Olney: The five most improved MLB teams by 2025

Olney: The five most improved MLB teams by 2025

From Elly De La Cruz’s Reds to the Red Sox and beyond, these are the clubs poised to make the biggest leap this season.


Earlier this winter, Elly De La Cruz headed to Terry Francona’s hotel in Santo Domingo to make the first meeting more convenient for her new manager, and while they were talking, Francona asked her shortstop a question: What do you want to achieve?

“I want to be the best player in baseball,” De La Cruz responded, not an unreasonable statement. Last year, in his age-22 season, he hit 25 home runs and stole 67 bases.

Francona offered an amendment to his thinking: What if De La Cruz sets out to become the best baseball player in the world? best baseball team? That sounded good to De La Cruz, and the two men agreed to work together to achieve that goal.

The National League Central Division is a land of opportunity, given its competitive context. The Milwaukee Brewers won the division last season, but this winter they lost their best position player (Willy Adames) and best reliever (Devin Williams). The Chicago Cubs are trying to improve, but they are not in the same category as the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves. The St. Louis Cardinals are at the beginning of a rebuild, although it’s hard to explain why. The other day, Pirates fans at a fanfest event chanted for Bob Nutting to sell the team, but the club is not for sale, and Pittsburgh appears to be looking for bargain signings in free agency, again.

In this NL Central void, the Cincinnati Reds have been the most aggressive team to date in the Central Division: signing Francona, a future Hall of Famer, trading for starting pitcher Brady Singer, they added catcher Jose TreviƱo and, a couple of weeks ago, traded for infielder Gavin Lux. The Reds went 77-85 last season, but if their winter ambitions come true in the summer and they successfully resolve some of the issues that plagued them last year, they could be one of baseball’s surprise teams in 2025, competing for a playoff spot or more.

These are the five teams that are positioned to be the most improved in 2025.


1. Cincinnati Reds

The Reds had the worst record in the majors in one-run decisions last year (15-28) – and are likely to improve by simply moving toward the average. But Francona and Nick Krall, the Reds’ president of baseball operations, have more specific improvements in mind.

The Reds walked too many last year and were also not very good at containing runners, allowing 123 steals. Francona wants the defense to be better, and it’s clear from the roster that’s taking shape that versatility and athleticism are a priority. With De La Cruz, Lux, Matt McLain and Santiago Espinal, the Reds have a group of talented middle infielders. When Francona spoke with Lux after the trade with the Dodgers earlier this week, they agreed that they want to put Lux in the most comfortable spots for him, and that they will define that once training camp opens next month.

According to the baserunning metric used by Fangraphs, the Reds were the second-best baserunning team in the majors, behind the Brewers. But Krall and Francona noted that there were instances where the team went from aggressive to reckless, and their goal is to change this, in the hopes that the team gives up fewer outs.

Krall traded infielder Jonathan India to the Kansas City Royals for talented right-hander Singer, who joins Hunter Greene (the power right-hander who had a breakout season in 2024), Andrew Abbott, Nick Martinez and Nick Lodolo, with more depth in development, including last year’s pick Chase Burns, who could manifest at the major league level sometime in 2025. The Reds’ recent revised regional television deal could give the team more flexibility of spending, and perhaps add help in the outfield, while also looking into the deep pool of free agent relievers.

By the way: Francona generally isn’t a big fan of bringing guest speakers into his locker room. But after Francona was signed by the Reds, former Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia offered to come to Cincinnati training camp for whatever Francona needed, and Francona intends to accept the offer. Pedroia’s personality, Francona noted, is like a dose of human caffeine, with his love for sports

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The Red Sox have considered adding Alex Bregman, one of the biggest stars on the market this winter, likely to play second base and add to his defense and experience. Even if Boston’s ownership fails to overcome its allergic reactions to long-term deals and misses the opportunity to sign Bregman, this has been a strong winter for the Red Sox, who finished 81-81 last year. Boston won the bid for Garrett Crochet, agreeing to a deal with the Chicago White Sox for the high-powered lefty, and then signed free agent Walker Buehler. Those additions swelled Boston’s rotation, which also includes Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford. Garrett Whitlock is returning to the bullpen.


Ken Kendrick’s team reached the World Series in 2023, and this has apparently whetted his appetite for more: Even after the disastrous signing of Jordan Montgomery (for which Kendrick took full responsibility), the owner approved a massive investment in Corbin Burnes on a long-term contract. Arizona went 89-73 last year despite a horrible half-season from Corbin Carroll and injuries to the pitching staff, but missed the playoffs. The 2025 D-backs are well positioned to return to the postseason.


In Jacob deGrom’s final seasons with the New York Mets, he presented the maddening combination of absolute brilliance over a mountain of injuries that rival evaluators always believed were rooted, to some extent, in the condition of his elbow. Well, deGrom’s elbow appears to be fixed, after undergoing elbow surgery in 2023. The Rangers could get the ace they thought they got when they signed him to a $185 million contract after the 2022 season.

The Rangers also believe they deepened their lineup with the additions of Jake Burger and Joc Pederson, and perhaps Josh Jung will be on the field more this year and a repaired Corey Seager will be more consistent. But if deGrom can make 25-30 high-level starts again (it’s been 5 1/2 years since he pitched 100 innings in a season), the Rangers could make noise again in October.


The Nationals’ improvement won’t necessarily translate into making the playoffs, given Washington’s divisional context. One could reasonably argue that three of the four best teams in Major League Baseball inhabit the NL East. But the Nationals have been graduating elite prospects to the majors in recent seasons, including James Wood and Dylan Crews. There will soon be a year when this group of players will take a big step forward, and perhaps general manager Mike Rizzo hopes the additions of veterans like Josh Bell, Nathaniel Lowe and Amed Rosario will help speed up the process.