2025 MLB Season Preview — Staff Predictions and Awards

The 2025 Major League Baseball season starts Thursday (two-game Japan series excepted, obviously), so the FTN team (and a few visitors!) wanted to get our picks on the record. Today, we’re running through our picks for division winners, awards, and some key fantasy tidbits for the 2025 season.

It’s an exciting team around FTN these days. The participants this year are:

• Vlad Sedler, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Mike Mager, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Jenny Butler, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Lucas Biery, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Adam Young, FTN Baseball Analyst/Editor
• Joe Orrico, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Dan Thompson, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Jason Anthony, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Jake Kucheck, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Todd Whitestone, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Russ Prentice, FTN Baseball Analyst
• Daniel Kelley, FTN Editor-In-Chief
• MLBdream, FTN Baseball – Bets
• Todd Zola, Masterball/Rotowire/ESPN
• Thomas Nestico, tj_stats Patreon
• Sara Sanchez, Baseball HQ/PitcherList
• Corbin Young, Baseball HQ/Rotoballer
• Matthew Peppler, Stacking Dingers
• Justin Mason, Fangraphs
• Brendan Tuma, Underdog Fantasy
• Phil Dussault, NFBC Career Earnings Leader

Check below to see what everyone thinks. (On mobile devices, best viewed in landscape mode.)

2025 MLB Season Predictions

League Leaders

The answers:

NL HR Leader: Shohei Ohtani (10), Kyle Schwarber (5), Pete Alonso (2), Fernando Tatis Jr. (2), Austin Riley (1), Juan Soto (1)

AL HR Leader: Aaron Judge (16), Yordan Alvarez (3), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1), Brent Rooker (1)

MLB SB Leader: Elly De La Cruz (13), Xavier Edwards (4), Corbin Carroll (1), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (1), Pete Crow-Armstrong (1), Brice Turang (1)

MLB Save Leader: Devin Williams (10), Emmanuel Clase (4), Edwin Díaz (2), Josh Hader (2), Raisel Iglesias (2), Mason Miller (1)

Fantasy Picks

The answers:

#1 Fantasy Hitter: Bobby Witt Jr. (11), Elly De La Cruz (3), Aaron Judge (3), Shohei Ohtani (2), Jose Ramirez (1), Julio Rodríguez (1)

#1 Fantasy SP: Tarik Skubal (9), Paul Skenes (8), Garrett Crochet (2), Jacob deGrom (1), Blake Snell (1)

First-Round Fantasy Bust: Gunnar Henderson (6), Julio Rodríguez (3), Corbin Carroll (2), Jackson Chourio (2), Fernando Tatis Jr. (2), Elly De La Cruz (1), Aaron Judge (1), Jose Ramirez (1), Paul Skenes (1), Juan Soto (1), Kyle Tucker (1)

The answers:

This Year’s Yelich: Josh Lowe (2), Matt McLain (2), Brent Rooker (2), Christian Yelich (2), Cody Bellinger (1), Alex Bregman (1), Lawrence Butler (1), Kerry Carpenter (1), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1), Riley Greene (1), Josh Naylor (1), Seiya Suzuki (1), Ezequiel Tovar (1), Taylor Ward (1), Jordan Westburg (1), Masyn Winn (1)

Top 200+ Hitter: Jonathan India (5), Ryan Mountcastle (3), Jung Hoo Lee (2), Heliot Ramos (2), Jonathan Aranda (1), Kerry Carpenter (1), Josh Jung (1), Garrett Mitchell (1), Zach Neto (1), Joey Ortiz (1), George Springer (1), Andrew Vaughn (1), Jacob Young (1)

Top 200+ Pitcher: Jackson Jobe (3), Reese Olson (2), Luis Severino (2), Brandon Woodruff (1), Hayden Birdsong (1), Walker Buehler (1), Nestor Cortes (1), Nathan Eovaldi (1), Lucas Erceg (1), Tanner Houck (1), Mitch Keller (1), Jesús Luzardo (1), Casey Mize (1), Drew Rasmussen (1), Kumar Rocker (1), Clarke Schmidt (1)

Award Winners

The answers:

NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani (11), Elly De La Cruz (2), Fernando Tatis Jr. (2), Corbin Carroll (1), Bryce Harper (1), Francisco Lindor (1), Juan Soto (1), Kyle Tucker (1), Trea Turner (1)

NL Cy Young: Paul Skenes (12), Dylan Cease (3), Michael King (2), Zack Wheeler (2), Corbin Burnes (1), Blake Snell (1)

NL ROY: Dylan Crews (10), Matt Shaw (6), Roki Sasaki (5)

The answers:

AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr. (10), Aaron Judge (4), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3), Yordan Alvarez (1), Gunnar Henderson (1), Julio Rodríguez (1), Corey Seager (1)

AL Cy Young: Tarik Skubal (9), Garrett Crochet (6), Cole Ragans (3), Jacob deGrom (1), Logan Gilbert (1), Pablo López (1)

AL ROY: Kristian Campbell (8), Jasson Domínguez (4), Jackson Jobe (3), Cam Smith (3), Roman Anthony (1), Will Warren (1), Jacob Wilson (1)

Division Winners and Postseason

The answers:

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers (20), Arizona Diamondbacks (1)

NL Central: Chicago Cubs (10), Milwaukee Brewers (9), Cincinnati Reds (2)

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies (11), Atlanta Braves (9), New York Mets (1)

The answers:

AL West: Texas Rangers (11), Houston Astros (6), Seattle Mariners (4)

AL Central: Kansas City Royals (11), Minnesota Twins (6), Detroit Tigers (3), Cleveland Guardians (1)

AL East: Boston Red Sox (11), Baltimore Orioles (6), New York Yankees (3), Tampa Bay Rays (1)

The answers:

NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers (12), Philadelphia Phillies (5), Atlanta Braves (3), Arizona Diamondbacks (1)

ALCS: Boston Red Sox (8), Texas Rangers (6), Baltimore Orioles (4), Houston Astros (1), Kansas City Royals (1), Detroit Tigers (1)

World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers (10), Philadelphia Phillies (4), Atlanta Braves (3), Boston Red Sox (3), Baltimore Orioles (1)