10. Detroit Tigers: C+
Man, this grade would’ve been at least a notch or two higher even just a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, the Tigers have been leaking oil for basically the entire month of September, turning what was once an afterthought of an AL Central race into a dogfight with the suddenly surging Guardians. The offense has hit the skids, the pitching staff doesn’t have enough bullets behind Tarik Skubal and the good vibes of summer have more or less evaporated entirely.
Of course, all hope is far from lost. Detroit is still set to make the postseason one way or another, and they still have Skubal and one of the best October managers in the sport in AJ Hinch. If the bats get rolling again, the AL remains right there for the taking. Plus, the farm system remains one of, if not the, most talented in the game, set to start paying serious dividends as soon as next season.
Still, it’s hard not to feel frustrated at the way Scott Harris has managed the last few months. He’s consistently been averse to taking any sort of real risk, instead fiddling around the margins both during free agency and at the trade deadline. Maybe that’s the right call from a pure future value perspective, but it’s costing this team a legitimate shot at making the World Series. Those don’t come around very often, and with Skubal’s free agency looming after the 2026 season, Detroit doesn’t have much runway left to finally go all in.
-CL
9. Boston Red Sox: B
This certainly isn’t the way Boston imagined this season playing out; imagine going back in time and telling a Red Sox fan that the team would hardly get anything from Tanner Houck or Kutter Crawford while Kristian Campbell got sent back to Triple-A and Rafael Devers isn’t even on the roster anymore. And yet, after all the mayhem … things have turned out pretty OK, no?
The Devers trade will be re-litigated until the end of time, and I’m certainly not here to defend how Craig Breslow went about shipping off his best hitter. The Red Sox offense could really use him right now, and the return from San Francisco was … not great. But Garrett Crochet is a Cy Young candidate to build around, and even more importantly for the future, Boston’s farm system has produced a crop of budding stars – from Roman Anthony to Connelly Early to Payton Tolle, the kids are very much alright.
Granted, Red Sox fans are ready for that potential to start turning into production; we were supposed to have achieved full throttle by now. But between the youth movement, Breslow’s pitching development bonafides and John Henry’s newfound aggressiveness, few teams feel better positioned for the long haul – and hey, they are in the thick of the Wild Card race right now.
-CL
8. San Diego Padres: B
If we were grading the trade deadline, at least in terms of activity, it would be an A.
I hold the Padres in very high regard. To me, they have the talent to win the World Series. It hasn’t always looked that way through large parts of the last month, but they’ve shown signs recently they might be turning the corner. A wild card postseason series remains possible, but even if it doesn’t happen, they now have Michael King back. Ryan O’Hearn is bouncing back from a month-long slump. Xander Bogaerts is soon return from the Injured List.
The Padres are a gigantic threat in the National League. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up representing the NL in the World Series.
-Robert Murray, FanSided.com
7. Chicago Cubs: B
After the Chicago Cubs made an unexpected, but wholly welcome, aggressive move and acquired Kyle Tucker last winter, expectations jumped. It was postseason-or-bust - and, to be fair, the team has delivered and will play in October for the first time since 2020 (and the first time in a full season since 2018).
Pete Crow-Armstrong put up an MVP-caliber first half, earning his first All-Star selection and Cade Horton is a legitimate National League Rookie of the Year candidate thanks to his Jake Arrieta-esque second-half run. There have been a lot of bright spots for this team - no doubt.
But a lackluster trade deadline showing from the front office rolled right into subpar second-half performances from PCA, Seiya Suzuki and Tucker. The latter’s late-summer swoon and the accompanying injury drama (the latest of which could potentially keep him off the postseason roster) has taken the wind out of fans’ sails heading into the postseason.
Being relevant this time of year is a box checked, sure. But given this organization’s resources and financial firepower, that should be the absolute bare minimum expectation.
-Jake Misener, Cubbies Crib
6. New York Yankees: B-
What a roller coaster ride it’s been over the last few months. The pressure could not have been higher to start the 2025 season, with Juan Soto heading across town over the winter and the specter of last year’s World Series collapse looming over the entire franchise. And then Gerrit Cole wound up needing Tommy John surgery before we even got to Opening Day. Things could have gone well and truly off the rails.
Which, for a while, seemed like where we were headed, especially during a midsummer swoon in which New York lost 16 of 22 games. To the Yankees’ credit, they’ve righted the ship a bit since; while the AL East is almost out of reach, they’re still on track for the top Wild Card spot and home-field advantage in the first round. They’ve also gotten breakout years from young, homegrown players like Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler which have laid the foundation for the future.
Of course, no one associated with the Yankees wants to focus on the future. This team is as all-in as it’s possible to be, and nothing but a return trip to the World Series will satisfy an angsty fan base. On the one hand, as Aaron Boone likes to say, it’s right in front of them. On the other, it’s been a far bumpier road than most expected.
