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Newsday's 2025 MLB season preview
How often have we wondered what it would be like to look into the future, to glimpse at what lies ahead? Baseball owners and general managers no doubt would love to peer into a crystal ball each spring to see if their calculated plans and moves will take their teams to the playoffs — or if there is work left undone.
Here on Opening Day, Newsday unveils its annual Baseball Preview. It’s our invitation for you to join us on an exploration of a new season. We examine where the game might be headed in coming years — perhaps a more international flavor? Will salaries pierce an even higher stratosphere? How long before a $765 million contract is left in the wake of an $800 million deal?
Our New York teams left 2024 disappointed but starry-eyed. The Yankees had designs on another liftoff that would carry them deep into October, but supernova Juan Soto waved goodbye, Gerrit Cole was pushed into a black hole and the team absorbed asteroid-like hits to Giancarlo Stanton and young star Luis Gil. The Mets flamed out against the Dodgers in the NLCS last year, but with Steve Cohen’s checkbook, they aspire to reach an even higher orbit as hungry fans anticipate the “Summer of Soto.”
NEW YORK METS
Juan Soto Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
As he approaches his first season in Queens, Juan Soto sits down with Newsday's Tim Healey to talk baseball, joining the Mets, his early success and where he goes from here after signing a 15-year, $765 million deal in the offseason.
Here's a glimpse into Soto the superstar, the person, the present and future face of the franchise.
They’re right. The best is coming. I’m in the middle of my prime.
- Juan Soto to Newsday's Tim Healey
4 Mets issues and observations
1. ISSUE: Last year was last year.
OBSERVATION: The 2024 Mets will live long in franchise lore as an all-time fun-loving (and fun-producing) team. But that is over now. One of the organization’s themes of the offseason and spring training was about leaving the past in the past. Last year was great, but the 2025 Mets will have to forge their own identity.
2. ISSUE: The Mets are not the NL East favorites.
OBSERVATION: They may well win the division, but it will be a race between them, Philadelphia and Atlanta. Atlanta succumbed to injuries last year, ending its six-season reign on top, The Mets last won the East in 2015.
3. ISSUE: Will the lineup score enough runs?
OBSERVATION: As much as the pitching picture might induce agita, the Mets should slug their way to some wins. Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor are coming off elite seasons. Francisco Alvarez, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo and a particularly motivated Pete Alonso represent ripe opportunities for internal improvement.
4. ISSUE: Clay Holmes can do this.
OBSERVATION: The Mets’ decision to sign the former Yankees closer and turn him into a starting pitcher is a fascinating subplot. He arrived at spring training weeks early to begin to physically prepare for the major increase in workload. Thusfar, he looks ready to ace the transition.
Mets expectations are out of this world now
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen at spring training on Monday. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
Having the richest owner in the game and signing the richest free-agent contract in MLB history will do that to a franchise. As the Mets open a new season on Thursday against the Astros in Houston, success no longer is measured merely in wins during the regular season. It is measured by wins in October. In the postseason. And, ideally, in the World Series.
More Mets stories
- Grading the Mets' starting rotation: Once again, the Mets are relying on an array of less-than-aces to anchor the pitching staff.
- Scouting report on the Mets' positional groups and bullpen: A look at the strengths, and weaknesses, of this year's infielders, outfielders, bullpen and bench.
- Q&A with Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo: The outfielder on David Wright's influence, the Steve Cohen era, his relationship with Francisco Lindor and more.
- Francisco Alvarez, the catcher without fear, is ready for his star turn: He is not afraid of failure, and that trait plus the personality and power that produced it, are reasons the Mets still believe.
- What's new at Citi Field this season?: Citi Field food in 2025 isn't just chicken tenders and hot dogs. Plus, mascot races!
Beat writer's prediction
Record: 89-73
Finish: Second in NL East
As one of the most expensive teams in the history of baseball, the 2025 Mets need to make the playoffs. If not, the season is an utter failure. That means a totally different vibe compared with a year ago — when their midseason revival and deep October run were delightful surprises — so we’ll see how they handle expectations. The pitching picture raises questions, but the offense with Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso should be a wrecking ball.
Tim Healey has covered the Mets for Newsday since 2018.
Mets broadcasters this season
TV: SNY/PIX11 -- Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez and reporter Steve Gelbs
Radio: WCBS (880 AM) -- Howie Rose, Keith Raad, Pat McCarthy
Spanish-language radio: Audacy app/website, 92.3 FM HD2 -- Max Perez Jimenez, Nestor Rosario, Johnny Trujillo
NEW YORK YANKEES
Injuries are a part of pretty much every team’s spring training, but the Yankees got hit harder than most during camp. The list includes the 2024 AL rookie of the year, the 2024 ALCS MVP and the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner. Then throw in a calf injury to their projected starter at third base, some bullpen arms and more and welcome to the Yankees' spring. But the season is here now, and many still view the Yankees among the top of the American League. That journey starts with overcoming the injuries, as Newsday's Erik Boland writes.
