Good teams, middling teams and one really bad team
The Cleveland Guardians never look great when the season starts and somehow, they manage to win. The Detroit Tigers have loaded up on pitching to try to squeeze a postseason year out of Tarik Skubal’s walk year. The White Sox are better. The Royals stood (mostly) pat. And the Twins, yikes.
Chicago White Sox
Key departures: Luis Robert Jr., Dominic Fletcher, Michael A. Taylor, Martin Perez, Cam Booser, Mike Tauchman, Bryan Hudson, Miguel Castro
Key arrivals: Anthony Kay, Oliver Dunn, Jarred Kelenic, Drew Romo, Tyson Miller, Luisangel Acuña, Jordan Hicks, Seranthony Dominguez, Austin Hays, Erick Fedde
The White Sox were a much better team in every way in 2025 compared to their disastrous 121-loss season in 2024. They won 20 more games — that’s good! They inaugurated a new manager, Will Venable, who is widely respected around the game.
This year they’ve finally moved on from Luis Robert Jr., who had a couple of disappointing years after looking like a true superstar early in this decade.
They signed Japanese star Munetaka Murakami, who’s already had a positive impact on the team. Colson Montgomery, a top prospect who struggled in the minors, hit 21 home runs in just 71 games. Kyle Teel looks like the real deal behind the plate.
The rotation is still a bit iffy. They acquired Jordan Hicks, who could start or relieve, and former Phillie Seranthony Dominguez will close.
They’re probably not a contender — yet — but they could easily improve another 10-15 wins this year.
At Wrigley Field: Aug. 17-18-19
At Rate Field: May 15-16-17
SB Nation White Sox site:South Side Sox
Cleveland Guardians
Key departures: Jakob Junis, Will Brennan, Sam Hentges, Jhonkensy Noel
Key arrivals: Colin Holderman, Shawn Armstrong, Codi Heuer, Carter Kieboom, Ben Lively, Rhys Hoskins
Every year, people say the Guardians will fade or fall off and every year, they go on a run and make the postseason.
This year should be no different. The Guards have a solid, if unspectacular, rotation and good bullpen. They signed homegrown superstar José Ramirez to a contract that will have him retire in Cleveland, likely on his way to Cooperstown. Ramirez is one of the most underappreciated superstars in today’s game — if he were playing in New York or Los Angeles he’d have already had tons of media attention.
Another unappreciated Guardian is outfielder Steven Kwan, whose numbers are solid if unspectacular, but who seems to always find ways to beat you.
And they might have made a really good under-the-radar signing in Rhys Hoskins.
At Cleveland: April 3-4-5 (includes the Guardians’ home opener on April 3)
SB Nation Guardians site:Covering The Corner
Detroit Tigers
Key departures: Tommy Kahnle, Rafael Montero, Chris Paddack, Paul Sewald, Randy Dobnak, Kevin Newman, Alex Lange, Justyn-Henry Malloy
Key arrivals: Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Scott Effross, Kenley Jansen, Phil Bickford, Austin Slater, Colin Poche
The Tigers lost their arbitration hearing with Tarik Skubal, all but assuring that this is Skubal’s last year in Detroit — that, and their signing of Framber Valdez to a three-year deal for $115 million.
Other than the signing of Justin Verlander, which should give feel-good vibes if not performance, the Tigers basically are running back the same team that ran out to a huge division lead last year — they had a 14-game lead on July 8 — before blowing it and finishing second to the Guardians, who they dispatched in a wild card series before they lost to the Mariners in a division series.
Now read that again. The Tigers were 59-34 after defeating the Rays on July 8 and had that 14-game lead. They went 28-41 after that — the only teams worse were the Rays, Angels, Twins and Rockies. Yikes.
Detroit will have to guard against that sort of slippage again.
At Wrigley Field: July 20-21-22
SB Nation Tigers site:Bless You Boys
Kansas City Royals
Key departures: Adam Frazier, Hunter Harvey, Mike Yastrzemski, Randal Grichuk, Kyle Wright, MJ Melendez, Angel Zerpa, Jonathan Bowlan
Key arrivals: Mason Black, Alex Lange, Isaac Collins, Nick Mears, Kevin Newman, Abraham Toro, Matt Strahm, Jorge Alfaro, Hector Neris, Aaron Sanchez, Eli Morgan, Elias Diaz
The Royals made the postseason in 2024 on a 30-game improvement from 2023. They took a bit of a step back last year, but still finished over .500, barely, at 82-80.
They are running back most of the same guys this year. They have a solid rotation and decent bullpen, and two young hitters — Jac Caglianone and Vinnie Pasquantino — who should continue to improve.
Of course, the offense is anchored by superstar Bobby Witt Jr., whose very good year in 2025 was just a smidge below his spectacular 2024. This is his age-26 season and I’d expect another good-to-great year.
Salvador Perez returns for his 15th year in a Royals uniform. Since the retirement of George Brett, Perez has become the face of the franchise. He doesn’t catch that much anymore — just 89 games started behind the plate last year — but even solid production for the next couple years could get him Hall of Fame consideration.
At Kansas City: Aug. 7-8-9
SB Nation Royals site:Royals Review
Minnesota Twins
Key departures: Jonah Bride, Genesis Cabrera, Thomas Hatch, Jose Miranda, Ryan Fitzgerald, Edouard Julien
Key arrivals: Josh Bell, Victor Caratini, Taylor Rogers, Jackson Kowar, Eduardo Salazar, Gio Urshela, Liam Hendriks, Julian Merryweather, Andrew Chafin
The Twins insist they’re competing this year.
Not with this roster they’re not. They had arguably a bigger selloff last summer than the Cubs did in 2021. And the results showed on the field — the Twins were 39-66 after June 1. Only the Rockies were worse, and not much worse (34-70).
To what was left, the Twins added… well, you can see above, a few retreads and miscellaneous waiver-wire guys. Their payroll ranks 24th of the 30 teams.
The Twins franchise has lost 100 games in a season just twice since 1955 — 102 losses in 1982 and 103 in 2016.
It says here that the 2026 Twins should join that list.
At Wrigley Field: July 17-18-19
SB Nation Twins site:Twinkie Town
Category: General Sports
