More than any other team sport, the baseball season is a marathon. The dynamics of each major-league roster are in constant flux as organizations deal with surges, slumps, injuries and disappointments throughout the 162-game campaign. When the dust settles, the front office in each city begins the process of analyzing successes and failures and building plans to get things right in the future. After all, every year, 29 of 30 teams fall short of reaching the ultimate goal. This year, only the Dodgers .
As the 2024 MLB season neared its conclusion, we took a look at each organization as it was eliminated from postseason contention or from the playoffs, with an examination of what happened in the campaign and a forecast of what’s ahead this offseason. Following the end of the World Series on Oct. 30, our list concludes with the Yankees and Dodgers.
Let’s dig in.
Even the most optimistic fans would have trouble finding things that went right for a team that might finish . But amid the rubble, Garrett Crochet stood out as a bright spot. The lanky lefty was terrific on Opening Day and arrived at the All-Star Game as the MLB leader in strikeouts. Unfortunately, an innings-management strategy made the 25-year-old much more mortal in the second half, as was evidenced by the 6.75 ERA he logged in his six post-break starts.
The Rockies don’t have much pitching talent, but they have four innings-eaters under contract for 2025 in Cal Quantrill, Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner. Still, pitching remains , in both the rotation and the bullpen. Convincing high-end free agents to make half their appearances at Coors Field is always a challenge, which means Rockies management might have to settle for lesser names on the open market or explore trade options.
A starting rotation that was supposed to be the team’s strength . The downfall started when Eury Pérez was sidelined during spring training and. By the end of June, joining Pérez on the IL were Braxton Garrett, Jesús Luzardo and Ryan Weathers, who were all ticketed for major roles but will finish the season with fewer than 100 innings. Add , who is recovering from, and the Marlins have a full rotation of talented starters on the injured list.
As has been the case in many recent seasons, the list of things that went wrong starts with the health of Mike Trout. The 33-year-old opened the season with 10 homers in 29 games before. He appeared in just one rehab game in July before he was shut down again and sent for. The 29 contests logged by Trout marked a career low, and he’ll finish 2024 having played in just 41% of Angels games across the past four seasons.
The Nationals’ rebuild turned a corner in 2024. Although the team didn’t make a major improvement in its final record, the Nats were one game below .500 on June 21 and sat six games out of a wild-card spot at the All-Star break. They also made strides with their run differential.
The best part of Washington’s improvement is that it was primarily keyed by ascending players who will be on the team for years to come. as he continued to build on his 2023 breakout season, though he fell off a bit in the second half and finished the season demoted . Jr. followed up four mediocre campaigns by taking a sizable step forward. And posted strong rookie-year numbers after.
The A’s are in a strange position, as they will finish 2024 with one of baseball’s worst records, but they might have exceeded expectations. Many prognosticators pegged this team to finish last overall and lose 100 games, and the A’s will comfortably avoid both fates.
is a big reason for the team’s relative respectability. The 29-year-old reached the 30-homer plateau for the second straight year, but this time around, he boosted his on-base rate and ranked among baseball’s OPS leaders throughout the season. that the team didn’t deal him at the trade deadline.
The Pirates have several holes to fill before they can take the next step. Oneil Cruz will be a big part of the team going forward, but his position remains a work in progress. Cruz ranked second among shortstops in errors on Aug. 26, at which time manager Derek Shelton decided to. Isiah Kiner-Falefa replaced Cruz as shortstop, and with Kiner-Falefa signed for 2025, the switch can extend into next season. Cruz will be joined in the outfield by franchise cornerstone Bryan Reynolds and Bryan De La Cruz, who was acquired from Miami at the trade deadline.
Plenty of things went wrong for a team that was supposed to contend for the postseason. Several exciting young hitters endured disappointing years. Perhaps no player was more frustrated than Matt McLain, who was expected to be a lineup centerpiece before he and wound up missing the entire season.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand had similar expectations but didn’t fare much better. He played poorly in 29 games before having his season ended by a fractured right hand that required surgery. Noelvi Marte was another young hitter who let the team down, as he was and made little impact in the second half.
