We’re not saying baseball is easy to predict, but we’re coming into the 2025 season both having successfully predicted the 2024 champs, in the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Who did we have them beating? Uhhhh… look, over there — is that Miguel Cabrera?)

Of course, the 162-game MLB season is full of twists and turns that are often completely unpredictable. (Well, not wholly unpredictable — one of us had the Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal taking the AL Cy Young Award last year, too.) Will the Tigers return to the postseson? Will the AL Central put three teams in the postseason again? Will the Chicago White Sox make a (all-time) worst-to-first turnaro …. hahahahahaha, we couldn’t even finish typing it.

In any event, Juan Soto is now a Met, Alex Bregman is a TigerRed Sock, Blake Snell is a Dodger (and an Opening Day starter against Skubal and the Tigers), the Athletics are in Sacramento for three years on their way from Oakland to Las Vegas (though their uniforms and official name in MLB references will reflect none of those cities), the Dodgers are actually 2-0 already, the Cubs are 0-2 (and presumably eliminated from the postseason), the Tigers have five actual starters in their rotation (we’ll see how long that lasts), Terry Francona is managing a small-market team in Ohio (somethings never change, even if it’s the Reds and not the Guardians) and Vladimir Guerrero and Bo Bichette are still Blue Jays (at least until July).

And now that we’ve caught you up, here’s how a pair of the Freep’s seamheads (who were still willing to go on record after last season, if only in alphabetical order) see the 2025 season going, ahead of Thursday’s (second) Opening Day …

(*Wild-card teams; postseason seed in parentheses.)

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AL Central

Ryan Ford, Freep deputy sports editor

1. Tigers (3)

2. Royals

3. Guardians

4. Twins

5. White Sox

Evan Petzold, Tigers beat writer

1. Royals (3).

2. Twins.

3. Tigers.

4. Guardians.

5. White Sox.

AL East

Ford

1. Yankees (1)

2. Red Sox (4)*

3. Orioles (6)*

4. Blue Jays

5. Rays

Petzold

1. Red Sox (1).

2. Orioles (4)*.

3. Yankees (6)*.

4. Blue Jays.

5. Rays.

AL West

Ford

1. Astros (2)

2. Rangers (5)*

3. Mariners

4. Angels

5. Athletics

Petzold

1. Rangers (2).

2. Astros (5)*.

3. Mariners.

4. Athletics.

5. Angels.

NL Central

Ford

1. Cubs (3)

2. Brewers

3. Reds

4. Pirates

5. Cardinals

Petzold

1. Reds (3).

2. Cubs.

3. Brewers.

4. Cardinals.

5. Pirates.

NL East

Ford

1. Braves (2)

2. Mets (4)*

3. Phillies (5)*

4. Nationals

5. Marlins

Petzold

1. Phillies (2).

2. Braves (5)*.

3. Mets (6)*.

4. Nationals.

5. Marlins.

NL West

Ford

1. Dodgers (1)

2. Padres (6)*

3. Diamondbacks

4. Giants

5. Rockies

Petzold

1. Dodgers (1).

2. Diamondbacks (4)*.

3. Padres.

4. Giants.

5. Rockies.

The postseason

Ford

ALWC: 3. Tigers over 6. Orioles; 5. Rangers over 4. Red Sox.

ALDS: 5. Rangers over 1. Yankees; 2. Astros over 3. Tigers.

ALCS: 5. Rangers over 2. Astros.

NLWC: 6. Padres over 3. Cubs; 4. Mets over 5. Phillies.

NLDS: 1. Dodgers over 4. Mets; 6. Padres over 2. Braves.

NLCS: 1. Dodgers over 6. Padres.

World Series: NL1. Dodgers over AL5. Rangers.

Petzold

ALWC: 3. Royals over 6. Yankees; 5. Astros over 4. Orioles.

ALDS: 1. Red Sox over 5. Astros; 2. Rangers over 3. Royals.

ALCS: 2. Rangers over 1. Red Sox.

NLWC: 6. Mets over 3. Reds; 5. Braves over 4. Diamondbacks.

NLDS: 1. Dodgers over 5. Braves; 2. Phillies over 6. Mets.

NLCS: 1. Dodgers over 2. Phillies.

World Series: NL1. Dodgers over AL2. Rangers.

The honors

Ford

AL MVP: SS Corey Seager, Rangers.

AL Cy Young: LHP Tarik Skubal, Tigers.

AL Rookie of the Year: RHP Jackson Jobe, Tigers.

NL MVP: OF Juan Soto, Mets.

NL Cy Young: LHP Blake Snell, Dodgers.

NL Rookie of the Year: RHP Rōki Sasaki, Dodgers.

Petzold

AL MVP: SS Bobby Witt Jr., Royals.

AL Cy Young: LHP Tarik Skubal, Tigers.

AL Rookie of the Year: SS Jacob Wilson, Athletics.

NL MVP: DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers.

NL Cy Young: RHP Paul Skenes, Pirates.

NL Rookie of the Year: RHP Rōki Sasaki, Dodgers.

Contact Ryan Ford at[email protected]. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?)@theford and on BlueSky at @theford.bsky.social. Read more on theDetroit Tigers and sign up for ourTigers newsletter.  

Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.