-CL
5. Los Angeles Dodgers: B-
Entering the year, the Dodgers were regarded by many, myself included, as the most talented roster in baseball history.
I thought they might contend for the most wins in regular-season history. Instead, they are 88-68. They still lead the National League West. They remain immensely talented, and part of me wonders if the defending champions, with such a talented roster, could get bored in the regular season. It’s something that San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich wondered aloud in an interview in the postseason years ago, though he did not think “bored” was the correct term.
Still, the Dodgers should be considered the favorites to win it all until proven otherwise. Although with Will Smith’s status for the early part of the postseason up in the air – and other injuries on the roster, mainly with the pitching staff – the Dodgers are far from invincible.
-RM
4. Seattle Mariners: B+
The Mariners have risen safely above the oft-mocked’ “54 percent” standard, and they stand to get their first AL West title since 2001 out of the effort. That alone makes it tempting to give them an A.
The Mariners are only projected to win 90 games, however, and there have been times throughout the year when they seemed on the verge of falling apart. Even now, the pitching still doesn’t feel like the overwhelming strength that it was in 2024, and the club’s 38-42 record on the road is an eyesore.
As they say, though, it’s not how you start but how you finish. The World Series favorite vibes are real amid a 13-5 September, and they largely flow from an offense that is top-five in home runs and stolen bases and top-10 in walks. There’s a non-zero chance that the Mariners will end the year with two 50-homer guys and two 30-30 guys in their everyday lineup.
If there’s an underrated aspect of where the Mariners are right now, it’s that they have gotten there the hard way. They’ve recorded 46 of their wins against teams with .500 or better records, which is tied for the most of any team in MLB.
-Zachary Rymer, SoDo Mojo
3. Toronto Blue Jays: A
When the season began, the Toronto Blue Jays were a team on the verge of undergoing a drastic, franchise-altering change. They were the worst team in the AL East in 2024 and went into the deadline as sellers. They had a decent but unspectacular offseason, making a few trades and a couple of notable signings but nothing that felt earth shattering. Most significantly, their face of the franchise, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., was in the last year of his contract, as was teammate and fellow franchise cornerstone Bo Bichette.
But the Blue Jays got Vladdy signed to a mega-contract, and while Bo is still nearing free agency without an extension in hand, he has rebounded to lead the AL in hits and doubles and is a major part of what has catapulted Toronto from worst to first this year. You can also thank the resurgences of George Springer and Alejandro Kirk and emergence of players like Addison Barger, Ernie Clement and Daulton Varsho for making that happen.
They also managed to get the possibly the best version of Kevin Gausman they’ve ever seen, and trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber has been as good as they could have possibly hoped coming off Tommy John surgery. The rest of the rotation, whether it’s Chris Bassitt, José Berrios, Eric Lauer or Max Scherzer, has had spurts of greatness mixed with some bouts of ineffectiveness. That’s exactly how you can describe the bullpen as well, which has achieved some great highs but just as many lows. Overall, for a team that was given just 43.6% odds to get to the postseason (via FanGraphs), being at the top of the American League with just one week remaining on the schedule feels like a resounding A.
-Matthew Sookram, Jays Journal
2. Philadelphia Phillies: A-
At times, it’s felt as if the 2025 season would end the same way as recent years have. This team is obviously talented, but they were remarkably inconsistent for the first three or four months of the season. Since the trade deadline, though, vibes have shifted in a huge way. The Phillies ran away with the NL East, becoming the first team to clinch a division, and they’ve gotten incredible production from deadline additions like Harrison Bader and Jhoan Duran.
Even without Zack Wheeler, it feels like this team has what it takes to win it all. Their rotation is still supremely talented, Bader has made the lineup deeper, and Duran has given them the lockdown closer they’ve needed for years. This grade can go higher or lower depending on how the postseason goes, but with how the stretch run has gone, the Phillies deserve a high grade.
-ZR
1. Milwaukee Brewers: A+
Should the Milwaukee Brewers win just two of their six remaining regular-season games, they will set a new franchise record for the most wins in a single season. Already champions of the NL Central for the third consecutive year and locked into a first-round bye in next month’s playoffs, the Brewers have exceeded expectations and then some in 2025.
From Sal Frelick and Isaac Collins’ breakout seasons to Christian Yelich collecting his most RBI in a season since his 2018 MVP-winning campaign to Freddy Peralta quietly being among the game’s best starting pitchers to Andrew Vaughn and Quinn Priester thriving after struggling to find success and opportunities elsewhere, the Brewers’ 2025 roster is filled with success stories that together have formed one of the most memorable teams in franchise history.
What began with uncertainty in the Bronx after the Brewers were swept by the New York Yankees in emphatic fashion to begin the season has become a year of triumph fueled by Milwaukee’s unapologetic dedication to their brand of baseball.
-Owen Jonas, Reviewing the Brew