The team’s two most effective hitters were both in the minors at times this season. Heliot Ramos was promoted early in May and quickly became a proficient power hitter who overcame mediocre plate discipline. Tyler Fitzgerald didn’t initially take off to the same degree, but after logging 86 plate appearances in the first half, he took over as the starting shortstop after the All-Star break and became a.
The team’s two lineup centerpieces, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, experienced notable decline. Arenado reached base at a similar rate as 2023 but provided less power. The decline for Goldschmidt was more significant, and 2024 marked the second straight year that he took a big step backward.
Nolan Gorman is less essential to the Cards than Goldschmidt or Arenado, but he let the team down, nonetheless. Gorman has never been a high-average hitter, but this year he consistently struggled to keep his average over .200, and his power numbers took a turn for the worse as well. He was in late August.
With everything crumbling around him, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. put together his best season since he finished second in. Vladdy didn’t dominate all season, as he owned a .679 OPS at the end of April. But from May on, the 25-year-old was one of baseball’s best hitters.
Guerrero is one year away from free agency, and now he and management can go into the offseason with the knowledge that he can play at a level that warrants a significant, long-term commitment.
When a team slips from World Series champion to postseason pretender, there’s no shortage of things that went wrong. Marcus Semien wasn’t a massive disappointment, but his offensive game experienced a notable year-over-year decline. At the same time, to Semien’s credit, he continued to be one of baseball’s most durable players. His decline was less stark than that of Adolis García, who was one of the. García was terrific in April this year before.
A few veteran position players endured disappointing seasons in 2024. Cody Bellinger was the headliner of that group, as his year-over-year OPS dropped by more than 100 points. A lower BABIP and small changes to his barrel rate were among the contributing factors to his decline. Dansby Swanson also struggled, and his decline was primarily related to decreased power production. That said, Swanson deserves credit for continuing to play strong defense at shortstop. Nico Hoerner was the third veteran who took a step back. Like Bellinger, he was primarily felled by a decline in batted-ball luck.
After ranking fourth in baseball in runs scored last year, the Rays were among the lowest-scoring teams in the league in 2024. Josh Lowe’s strikeout rate ballooned, and in turn, his on-base percentage dropped. His struggles were mainly isolated to the first half of the season, when he dealt with an oblique injury and posted a .652 OPS across 44 games. Yandy Díaz experienced an even larger decline than Lowe, as both his on-base rate and his power numbers took significant tumbles. Christopher Morel was in the Isaac Paredes deal, but instead of sparking the lineup, Morel struck out often and made the problems worse.
On the offensive side, several players are wrapping up excellent seasons. Rafael Devers continues to be the centerpiece of the batting order, and he will finish 2024 with an OPS over .850 for a fourth straight year. Jarren Duran took an exciting step forward for a second straight season, cementing his status as a terrific table-setter while also playing excellent defense. And after struggling in St. Louis the previous two years, Tyler O’Neill reclaimed his status as a dangerous power hitter. His long-term durability problems continued with three IL stints, but they were all brief.
No matter how well the pitching staff fared, it couldn’t make up for an underwhelming offense. Seattle ranks among the bottom 10 teams in runs scored, and the Mariners struck out more than any other club.
Julio Rodríguez entered the 2024 season as one of baseball’s biggest superstars, but by September, he was simply trying to be a league-average hitter. The 23-year-old didn’t experience notable changes in his strikeout or walk rates, but his average exit velocity and barrel rate took significant dips. The changes to his batted-ball profile led to far fewer extra-base hits. Rodríguez also started the season slowly, and shortly after he turned things around in July, he suffered an ankle injury that. A hot September couldn’t make up for a lackluster season overall.
Everything was going pretty well in Minnesota until the final weeks of the season. On Sept. 5, the Twins were sitting at 74-62 with a , per FanGraphs. Then the Twins were swept in a pivotal series with the Royals, which kicked off a stretch in which Minnesota went 6-14 from Sept. 6 to Sept. 27. The Twins won just one of six series during that span and fell to 82-78 with their loss to the Orioles on Sept. 27, which eliminated them from the postseason. During that dismal stretch, Royce Lewis, Jose Miranda, Ryan Jeffers and Edouard Julien all posted an OPS under .500, and Pablo Lopez, David Festa and Simeon Woods Richardson each logged an ERA over 4.50 while making at least three starts.
