The sports world has been consumed of late by the Super Bowl and, over the past two weeks, the NHL’s newly created 4 Nations Face-Off. But all of those games are now in the past. In the coming weeks, baseball teams will take the field in Arizona and Florida as they start to build the foundation for an exciting 2025 MLB season.
With a huge amount of player movement and important names in new places, as players report to camps and begin their workouts, it’s a great time to shift our focus to the rosters, changes, and potential across Major League Baseball.
Today, we'll sort out the American League and look at what each team accomplished in the offseason.
American League East
This division experienced as much change as any in Major League Baseball this winter—up to a significant recent addition in Boston—which opens the door for big questions that need answers for every team in the division.The Baltimore Orioles lost ace Corbin Burnes and outfielder Anthony Santander to free agency. Those are important pieces from their roster last year that weren’t fully addressed with additions, though Tyler O’Neil will help the outfield picture. They’re going to rely on their pipeline to fill the gaps to start this season and look for Grayson Rodriguez to emerge as a bona fide ace.
The New York Yankees, who finally lifted their facial hair policy on Friday, watched Juan Soto sign with the cross-town Mets and also lost Gleyber Torres and Nestor Cortes to free agency. They bulked up their pitching staff with the addition of Max Fried and closer Devin Williams and acquired Cody Bellinger to add a left-handed bat to the lineup. They also signed veteran Paul Goldschmidt to give them experience at first base.
The Boston Red Sox made waves with the signing of Alex Bregman in the days before camp opened. How he co-exists with Rafael Devers at third base will be fascinating; Devers bristled at the thought of being a designated hitter but has been the worst defensive third baseman in the game for the past five years. Boston also made an early offseason blockbuster addition, acquiring ace Garrett Crochet from the White Sox. Signing Walker Buehler to give their rotation depth and World Series experience means their pitching looks great. Their defense—not so much.
The Toronto Blue Jays were in the mix for every big free agent on the market this winter but failed to land any of them. They settled on Santander, a known commodity from a division rival. They also landed a quality second baseman in Andres Gimenez in a trade with Cleveland and signed veteran Max Scherzer to a one-year deal. But their future is completely wrapped up in Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., with whom they failed to get an extension signed. It appears the two sides aren’t close, so he might be the big trade name this season.
The Tampa Bay Rays did their usual tinkering in the offseason. The additions of infielder Ha-Seong Kim and catcher Danny Jansen will help their depth. But they’re running it back with most of their roster from last year.
The Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. connects for a game-winning home run against the A's in Oakland, Calif., on June 20, 2024. Jeff Chiu/AP Photo
American League Central
The Cleveland Guardians have been the standard in the division in recent years, but this has been a fascinating offseason from which there will be some issues to resolve. The Guardians traded away second baseman Andres Gimenez and first baseman Josh Naylor. They’re looking for Carlos Santana to take over at first and the additions of Paul Sewald and John Means to provide depth.If Cleveland has been the team to beat in the Central, the Kansas City Royals are the future of the division. They have the best player in the division—one of the best in the game—in Bobby Witt, Jr., and have developed enough pitching to be dangerous every night. The Royals traded Brady Singer to Cincinnati for Jonathan India. But their offseason was more about continuing their climb to the top of the division with their homegrown players leading the charge.
The Minnesota Twins will be in the mix in the division if they can stay healthy. They replaced Carlos Santana with Ty France at first base and added Harrison Bader for outfield depth. Otherwise, there wasn’t much significant movement in Minnesota this winter.
The Detroit Tigers want to make a bold move up the standings and made some moves to help that this winter. They added Jack Flaherty and Alex Cobb to a rotation that will be led by reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. The Tigers also added veteran Gleyber Torres to improve their infield depth.
The Chicago White Sox were historically bad last year and might be worse this season. Chicago traded their best pitcher, Garret Crochet, to Boston and let oft-injured infielder Yoan Moncada depart as a free agent. They made a series of additions in the offseason, but nothing on the list says the Opening Day roster will be an improvement from last year’s team, which is scary.
Houston Astros' Jose Altuve (L) and Yordan Alvarez (44) celebrate after scoring on Alvarez's second three-run home run of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the sixth inning in Houston on Sept. 6, 2024. Michael Wyke/AP Photo
American League West
No other team in Major League Baseball saw names as important as those in the Houston Astros depart this offseason. They traded two players to the Cubs: Superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker and, in a separate transaction, closer Ryan Pressly. They also watched Justin Verlander and Alex Bregman leave as free agents. The Astros will hope that first baseman Christian Walker, third baseman Isaac Paredes, and right-hander Hayden Wesneski will fill the void and keep them in the conversation.Hear me out: the Sacramento A’s had an intriguing winter. Yes, they’re playing in a minor-league ballpark this season. But the A’s added Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, and Jose Leclerc to their pitching staff and added Gio Urshela and Luis Urias to their depth chart. They have some fun, young pieces to build around. Now, about their permanent home …
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim continue to try to figure it out. They collected veterans this winter in hopes of once again changing the script around Mike Trout. Kyle Hendricks and Yusei Kikuchi should help their rotation. Kenley Jansen will be a piece in their bullpen. And the additions of Jorge Soler, Kevin Newman, Travis d’Arnaud, and Yoan Moncada are all interesting. But will it click?
The Seattle Mariners are usually one of the busiest teams in baseball, but they had a shockingly quiet winter. Indeed, re-signing Jorge Polanco was their most notable contract this offseason. They didn’t lose anything of significance, either. It’s hard to buy that they won’t do more during Spring Training.
The Texas Rangers have a lot of young pitching on the way and have some exciting young bats in their lineup, so the volume of deals they made this offseason was fascinating. They need to replace Nathaniel Lowe at first and Max Scherzer, Kirby Yates, Joe Leclerc, and Andrew Heaney on their pitching staff. To do that, they added Joc Pederson and Jake Burger to their lineup and signed eight pitchers. The most notable arm added is Nathan Eovaldi, who got a three-year deal.
