inevitable rebuild as Chaim Bloom takes over the front office, the trade deadline felt like a weird half-measure, while the young players the Cardinals were hoping to reach a verdict on – Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II, Nolan Gorman, Masyn Winn – all came back inconclusive or worse.
All of which leaves the Cardinals … pretty much exactly where they were to start 2025: a team caught maddeningly in the middle, without a solid foundation to build around moving forward but also without enough current talent to distinguish themselves in the crowded National League. And after an entire winter’s worth of speculation regarding expensive vets with no-trade clauses like Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray, well, prepare to do that whole dance all over again.
-CL