As good as the offense was, Arizona missed the postseason because of a pitching staff that finished 27th in ERA, which included posting the worst ERA in baseball (5.34) in September. The blame for that was equally split between the rotation and the relief corps.
The disappointments were everywhere within the starting staff, as no one who started a single game finished the year with an ERA below 3.65. Zac Gallen (3.65 ERA) was acceptable, as was Merrill Kelly (4.03 ERA), albeit across just 13 starts. Brandon Pfaadt (4.71 ERA) and Ryne Nelson (4.24 ERA) were disappointing, while the of Jordan Montgomery (6.23 ERA) was disastrous. Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez combined for just 23 starts.
The team’s run production was barely better than average, as a few players let the club down. Jose Abreu regressed even further after a notable decline in 2023. The organization tried everything, including, before giving up and. Jon Singleton deserves credit for plugging the hole at first base, but he didn’t make much of an offensive impact. Chas McCormick was an even bigger disappointment than Abreu, as he followed his breakout 2023 by struggling mightily at the plate (.576 OPS), spending time in the minors and enduring two IL stints.
In terms of position players, Adley Rutschman might have been the biggest disappointment. It’s hard to complain about a workhorse at baseball’s most demanding position, but Rutschman fell off dramatically after a solid start, logging a .585 OPS in the second half. Overall, his year-over-year OPS dropped by 100 points.
Beyond Rutschman, the biggest offensive disappointment was the collective failure of the team’s top prospects to help the club in the second half of the season. In April, the offensive talent on Baltimore’s Triple-A team, the Norfolk Tides, was the talk of baseball. But as the Orioles watched the Yankees surge ahead of them to win the division title, they received only minimal contributions from the likes of Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo and Heston Kjerstad.
The Braves might have the brightest future of any MLB franchise. The roster is loaded with talent, and most of the key players are signed to reasonable, long-term contracts. The infield is set for 2025, with Matt Olson (first base), Ozzie Albies (second base), Austin Riley (third base) and Orlando Arcia (shortstop) under contract. Behind the plate, the team returns Sean Murphy and has a team option on Travis d’Arnaud.
Two-thirds of the outfield is accounted for. Ronald Acuña Jr. is aiming to return from his knee surgery by Opening Day. He will play right field, alongside Michael Harris II, who will be the center fielder. Jarred Kelenic had some good moments in his first season with the club but didn’t hit well overall. Still, he’s just 25 years old and should be a payroll fit due to his low salary at the early stages of his career. The club will undoubtedly pick up the $16 million option to bring Marcell Ozuna back as the DH.
Milwaukee has won the NL Central in three of the past four seasons, which earns this team the right to enter 2025 as the division favorite. There are clubs nipping at the Brewers’ heels, however, as the Cubs have a solid roster, and the Reds are full of ascending players. Still, Milwaukee’s ability to maximize the production of its pitchers has been a calling card that keeps this team ahead of the pack in a division that has otherwise lacked elite teams in many recent seasons.
To be serious World Series contenders, though, the Brewers will need to add more high-end talent to either their rotation or their batting order. Otherwise, their roster on paper will rank slightly below those of the NL powerhouses in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Once again, Bryce Harper paced the offense. This was his sixth season in Philadelphia, and in all six of those years, he has posted an OPS over .875. His premium plate patience annually makes him one of baseball’s on-base leaders, and this year he ranked 10th in OBP. The other offensive catalyst was leadoff man Kyle Schwarber, who topped the century mark in runs and RBI for a second straight year. Schwarber is a prototypical leadoff man for the modern era — an on-base machine with premium power skills. He set a major-league record this year with 15 leadoff homers.
The Royals finally turned the corner in a long rebuild, posting their first winning record and making their first postseason appearance since they won the World Series in 2015. Remarkably, Kansas City won 30 more games this season than in 2023.
Bobby Witt Jr. was by far the biggest catalyst of the improvement. The 24-year-old made major improvements for a second straight year and now ranks among baseball’s superstars. Witt led the majors in batting average and finished fourth in OPS. He was one of three 30-30 players, and his 10.4 WAR ranked behind only Yankees superstar Aaron Judge.
