Well, Year 14 of my power rankings is quite literally in the books. It’s hard to say a six-month chunk of my year has gone by faster, but I assure you as you get older and older the time goes by faster and faster.
My season started with a trip to my favorite second city, Sarasota, where I had my trip and summer altered by a car accident. Then a multitude of injuries hit the Orioles: Colton Cowser, Zach Eflin, Jorge Mateo, Ryan Mountcastle, Tyler O’Neill, Cade Povich, Grayson Rodriguez, Adley Rutschman, Gary Sánchez, Jordan Westburg and did I mention Tyler O’Neill yet?
Brandon Hyde was fired and Tony Mansolino was installed as interim manager in May. Eflin was largely ineffective, as was Charlie Morton. Tomoyuki Sugano was up and down. Trevor Rogers put together one of the most impressive stretches by a starter in Orioles history. Brandon Young had a near-miracle game. The club didn’t have a closer for the final two-plus months of the season. Ramón Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn had four productive months before being sent to San Diego.
Jackson Holliday took a step forward. Coby Mayo struggled before showing hopeful signs in September. Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers and Jeremiah Jackson were called up in August. Basallo was awarded the first extension of the Elias regime. Basallo and Beavers both hit walk-off home runs in September.
So, now the hard, hard work begins for the unconfirmed president of baseball operations Mike Elias. He has to find a GM and a manager. He also needs to figure out how to coax optimum performances out of a number of disappointing young players.
The month of October will be exciting with some intense playoff baseball. I’ll be continuing the Zooms with Ross Grimsley and Luke Jackson through the month of October. After that, I’ll talk with the writers who cover the team to get a feel for the direction the club may go in the offseason.
For now, here are my last power rankings of the 2025 season. I am planning on seeing you in this same space for Year 15 starting in March 2026 with the return of my weekly power rankings.
Look for an adjacent piece today with my postseason power rankings.
1. Philadelphia Phillies (96-66, No. 2 last week)
2. Milwaukee Brewers (97-65, No. 1)
3. New York Yankees (94-68, No. 4)
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (93-69, No. 3)
5. Seattle Mariners (90-72, No. 5)
6. Toronto Blue Jays (94-68, No. 6)
7. Boston Red Sox (89-73, No. 7)
8. San Diego Padres (90-72, No. 10)
9. Cleveland Guardians (88-74, No. 8)
10. Chicago Cubs (92-70, No. 9)
11. Cincinnati Reds (83-79, No. 14)
12. Detroit Tigers (87-75, No. 11)
13. Houston Astros (87-75, No. 12)
14. New York Mets (83-79, No. 13)
15. Kansas City Royals (82-80, No. 17)
16. San Francisco Giants (81-81, No. 18)
17. Texas Rangers (81-81, No. 16)
18. Arizona Diamondbacks (80-82, No. 15)
19. Miami Marlins (79-83, No. 20)
20. St Louis Cardinals (78-84, No. 19)
21. Atlanta Braves (76-86, No. 24)
22. Tampa Bay Rays (77-85, No. 21)
23. Athletics (75-87, No. 22)
24. Baltimore Orioles (75-87, No. 23)
25. Los Angeles Angels (72-90, No. 25)
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (71-91, No. 26)
27. Minnesota Twins (70-92, No. 27)
28. Washington Nationals (66-96, No. 28)
29. Chicago White Sox (60-102, No. 29)
30. Colorado Rockies (43-119, No. 30)