4 Yankees issues and observations
1. ISSUE: Replacing Giancarlo Stanton
OBSERVATION: Stanton starting the season on the injured list with tendon issues in both elbows will allow Aaron Judge to get some early-season DH days, but those at-bats otherwise will go to players — such as Ben Rice — and maybe Dom Smith —who simply don’t inspire anything close to the fear that Stanton does in opposing pitchers, even if he’s struggling.
2. ISSUE: Replacing Juan Soto
OBSERVATION: There was nothing in the game like the Soto-Judge combination in the 2-3 slots in the batting order. The lineup top to bottom could be better than last season, but there are a lot of “ifs” that need to be answered in the affirmative for that to happen. A suddenly lefty-heavy lineup looks susceptible to lefty pitching, the reason the Yankees continued to scour the market for righthanded hitters as spring training drew to a close.
3. ISSUE: Rotation depth
OBSERVATION: Because of injuries, a big-league team typically needs 10 to 12 pitchers to make starts during a given season. The Yankees were fortunate to have Marcus Stroman to slide into the rotation spot vacated by the injured Luis Gil, but depth in that category is a major organizational concern — and yes, that was the case before Gerrit Cole was lost for the season. The continued development of prospect Will Warren will be critical, as will Brian Cashman’s ability to bring in more starter depth.
4. ISSUE: Oswaldo Cabrera’s time
OBSERVATION: The Yankees spent the offseason and spring training scouring the market for third-base options, and they might continue to do so before the trade deadline. But for now, the daily duties fall to the switch-hitting Cabrera. He has proved adept at whatever position the Yankees have put him the last three years, including third, but he has never hit consistently, particularly when batting righthanded.
More Yankees stories
- Grading the Yankees' starting rotation: No Gerrit Cole. No Luis Gil. But the rotation still looks decent heading into the season.
- Scouting report on the Yankees' positional groups and bullpen: Some questions on the corners, but pretty solid elsewhere.
- Paul Goldschmidt remembers his first big-league: He got to the airport four hours before his flight, just to make sure he didn't miss it when he got called up.
- George Lombard Jr. now among Yankees' top prospects: Son of former big-leaguer is 19 and impressed pretty much everyone in his first big-league camp.
- Catching up with former Yankees announcer Bill White: First Black president of the National League recounts tales of working with Phil Rizzuto on Yankees broadcasts.
- What's new at Yankee Stadium this season?: Food, food and more food. And food in a helmet.
Beat writer's prediction
Record: 90-72
Finish: First in AL East
The Yankees entered spring training heavily favored to repeat as AL champions — and AL East champs — but that was before Camp Catastrophe got underway, with Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu, among others, going down. The AL is slightly better than it was last season, but the Yankees weren’t the only club to suffer spring training injuries, and they have the ability to improve their roster in ways in which many of their competitors can’t. Or won’t.
Erik Boland has covered the Yankees for Newsday since 2009.
Homecoming
In hiring a 72-year-old who has been there and done that over 50 years in the business to replace John Sterling as the Yankees' radio play-by-play announcer, WFAN need not worry about Dave Sims being intimidated. The longtime Manhattan resident talks with Neil Best about coming home to call Yankees games after being the Seattle Mariners' radio man since 2007.
Yankees broadcasters this season
TV: YES/Prime Video - Michael Kay, Ryan Ruocco, David Cone, John Flaherty, Paul O’Neill, Jeff Nelson, Joe Girardi and reporters Meredith Marakovits, Jack Curry
Radio: WFAN (101.9 FM/660 AM) – Dave Sims, Suzyn Waldman
Spanish-language radio: WADO (1280 AM) - Rickie Ricardo, Francisco Rivera
AROUND THE MAJORS
What's new for 2025?
MANAGERS
Marlins: Clayton McCullough
Reds: Terry Francona
White Sox: Will Venable
RULES CHANGES
Defensive shifts: A team cannot employ more than two infielders on either side of second base, and each infielder must be standing on the infield. Last season a violation gave the batting team the option of accepting the result of the play or have the hitter be awarded an automatic ball in the pitch count. Now, the batting team may accept the result of the play, or if there is a violation and the violating player was the first to touch the ball in play, the batter gets a free base and all other runners advance one base.
Running through a base: This involves a baserunner running through second or third base on a force play. For example, if there are runners on first and third with two outs and a ball is hit on the ground, the runner going to second base might run through the bag rather than slide in the hope that he’d get there faster and beat the throw. If that runner beat the throw but overran the bag, he likely would be tagged out. But it would enable the runner from third to score before the third out was recorded. In the past, if a runner was called out at second in this scenario, and a replay official ruled that he beat the throw before going past the bag, umpires would have to ignore the overrun and the player was awarded second base. Now umpires can call the trail runner out for abandonment of second base even if he beat the throw. He has abandoned the base as soon as both feet land on the other side of the base.