After faring well in his first year with the Padres, Xander Bogaerts dealt with a this year and was not very productive (.688 OPS) in the 111 games he played. San Diego needs the 32-year-old to get back on track next season, as he has nine years remaining on his $280 million contract.
The biggest letdowns on the pitching side were injuries rather than performances, as Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove each fell short of 100 innings. The team struggled to replace those innings, as Matt Waldron (26 starts, 4.79 ERA) and Randy Vazquez (20 starts, 4.87 ERA) didn’t accomplish much beyond eating innings.
The 2024 Tigers will forever be remembered as the group that ended a long rebuild And they accomplished the feat in dramatic fashion, going 17-6 from Sept. 1 to the day they clinched their playoff berth on Sept. 27.
The leader of this club was Tarik Skubal, who might be the best starting pitcher in baseball. After posting eye-popping results across 15 starts last year, he , leading the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA. And although Reese Olson missed most of the second half due to a shoulder injury, he showed this season that he could be Skubal’s sidekick in the coming years.
Successes on the offensive side were less pronounced, but in Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter, the Tigers have found two players who can be fixtures in premium lineup spots. Greene didn’t take a massive step forward in his third season but showed improved power and durability. Meanwhile, Carpenter missed 2.5 months due to a back injury but was the team’s best hitter (.932 OPS) when healthy.
The Guardians were carried by their bullpen as much as any team in recent memory. After all, this is a club that won 92 games despite having an offense that ranked 14th in runs scored and a rotation that placed 24th in ERA. Thankfully, shortcomings from other parts of the roster were often erased by the relief corps, which produced a 2.57 ERA that was 0.61 lower than that of any other team. Emmanuel Clase , as he was the third pitcher in the past 30 years to collect 47 saves and post an ERA below 1.00. The setup crew of Hunter Gaddis, Cade Smith and Tim Herrin each posted an ERA below 2.00 while making at least 74 appearances.
Offensively, the club was led by José Ramírez, who fell one homer shy of a 40-40 season (and the team’s final game was rained out) while topping the century mark in runs and RBI. His .872 OPS ranked 12th in baseball. Josh Naylor was another driving force, as he reached the 30-homer and 100-RBI plateaus for the first time.
The Mets showed a flair for the dramatic with to clinch a postseason spot on the final day of the regular season. And it was their standout player, Francisco Lindor, who delivered the decisive home run. The shortstop started slowly and was batting .211 on May 29. But he caught fire in the second half (.943 OPS), sparking the team’s surge up the standings. The 30-year-old was also an outstanding defender, ranking second among shortstops with 16 outs above average. Shohei Ohtani , but Lindor is a strong candidate to finish as the runner-up.
And while Lindor was the Mets’ top contributor, Mark Vientos was the most surprising one. The 24-year-old was twice optioned to the minors early in the season and had registered just eight at-bats by the middle of May. He took off after that and sparked the lineup until Lindor got on track. Vientos arrived at the All-Star break with an .896 OPS and finished the season third on the team with 27 home runs.
All regular season, the dynamic duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto gave the Yankees a prolific pair of hitters that rivaled any set of teammates in recent memory. All told, the two outfielders combined for 99 homers, 253 RBI and 250 runs. They ranked first (Judge, 1.159) and third (Soto, .989) in OPS.
Judge was especially dominant. His OPS was even better than the 1.111 mark he produced in his 2022 MVP season. The slugger’s 144 RBI and .322 batting average were also career bests. Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani stole the headlines with his 50-50 season, but Judge was baseball’s best hitter this year.
The Dodgers finished the regular season with the best record in baseball and won the NL West for the 11th time in 12 seasons and the World Series for the second time in five seasons on the strength of an offense that ranked second in the majors in runs scored.
Shohei Ohtani , as he recorded one of the greatest offensive seasons in major-league history. The 30-year-old logged the league’s first 50-50 campaign, and he ranked first or second in baseball in homers, steals, RBI, runs scored and OPS. Ohtani should be a unanimous pick for the NL MVP award.