A New Year’s Resolution for every National League Team
Colorado Rockies - Finish in fourth place in the NL West
Unfortunately this would feel monumental for the Rockies in 2024 considering the type of talent the NL West possesses heading into 2025. However, I think it’s possible. I had the same type of vision for the A’s in 2024 after an abysmal 2023, and behold, a fourth place finish. The good news for Colorado is that I think they’re trending in the right direction despite their complete lack of direction as a franchise over the past 10 years. They finally have a young core to be excited about with guys such as Brenton Doyle, Ezequiel Tovar, Nolan Jones, and highly-touted prospect pitcher, Chase Dollander. I would imagine it’s probably going to take 70-75 wins to take the fourth place crown in 2025 and I don’t think a 10-15 game jump for the Rockies is unreasonable if the younger pieces continue develop with the addition of some veteran pieces.
Miami Marlins - Spend more money
As I’m writing this, the Marlins are the only team in baseball not to spend a dime thus far in the 2024-2025 offseason, and I can confidently say I don’t think they will spend a dime by the time I’m done writing this. The Marlins had one of, if not the biggest fall off in 2024 after earning a Wild Card spot in 2023. Yes, the numbers did show that what the Marlins did in 2023 was likely not repeatable. But that was not permission to go ahead and blow it up early rather than build on the success and create some sustainability for the years to come. As a Rays fan watching their former GM Peter Bendix take over the Marlins, it’s hard not to notice him taking the same approach he learned as a part of the Rays system for a number of years. While that approach is good for setting up for future success, I was excited to see what the Marlins were capable of in the present until that was torn down. Will the Marlins spend on anyone before opening day?
Washington Nationals - Finish in third place in the NL East
This is the first and only team to have recycled their 2024 New Year’s resolution. I said last year that the Nats should go out and win the third place crown. I did say that without knowing the run the Mets would go on in the second half, so I’m giving myself another shot, but the shot seems a little more bleak this year. The Mets are actually in it to win it, the Braves get Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider back, and the Phillies should remain elite. With the direction the Nationals roster is moving, they could outperform their projections while one of those other teams could underperform their projections, giving the Nationals a shot at sneaking into a third place finish. It’s more likely that the Nats do surpass their 2024 win total of 71 games but still fall behind New York, Philly, and Atlanta. In the meantime however, I am very much looking forward to their young core with guys like C.J. Abrams, James Wood, and Dylan Crews develop.
Pittsburgh Pirates - Extend Paul Skenes
I had one extension wish in the American League, that being for the Blue Jays to extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr, while my one extension wish in the National League is for the Buccos to lock down Paul Skenes. We are potentially talking about the very best pitcher in baseball while some baseball fans have already deemed him the best. Oh, and he’s only a year and a half removed from college and is turning only 23 in 2025. The Pirates have a generational arm on their hands and there would be no better way for Pirates ownership to make amends with their fanbase then by making Skenes a Pirate for life. Pittsburgh hasn’t had a face of the franchise since Andrew McCutchen’s first stint with the team, and with the Pirates hopefully trending out of mediocrity, it’s time for them to solidify a core - there’s no better start than extending their ace.
Cincinnati Reds - Make the postseason
If you don’t count 2020, the Reds haven’t made a postseason since 2013 where the Pirates knocked them out of the Wild Card in the infamous “Cueto” game. They haven’t seen an NLDS since 2012 and haven’t seen an NLCS since 1995. I’ve been told Cincinnati is a baseball town, and baseball towns need winners. In a weak NL Central, I would love nothing more than for the Reds to come out as the annual “team of friendship” and go on a cinderella type of postseason run. The lineup is not bad and has a lot of young bats with a lot to prove, while the pitching staff is at least serviceable. That’s what it could take to sneak into the postseason if there are a few teams that want to give up their playoff spots to lesser teams at the end of September - something baseball fans have been familiar with over the past couple of seasons.
San Francisco Giants - Someone please hit 30 homeruns
It feels like this is one of the top story lines for the Giants going into every season at this point, and they’ve had guys that could accomplish it, namely Jorge Soler last year who I think was signed solely to put the curse to rest. That obviously didn’t pan out well. Now they have arguably three different guys that can do it - Matt Chapman and Willy Adames who both have 30+ homerun seasons under their belts, and Heliot Ramos who broke the other San Francisco homerun curse in 2024 after he was the first right-handed hitter to hit a ball into McCovey Cove beyond the right field wall at Oracle Park. As a matter of fact, Ramos is a guy the Giants need to lean into heavily to make this offense go if they want to be a contending team in the stacked NL West. He proved to be one of the best young bats in the league in 2024 and hasn’t even technically put up a full season yet. Hit 30 homeruns and lead the Giants into the postseason, Heliot.
St. Louis Cardinals - Make a splash
The Cardinals and the Orioles get the same resolution for 2025, and that is to get their hands on either a big time free agent, or make a blockbuster trade. Despite their recent struggles, the NL Central should be in the cards for the Cards. They have the money to spend and haven’t really made a groundbreaking move since they traded for Nolan Arenado prior to the 2021 season. The Sonny Gray signing last year was a good step in the right direction, but wasn’t necessarily the right fit considering the Cardinals aging rotation. Landing a big name could be the kick-start this franchise has needed since an early exit from the 2022 postseason.
