Getting Ready for the 2025 Baseball Season
It’s that time of year again as we gear up for the 2025 baseball season. As we have in previous years, we’ll categorize the 30 teams into a few vaguely defined tiers, which we’ll call the Tiers of Baseball. It certainly has a catchy sound to it.
Understanding the Tiers
The tiers are generally arranged from good to poor, but it’s not a strict ranking by projected odds or win totals. This ranking is more about grouping similar teams, which also factors in the overall vibe of each team. For example, while we don’t see St. Louis as one of the five weakest teams this year, their placement in the rankings will become clear once we delve into it.
Top Tier Team
This season, there’s only one team that stands out in the top tier. Whether you love them or hate them, it’s clear which team it is.
The Dodgers Dominate
Certainly, there is a tier above Tier 1. The Dodgers, fresh off a World Series victory, had a spectacular offseason, acquiring talents like Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell, among others. They seem to have moved past mere championship aspirations into a concept of total global domination. If a Bond villain had a baseball team, this would likely be it.
A Cautious Perspective
While the humor is evident, the narrative that the Dodgers simply bought their championship is somewhat exaggerated. They recently posted their lowest winning percentage since 2016, and it was the Mets who had the highest payroll over the past three seasons, not the Dodgers. With slight postseason struggles, FanGraphs still gives them a 23% chance of winning the Series. While they possess the best roster by a significant margin, the games still need to be played.
Tier 2: World Series Aspirants
For the teams in this tier, reaching the playoffs is simply the starting point; their sights are set on winning the World Series.
This structure maintains the key information while organizing it into coherent sections.
