The baseball season is a marathon. Each major-league roster is in constant flux as teams deal with surges, slumps, injuries and disappointments throughout the 162-game campaign. When the dust settles, the front office in each city begins analyzing successes and failures and building plans to improve in the future. After all, every year, 29 of 30 teams fall short of the ultimate goal.
With that in mind, as the MLB season nears its conclusion, we are taking a look at every organization as they are eliminated from postseason contention, highlighting what happened in the 2025 campaign and what’s ahead this offseason.
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Let’s dig in.
Jump to a team by clicking on the links below:
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AL East:Blue Jays | Yankees | Red Sox | Rays | Orioles
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AL West:Mariners | Astros | Rangers | Athletics | Angels
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NL East:Phillies | Mets | Marlins | Braves | Nationals
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NL Central: Brewers | Cubs | Reds | Cardinals | Pirates
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NL West:Dodgers | Padres | Diamondbacks | Giants | Rockies
It’s difficult to overstate how poorly the Rockies’ season started. Every other team in baseball had at least twice as many wins as Colorado on June 1, when the Rockies sat at 9-50. Things went slightly better after that, but the die had been cast that the Rockies would be the worst team of 2025.
As is often the case, Colorado’s pitching staff has been the worst in baseball. Sure, its hurlers struggled at Coors Field, but they were regularly rocked during road games, too. As of Aug. 23, there wasn’t a single Colorado pitcher with at least 10 starts and an ERA below 5.00. And the relief corps was no better, with Jimmy Herget, Juan Mejia and Victor Vodnik the only relievers who posted somewhat respectable stat lines, with ERAs under 4.10. Read more
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The White Sox surpassed their historically low 2024 win total on Aug. 2, which makes the 2025 season an unquestioned step in the right direction. While the team is still miles away from contention, fans on the South Side are starting to see the faces who could be on the roster when the club returns to respectability.
The team’s improvement in 2025 was almost entirely spurred by those on the mound. Shane Smith, Davis Martin and Sean Burke formed the core of the rotation. All three are under 30 and have posted respectable stat lines, with ERAs below 4.30. It’s tough to envision an ace in this bunch, but plenty of teams have found success by rolling out one starter after another who can throw five or six innings and maintain an ERA around 4.00. Read more
Twenty-nine MLB teams won’t finish the year as champions. (Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)
This was a disappointing season for a team expected to ascend. The Nats instead took a step backward. This will be the fifth straight season Washington fails to win 45% of its games, which puts it far off the pace in an NL East that includes some elite teams.
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Pitching was the biggest problem, with issues rampant throughout the staff. MacKenzie Gore looked like a frontline starter at the beginning of the season but regressed badly in the second half and landed on the IL near the end of August. Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker failed to take steps forward, Trevor Williams couldn’t find any success, and Michael Soroka was unable to turn some intriguing skills into a respectable ERA before he was shipped to the Cubs at the trade deadline. Read more
So many Twins had mediocre offensive seasons. Among the disappointments were several of those who were expected to make a real impact. That list is headlined by Royce Lewis, who was again injured and inconsistent. Lewis missed most of the first half due to a hamstring injury and had a .583 OPS in the 42 games he played. He picked things up a bit in the second half, with a .764 OPS through Sept. 13, but it was too little, too late.
Carlos Correa was the other potential star who fell far short of expectations. He produced just seven homers and a .704 OPS in 93 games prior to the trade deadline, when the front office made the decision to send him back to Houston. Given that the team wasn’t far out of the race at that point, it’s easy to see how the Twins’ season could’ve been completely different if Lewis and Correa had been impact players in the first half. Read more
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The Pirates’ success this season can be summed up in two words: Paul Skenes. The sophomore ace can make an excellent case for being the best pitcher in baseball, as he could finish his first two big-league seasons with an ERA under 2.00. Skenes seemingly does everything well, dominating hitters on both sides of the plate, striking out batters by the truckload and rarely surrendering walks or home runs. He is the front-runner to take home the NL Cy Young Award and already seems well on his way to a Hall of Fame career.
Of course, Skenes can pitch in only about 20% of the team’s games, so thankfully, he was supported in the rotation by Mitch Keller, who slumped during August but was otherwise effective. They were also joined in late August by Bubba Chandler, who put his elite skill set on full display while appearing mostly as a bulk reliever. The Pirates should finish with a team ERA that’s top-10 in baseball. Read more
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The Angels’ biggest failures were on the pitching staff. The starters often struggled to keep the bases clean, which limited how long they could remain in games. The bottom three starters — Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks and Jack Kochanowicz — spent most of the season with ERAs north of 4.50. And aside from Jansen and Brock Burke, the team’s key relievers struggled to log ERAs below 4.00. The staff seemed to consist entirely of innings-eaters, lacking anyone who could make a real difference.
Although the Angels’ offense improved overall, there were still a couple of hitters who let the team down. Luis Rengifo experienced a major offensive decline. Jorge Soler was arguably even more disappointing, as he was expected to be a middle-of-the-lineup presence after he was acquired via trade last October. His play was acceptable during April but then tailed off, and he spent a significant amount of the summer on the IL due to recurring back inflammation. Read more
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