Chicago Cubs - Win the NL Central
The word is out - they call it the Midwest because everything in it is mid. This idea is personified in the NL Central. Everyone in the NL Central is a part of the Midwest (depending on if you consider Pittsburgh the Midwest) and they’re all mid. Sure the Brewers won the division with 93 wins, but someone had to win it and they didn’t even play a game in the NLDS. Oh, and they also lost their closer who happens to be one of the best relievers in the game. The Cardinals have zero direction, the Pirates are sitting on their hands, and the Reds seem to be stuck in perpetual mediocrity. After acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Astros, it seems like it’s an NL Central title or bust type of season. It would be quite the redemption for the Cubbies after two very disappointing finishes in both 2023 and 2024 where they missed the playoffs by small margins.
Arizona Diamondbacks - Be the best pitching staff in baseball
If everything goes right (big ask in a 162 game season), the Diamondbacks have one of the deepest starting rotations in baseball, and that was before they signed Corbin Burnes to a six year deal worth $210M. However, the pitching wasn’t much of a sight to see in 2024 as starters only produced 10.1 fWAR, good for just 21st overall. Brandon Pfaadt was the only qualified starter while the Snakes needed 14 different arms to start a game throughout the season. Only three others logged 20+ starts, those being Zac Gallen, Ryne Nelson, and Jordan Montgomery, and it’s no secret that Montgomery had the worst season of his career. You know what you’ll get from Gallen and Pfaadt, while Montgomery and Eduardo Rodriguez are still question marks but it’s hard to see both of their numbers remaining that poor. Merrill Kelly should return to the fold healthy and you also add arguably a top five pitcher in the sport in Corbin Burnes. The staff in the desert should yield a lot of value given the names and resume and shouldn’t be lost in the shuffle in the loaded NL West. They had the best run scoring offense in the league in 2024, so if the pitching comes back around, Arizona should be in contention to return to the World Series.
New York Mets - Win the NL East
This one should be pretty obvious after the Mets just signed Juan Soto to literally the largest contract in professional sports history. With that type of money on their payroll, you would think the goal would be to win a World Series. I would hope that’s the goal for the Metropolitans after missing a World Series appearance by just two games in 2024. However, I think winning the division would be a big statement from the Mets after the Braves and Phillies have ran the division for the past couple of years. It would be a fun case of a team actually “putting their money where their mouth is.” Whether or not I project them to win it, I would like for them to go out and do it considering the obvious commitment to winning through their spending.
Atlanta Braves - Stay healthy
Easier said than done. It’s a miracle the Braves landed in the 2024 postseason despite losing Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr. to injury while staples to the lineup such as Matt Olson and Austin Riley regressed. A fully healthy Cy Young winning season from Chris Sale was exactly what Atlanta needed to remain relevant but I wouldn’t put a whole lot of stock into him repeating that. They haven’t done a whole lot to get better in 2025 even after losing Max Fried in free agency, suggesting they are really counting on Acuna and Strider returning to form, which they surely can. Adding some more depth to the lineup and pitching staff are both pressing needs, but keeping their stars healthy needs to be the main priority in 2025 if they are going to keep up with the Mets and the Phillies in the NL East.
San Diego Padres - Win the NL West
I have been dying for a Padres NL West title since 2020 and I vowed to myself to stop predicting it until they actually did it. So once again, it’s not my prediction, but it’s definitely the bar I would imagine the organization has set for itself. I know division titles are no longer as important as they used to be with the new playoff format, but given their rivalry with the Dodgers, taking the west would probably be the next best thing to beating the Dodgers in a playoff series. If anyone has the perfect formula to sustainable success over a 162 game season, it’s the Dodgers, and they’re obviously standing in San Diego’s way. They’re going to have to do more this offseason if they want to keep pace with LA in 2025.
Milwaukee Brewers - Make Freddy Peralta a Cy Young candidate
I would love for the Brewers to add to their rotation, and to be quite honest, they need to in order to remain in postseason contention. Given their recent track record, I don’t see them trading for a Dylan Cease or signing a Jack Flaherty. In the meantime however, they have an ace on their hands that hasn’t quite reached that top tier of pitching, and that happens to be Freddy Peralta. He turns 29 in 2025, has five straight sub-4 ERA seasons, and four different 20.0+ K-BB% seasons under his belt. Peralta has the stuff to be the ace the Brewers can build their staff around. They already have key pieces on the offensive side of the ball in Jackson Chourio and William Contreras, but are lacking the foundational arms on the pitching side. I think Peralta has enough in him to take one more step into the upper-echelon of pitching. The Brew Crew doesn’t need to search for their ace if Peralta can do just that.
Philadelphia Phillies - Win the World Series
Going a little basic here as this is obviously the goal for every team, specifically the contending teams. But with the Phillies track record of postseason success in 2022 and 2023, they feel overdue to win a World Series after being upset by the Mets in the 2024 NLDS. They have failed to add in a big way thus far in the offseason, but I wouldn’t be too concerned for them. As it’s constructed now, they have a World Series caliber roster. I claimed they had the best trade deadline in 2024 and there are no signs of them looking to trade off any big names while there were no big names that came off the books. They have arguably the best starting rotation in baseball, with horses that perform in the postseason, namely Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. They also have an offense that is one of the best in the game when it clicks. With so many competitors in the National League this year, it’s time for the Philles to go full throttle and finally take home the hardware.
Los Angeles Dodgers - Start budgeting
Do we think the Dodgers have a budget? Should they have a budget? My mom always tells me I should have a spending budget so why shouldn't the Dodgers have one too?
