Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY J.A. SCHWARTZ
The Yankees are the defending American League Champions, and currently have the second best odds to win the title in 2025. After losing the World Series to Los Angeles in five games, the Yankees had to endure some trash talk from Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly. On a podcast, Kelly dropped the following nuggets about the Yankees:
“(The series was) a mismatch from the get-go.”
“If we had a playoff re-ranking, they (the Yankees) might by the eighth or ninth best playoff team.”
“Our superstars also care and aren’t lazy and play hard. So that’s the difference and the biggest separator.”
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge won his second AL MVP Award unanimously, posting another stellar season chasing the Triple Crown, batting .322 with 58 home runs and a career high 144 RBI’s.
Yankee manager Aaron Boone responded by noting “They have that right to say whatever. Hopefully, we’re in that position next year and handle things with a little more class.”
There is certainly some bad blood between the franchises, and New York fans would like nothing more than to have another shot to take down their west-coast rivals. But can they return to the Fall Classic?
New York was 94-68 in 2024, winning the AL East and advancing to the World Series for the first time since 2009, largely on the strength of their two superstar outfielders, Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. Judge won the MVP after hitting .322/458/.701 with 58 HRs and 144 RBIs, narrowly missing a Triple Crown by finishing third in batting average behind Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr (.332). Judge and Soto finished first and second in the majors in on base percentage, and were the engine of an offense that led the AL in runs, HR and RBI.
Luis Gil looks to assume the role of Yankees ace following the season ending loss of Gerritt Cole to Tommy John surgery. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA for New York during the 2024 season.
The Yankees offseason was built around retaining Juan Soto, who hit .288/.419/.569 with a career best 41 HR and 109 RBI. They reportedly were willing to pay as much as $700M for the 26-year-old superstar, but Soto chose to sign with the cross-town Mets for $765M over 15 years, the largest contract in the history of professional sports. The team also lost key contributors Gleyber Torres (Detroit) and Clay Holmes (Mets) via free agency, but the Yankees did not stand pat. They traded with the Cubs to acquire Cody Bellinger, who will play center field, and traded Nestor Cortes to the Brewers for dominant closer Devin Williams. Williams, who is a free agent at the end of the 2025 season, leads all relief pitchers (minimum 100 IP) with a 1.66 ERA since the start of the 2022 season, and will be counted upon to nail down the ninth inning in the Bronx. They also signed free agent starter Max Fried away from Atlanta for eight years, $218M, and lured Paul Goldschmidt to New York to play first base. Including 2024 trade deadline acquisition Jazz Chisholm Jr. and top prospect Jasson Dominguez, the 2025 Yankees will likely feature only three players – Judge, Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera – who were in the Opening Day lineup for the club in 2024.
Injuries may well doom the Yankees quest to quell Dodger chirping this year. AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil (15-7, 3.50 ERA) is set to miss at least three months with a lat strain, and ace Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.41) was ruled out for the season, requiring Tommy John surgery after feeling discomfort in his right elbow. Hulking slugger Giancarlo Stanton (27 HRs in 2024) will also start the year on the injured list with pain in both elbows, and D.J. LeMahieu will join him there as he nurses a strained calf. The retooled Yankees are still formidable, but they might not have the depth to weather their injury concerns and still compete at the top of the rugged AL East.
San Diego had the Dodgers on the ropes before falling in last season’s NLDS, but the purging Padres need Fernando Tatis to return to his 2021 form when he led the NL with 42 home runs if it hopes to return to the postseason in 2025.
There are certainly other franchises capable of putting together a magical season and upsetting the Goliaths in Los Angeles in 2025, and of the remaining group, perhaps none is more dangerous than the Dodgers rivals to the south, the San Diego Padres.
The Padres led the Dodgers two games to one in the 2024 NLDS, and had a chance in Game 4 in San Diego to end the series and knock their nemesis out. But Dodger pitchers held the Padres scoreless over the last 24 innings of the series, advancing to the NLCS en route to their World Series title. That series was certainly fraught with intensity and bad blood, complete with a benches clearing incident in Game 2 and Dodgers fans throwing baseballs and trash at Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar. Padres manager Mike Schildt called the Dodger fans behavior “unacceptable,” adding “We’re going to talk with our play, we’re not going to back down.” Padres star Fernando Tatis added “I felt that should not be happening in a big league game.”
In that same game, after Dodger starter Jack Flaherty beaned Tatis, he struck out Manny Machado and had some heated words for the Padres third baseman. Between innings, Machado lobbed a ball in the direction of the Dodgers dugout and manager Dave Roberts, who called Machado’s throw “unsettling” and “disrespectful.” Roberts indicated that the Padres “like the villain-type kind of role,” which further infuriated Friar faithful. To say that the rivalry is alive and well would be a understatement. For all the bluster back and forth, the Dodgers beat San Diego and won the World Series, but they respect their NL West rivals.
Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts felt the Padres were their toughest opponent in 2024: “They were way more talented than we were. That was probably the most talented team I’ve seen. They were the best team in baseball.”
San Francisco has been an also ran in recent seasons, but the additions of Willy Adames and Justin Verlander to a roster that includes Matt Chapman (pictured), Heliot Ramos and Logan Webb gives Giants fans hope for better days in 2025.
It would also surprise nobody if Baltimore’s young core of offensive talent took the next step and made a deep playoff run. The Giants, fresh off an active offseason, added shortstop Willy Adames and Justin Verlander, and retained Matt Chapman on a long term deal. Even though they lost Blake Snell and Michael Conforto to the Dodgers, they hope both Robbie Ray and Jung Hoo Lee can stay healthy and help improve a team that won only 80 games in 2024. They could certainly make life more difficult for the Dodgers as well. The Red Sox traded for Garret Crochet, signed Alex Bregman as a free agent and have young prospects Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell on the cusp of the major league team, and could return to the postseason if things break right.
The Dodgers are the team to beat in 2025, and have spent the off-season working to defend their championship. No matter how impregnable they may appear in March, the long crucible of the regular season can be a stern test for even the strongest contenders. They will have a target on their backs all year, and no shortage of teams eager to humble their players and silence their legions of fans all over the world.
They may be the favorites, but there are many teams who aspire to take the crown they earned in 2024. The last NL team to repeat was Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in 1975-76, on the verge of a half century ago. Let the games begin.
