Describing 2025 Outlooks for MLB Dog Days Teams

If last month’s trade deadline actions weren’t telling enough, the gap between the teams vying for postseason position in the final two months of the MLB season is getting increasingly wider.

This is a great time for teams to get a good look at new prospects and see what works and what doesn’t in preparations for the offseason leading up to 2025.

For the fans, you just want to get a few fun memories and get production out of players you see on the team next year in the dog days of the summer.

Let’s get a grasp on how some of the teams that are likely not going to be in the dance this year are heading into next year as it stands pre-free agency into a few categories.

Self-reflection is healthy and will create some expectations heading into the offseason and beyond.

“We Just Woke Up from a Nightmare” Teams – Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays

These are the teams that went into 2024 with World Series or deep postseason aspirations, and it felt like absolutely everything would go wrong if it could go wrong; it was a nightmare season, and they’ll have to wake up and wipe off the night sweats.

Texas Rangers

The defending champion Texas Rangers dealt with injuries all season long from Max Scherzer and Josh Jung, still paying Jacob deGrom millions to rehab, and having a shining World Series star who looked to be a cornerstone, Evan Carter, shelved for the year. On top of that, the bats that carried them to the title went cold all season long. They gave the fans a “championship grace period” and chose not to sell at the deadline. They will run it back with a more developed Wyatt Langford and a healthier team.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs will have another year of Craig Counsell, the highest-paid manager in history, finally in the system. With a payroll as high as they do, they still intend to compete with Shota Imanaga, being a bargain-signing and hopefully a healthier year from Cody Bellinger.

Toronto Blue Jays

As for the Jays, the pitchforks are already out for them to hire a new manager, and as long as they pay Vladimir Guerrero Jr. whatever he wants, they’ll be rebuilding the “movie” he was talking about instead of living in the trailer.

The John Mayer “Waiting on the World to Change” Teams – New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals

These teams are so close to being perennial contenders in the postseason, but they need to take one more step to change, and that hinges a lot on the ownership groups’ willingness to open their pockets to capitalize.

Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates

The Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, and Pittsburgh Pirates all have some of the brightest young stars in the game that already look like game changers- James Wood on the Nats with Dylan Crews on the way, Pittsburgh with the pitching duo of Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, and Cincinnati with Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene. They’re loaded with young talent, and the fans will be seething if they don’t do anything to bolster the rosters- Pittsburgh needing some sort of offense, the Nats finally having money to spend on a power bat instead of employing Patrick Corbin, and the Reds getting some starting pitching.

New York Mets

For the Mets, you just had the most fun and odd season of all time with the Grimace run. Steve Cohen has more money than he knows what to do with. Pete Alonso’s price has likely gone down with the .242 average, and there are some other guys like Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, or Max Fried that could take the team back to where they were in 2022, competing in the postseason.

The Albert Einstein “Insanity” Teams – San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” is the quote from one of the most brilliant minds in history that somehow hasn’t resonated with these teams just yet.

San Francisco Giants

It’s Groundhog Day for the San Francisco Giants, always the bridesmaid, never the bride on the BIG free agents under Farhan Zaidi, then they have a solid enough team to be competitive only to lack the superstar power to compete with the Dodgers in the division. Chapman and Snell will both have opt-outs after they landed them this free agency, but unless they sign a marquee name rather than be so close yet so far, it’s a “we’ll believe it when we see it” situation.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays opted to sell maybe their most-beloved superstar ever after a nightmare season in Randy Arozarena to load up on prospects and Christopher Morel, knowing that next year they’ll have Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen, and Shane Baz back in their rotation.

We can’t do this thing where we know the Rays will outsmart their low payroll with developing prospects, they’re a thorn to the contenders, and they’ll flame out again after a successful regular season, can we?

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are continuously developing their incredible farm system with all of their high draft picks—Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, Colt Keith, and the upcoming Jackson Jobe, to name a few. With Cy Young contender Skubal, we’re in the exact same position as last year: We like the long-term outlook! We just need to see it rather than be fooled again by Spencer Torkelson and Javier Baez-employed strikeouts. 

The Campfire Milkshake Highlight Teams – Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Las Vegas/Sacramento A’s

It became a meme this season that the only thing the Chicago White Sox had to be excited about all season was their social media endlessly touting Guaranteed Rate Field’s incredibly delectable concessions, most notably the Campfire Milkshake.

The Sox would endure one of the most abhorrent 21-game losing streaks, and the social media would immediately pivot to saying, “Hey! Have you seen our AMAZING Campfire Milkshake? What about our smokehouse smash burger?” on their social media?

The teams at the bottom of the barrel just want something to be excited about ON THE FIELD rather than something like the concessions if you’re the White Sox, the Anaheim beautiful weather if you’re the Angels, the Rocky Mountain air if you’re the Rockies, the South Beach of Miami, or the new… temporary park if you’re that loyal to the A’s.

PHOTO: Matt Marton/USA TODAY Sports