The political guide to the 2025 MLB season
Everything you need to know to be a good and just fan
Donald Trump is running the country by fiat, Elon Musk has my Social Security Number, and the Philadelphia Eagles started a dynasty against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59. This means it is finally baseball season.
On this weekend last year, I did a preseason power ranking. I had the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, the two World Series teams, at number one and five, respectively. Not bad! But nothing has really changed since then. The good teams will be good, the bad teams will be bad, and a bunch of other power rankings on the internet will try to convince you that some teams in the middle will surprise and/or matter. They will not.
Considering the demise of the rule of law in this country, and that baseball is the sport that most reflects every day life, I figured it would be more fitting to preview the 2025 MLB season through a political lens. To do so, I ask a question about (almost) every team that I think you, the reader, would ask to get caught up.
N.L. East
Did New York Mets owner Steve Cohen complain about negotiations with Pete Alonso?
Yes. The man worth over $20 billion—the same man who signed outfielder Juan Soto for $765 million a few months ago—whined about needing a first baseman.
"Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation," Cohen said about Alonso at a recent fan event. "I mean, [Juan Soto's negotiation] was tough. This is worse. A lot of it is, we've made a significant offer. I don't like the structures that are being presented back to us. I think it's highly asymmetric against us, and I feel strongly about it."
The media picked up the quote in a predictably gossipy way, letting Cohen play them like a fiddle. Will we ever not take a billionaire’s statements at face value? His was a calculated act against a worker and he shifted the power balance in his favor, as intended. MLB Trade Rumors predicted in November that Alonso would land a five-year, $125 million deal, but he had to settle for a two-year, $54 million contract with the Mets.
The Atlanta Braves finally condemned the racist “tomahawk chop” chant and discouraged their fans from doing it, right? Right???
Is the Phillies’ John Middleton the most tolerable owner in baseball?
I’m wary of praising sports team owners. This newsletter was inspired in large part by MLB owners locking out the players in the 2021-22 offseason. The owners think they control the sport, probably because the U.S. government pretty much allows them to, but baseball exists within those who love it.
That said, if Elon Musk’s secret DOGE operatives forced me to pick a favorite owner, then it must be the Phillies’ John Middleton. He’s spent the money to field a competitive team year after year, he has reoriented the organization towards success, and he says all the right things. Just don’t remind me that he made his wealth by selling cigarettes and that his roster is full of unvaxxed raw milk drinkers.
How much does Miami still owe for the Marlins ballpark?
In 2009, then-Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria convinced public authorities to fund most of the cost of a $634 million ballpark. Thanks to interest, the total hit to Miami taxpayers is estimated at $2.4 billion. The first payment is scheduled next year. The last is scheduled for 2049. Loria sold the Marlins in 2017 for $1.2 billion. The Marlins now call their ballpark loanDepot Field. The team on the field stinks.
I will be able to copy-paste the above blurb for the next 25 years and it will be accurate.
I’m not forgetting any teams, am I?
The Washington Nationals supposedly exist.
N.L. Central
Is the family that owns the Chicago Cubs one of Donald Trump’s richest and most loyal supporters?
Yes. In 2020, the New Yorker called Todd Ricketts the president’s “fundraiser-in-chief,” and Ricketts recently hosted an inauguration fundraiser. I wrote the following in Out in Left’s first piece, and it’s truer today than it was two years ago:
Baseball’s death notices usually focus on the game’s finances and viewership or its aesthetics and cultural significance, but to me baseball’s survival is tied not to dollars and eyeballs but rather to politics, and I worry about the game in today’s environment. It’s not that Major League Baseball will go away in an increasingly illiberal America. It’s that the league’s owners will curry favor with neoconservative overlords, who, by changing election law and interpreting them to their advantage, will permanently entrench themselves in power…. MLB would then be a tool of the state to enrich oligarchs who stand by as fascism creeps towards us fans.
The Cubs will be solid in 2025. That’s not what their owner cares about.
When’s the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates signed a free agent to a multi-year deal?
December 2016, when Barack Obama was still president. Pirates owner Robert Nutting is among the worst owners in American sports, which is a shame for us all. Baseball is better when the Pirates are relevant.
Do I need to know anything about the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, or Cincinnati Reds?
Eh. Their owners have recently begged for public subsidies, refused to spend on their roster, or criticized their fans, but that’s standard fare for baseball owners. If there’s one exception to the Midwest’s baseball banality and irrelevance, then it is the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz. We need more Elly De La Cruz’s, which is to say we need more immigrants. He makes this country better.
N.L. West
Is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ spending good for baseball?
Yes. If you don’t think so, then I need you to sit in the corner and think about why you’re siding with cheap owners… and also read my piece related to this:
How will the San Diego Padres ownership situation affect the course of the franchise?
The late Peter Seidler committed over $1 billion to Fernando Tatis, Manny Machado, and Xander Bogaerts, not to mention several other top players he traded for or signed, and for the first time ever the Padres became consistently relevant and good. His family is now embroiled in lawsuits over who controls the team, and it’s sad to watch them pull the emergency brake and slash payroll the past two offseason, forcing them to make odd roster moves.