HALL OF FAMERS
Cooperstown welcomes five new members: Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were voted in by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, joining Classic Baseball Era Committee electees Dave Parker and Dick Allen. Induction will be Sunday, July 27.
The future of baseball
No other sport is so beholden to its history like baseball, which explains why the national pastime has such an uneasy relationship with the future — always walking a tightrope between tradition and technology. In this data-driven era, with AI ripping the steering wheel out of our hands, who knows with any degree of certainty where baseball will be a decade from now. Newsday's David Lennon digs into the sport's recent advancements and offers a glimpse into an MLB galaxy that might not be very far away.
MLB's Stars of Tomorrow
Clockwise from top left: Jac Caglianone, Jordan Lawlar, Jackson Chourio, George Lombard Jr., Francisco Alvarez, Larence Butler.
There are the “can’t miss” prospects. There are the players who spend years waiting for the call-up. And there are the players who have quietly making noise and inching toward greatness in major-league lineups.
All three molds fit the criteria of being one of the league’s “Stars of Tomorrow,” the top rising stars for each of MLB’s 30 teams, including the Yankees' George Lombard Jr. and the Mets' Francisco Alvarez.
And then there's Long Island's star of tomorrow: Patchogue-Medford's Jayden Stroman, younger brother of Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman, and headed to either Duke or the MLB team that drafts him in June.
American League forecast
Removing Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, the six-time All-Star from the defending American League champs and perpetual division bully, is going to have an immediate, tangible impact for the other four teams scrambling to fill that power void. Plus more on the AL Central and AL West and power rankings as David Lennon previews the American League heading into the season.
National League forecast
And just in case you didn't think the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers had enough star power on their roster, they went and added more this offseason. (And to the tune of a $390 million projected payroll.) There's more on the Dodgers, the NL West, Central and East divisions, plus power rankings in David Lennon's National League season preview.
National broadcasts
ESPN on Sunday: Play-by-play, Karl Ravech; analysts, David Cone, Eduardo Perez; reporter, Buster Olney
FOX on Saturday: Play-by-play Joe Davis; analyst, John Smoltz; reporters, Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci
TNT SPORTS on Tuesday: Play-by-play, Brian Anderson, Alex Faust; analysts, Ron Darling, Jeff Francoeur
APPLE TV+ on Friday: Play-by-play, Wayne Randazzo, Alex Faust; analysts, Dontrelle Willis, Ryan Spilborghs; reporters, Heidi Watney, Tricia Whitaker
HISTORY LESSONS
Baseball 101
Knuckleballers and flannel uniforms. Sunday doubleheaders and pitchers batting. Those are just a few of the things that used to exist in frequency in Major League Baseball. Not so much anymore. Which brings us to Baseball 101, Newsday's annual seminar on the history of the game through one particular look. This year, Mark Herrmann brings you the 101 things you don't see in baseball anymore.
Credit: Bettmann Archive
Baseball's first free agent
There was a time when a baseball player signing a free-agent deal with an AAV of under $1 million turned the sport upside down. That time was Dec. 31, 1974, when Jim "Catfish" Hunter signed the first free-agent contract of the modern baseball era. At the center of that deal was Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
When the Yankees and Mets shared a stadium
Credit: AP
We're not talking about the Subway Series here. We're talking about the 1974 and 1975 MLB seasons, when the Yankees played at Shea Stadium while Yankee Stadium underwent major renovations. But in 1975, the Mets' home field also was the home of the Jets, a regular tenant, and the Giants for one season as they moved from the Yale Bowl while Giants Stadium was being constructed.
1975 also was a good year for baseball: Tom Terrific, Lynnsanity, the Big Red Machine and more highlights from 50 seasons ago.
Lennon's 2025 award and league leader predictions
MVP
AL: Jose Ramirez, Guardians
NL: Francisco Lindor, Mets
CY YOUNG AWARD
AL: Jacob deGrom, Rangers
NL: Paul Skenes, Pirates
HOME RUN LEADERS
AL: Brent Rooker, Athletics
NL: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
ROOKIES OF THE YEAR
AL: Jasson Dominguez, Yankees
NL: Matt Shaw, Cubs
MANAGERS OF THE YEAR
AL: Alex Cora, Red Sox
NL: Carlos Mendoza, Mets
BATTING LEADERS
AL: Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.
NL: Jackson Merrill, Padres
ERA LEADERS
AL: Jacob deGrom, Rangers
NL: Paul Skenes, Pirates
STRIKEOUT LEADERS
AL: Tarik Skubal, Tigers
NL: Blake Snell, Dodgers
COMEBACK PLAYERS OF YEAR
AL: Jacob DeGrom, Rangers
NL: Sandy Alcantara, Marlins
GAMES THEY’LL WIN
Yankees: 88
Mets: 90
More MLB news