A thoroughly washed Jason Hayward and a probably washed Connor Joe will patrol left field. Starting pitcher Nick Pivetta was brought in on a bizarre, backloaded contract. They signed someone named Kyle Hart, who has just four more big league appearances than me. Near term, they’ll still be competitive. There’s too much talent on the roster. I’m afraid for what happens long term. Seidler’s death in November 2023 is a personal tragedy, of course, but it’s also a blow to civic life in San Diego.
Is the Arizona state legislature going to allocate tens of millions of dollars to renovate Chase Field at the behest of the Diamondbacks owner?
Yes. Does the Arizona public education system also rank dead last in the U.S.? Yes.
How clueless is Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort?
Extremely. At a recent event, Monfort said his team’s infield defense “will be the best defense, maybe in the history of the game.” A few points:
The Rockies are coming off of back-to-back 100-loss seasons. Besides that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
His thinking that infield defense would jazz his team’s supporters is as hilarious as it is insulting.
Monfort is the guy who approved trading away prime Nolan Arenado, arguably the best defensive third baseman ever.
How much did San Francisco Giants owner Charles Johnson spend to get Donald Trump elected?
According to SFGATE, no less than $2.8 million. He also pledged to not donate to elected officials who supported the January 6 insurrection, then did it anyway. The mediocre Giants might one day have hope if their owner invested in his baseball team as much as he invests in fascists.
Intermission
Dodgers fans can have their free agents and their fake 2020 World Series. By my count, the Dodgers and Phillies are 1-1 on the championship scoreboard since 1988. That’s because Phillies fans will always have this:
A.L. East
Did New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner cry poor this offseason?
Yes. "It's difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that [the Dodgers are] doing," Steinbrenner told YES Network in January. “Payrolls at levels we’re at right now are simply not sustainable for us financially,” he said last May.
At the grocery store the other day, I told the cashier, “Eggs at levels they’re at right now are simply not sustainable for me financially.” The difference is the Yankees are worth over $7 billion, and in 2022 they generated $345 million in ticket sales alone. Steinbrenner being cheap is far worse for baseball than the Dodgers paying for good players, and I will die on this hill.
How much has the new owner of the Baltimore Orioles, billionaire David Rubenstein, invested in the team?
If by ‘invest,’ you mean argue for a salary cap so he can lower his expenses and not have to improve his roster, even after Maryland gave him hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate Camden Yards, then he’s invested a lot.
Are the Tampa Bay Rays still going to get $1 billion in public subsidies for a new ballpark?
This one is complicated. The cost and impacts of Hurricane Milton, which ravaged the Tampa area and damaged the Rays’ Tropicana Field, threw a wrench into the Rays’ redevelopment scheme, but technically, yes. Their billionaire owner is slated to get a billion dollars in subsidies. Will anyone show up to Rays games whether they're at a refurbished Tropicana Field, their temporary home at a spring training complex, or an eventual new ballpark? Who knows, but that’s not relevant when there’s money to be made.
Which major free agent did the Toronto Blue Jays sign?
Why aren’t the Boston Red Sox trying?
They finally are! I became baseball-conscious in the mid-to-late 90s, when the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry was becoming one of the best in sports. Each team had a distinct style of play and a roster full of personalities, and their matchups were entertaining (if interminable) battles. Each team tried.
The Yankees are still the Evil Empire, though the corporate sheen is a little brighter, but after needlessly trading away Mookie Betts in 2020 the Red Sox became a lifeless, pointless thing. John Henry, the Red Sox owner, used to be one of the most innovative and aggressive owners in sports. He’d grown content living off the interest of his investments.
Then they arguably had the best offseason in the American League, adding Alex Bregman, Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler, and Aroldis Chapman, while preserving most of their young talent. It’s fun to hate the Red Sox again.
A.L. Central
Do I need to know anything about the teams in this division?
No.
A.L. West
What’s the latest on the Athletics?
The A’s will be playing their home games at a Little League field in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Oh, sorry—it says here they’re actually playing at a minor league ballpark in West Sacramento. In 2028, they’ll be moving to Las Vegas in a ballpark that’s neither full financed nor under construction. This is because A’s owner John Fisher refuses to use his own wealth to build a ballpark.
The team instructed the media to call them “the Athletics”—no city name—and to use “ATH” as their abbreviation. The San Francisco Chronicle recently announced that it will not follow the guidelines and will use “Sacramento” when referring to the team. I will be doing the same, because there’s nothing better than defying a billionaire.
When is Mike Trout going to force a trade to the Phillies?
Great question, and one that I’ve been asking for years. Trout is no longer the best player in baseball, but when he’s on the field he’s still great. The problem is twofold: he’s never on the field, which is partly why the Angels are not good at baseball; and he’s too nice. He needs to hire a political advisor (me) to encourage him to use his power. He’ll create a power dynamic in his (and the Phillies) favor the second he demands a trade to his hometown team.
Are the Texas Rangers still the only MLB team that doesn’t celebrate the LGBTQ community?
Yes.
Well I’m a bit disappointed. Probably 5 teams have a legitimate chance to win the WS and my team (Philadelphia, Kansas City, Oakland, Sacramento, Las Vegas?) A’s just lost their greatest player and are basically in limbo because of greed. Go Dodgers
Your ironic sense of humor camouflages the fact that sports journalism other than yours is mere bloviation. Question: the Trump wrecking ball is hideous and yet would Trump logic seek to blow up MLB’s antitrust exemption too?