MLB And 2025 Was A Win

Image Credit: Bill Menzel, Francisco Rodriguez and Al Pereira/Latino Sports

NEW YORK, NY — Where oh where was the year 2025? Seems like yesterday we turned the calendar and the sports world crowned new champions. Welcome to 2026, another year of anointing new champions.

Though, still a few days remain and perhaps more accomplishments that go in the record book. Here as a baseball and boxing beat writer for Latino Sports, there was much to report, recap, and analyze. I will do my best to provide a perspective and others will focus on their beats as we say in the business. As always thank you for your continued support and reading along.

BASEBALL FOR 2025: The New York beat was a disappointment with the Yankees losing to the Blue Jays and eliminated from the postseason. The Mets began to clean house with a reported bad clubhouse mix, owner Steve Cohen handling the responsibilities to president of baseball operations David Stearns. Gone are a core of Pete Alonso, Edwin Díaz, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo.

A statement of failure, these were the 2025 Mets. The core wasn’t their failure, rather starting pitching that could not provide innings and relying on three rookies to salvage something. And a bullpen that could not save games. The lineup failed to score runs with the exceptions of Alonso, Juan Soto, and Francisco Lindor.

Nothing similar to the Mets postseason run in 2024, more changes to come, and second highest team payroll in baseball leads to questions about the owner and Stearns. The fan base turned off, in my words a franchise farce considering Cohen has the resources of money to deliver a championship to Citi Field.

But the game of baseball is strong, though a labor strike may be an issue as players and owners differ on salary structure and salary caps. All could lead to a stoppage of the game in 2027. MLB continues to stream and fans pay the price with subscriptions to various networks.

It’s also become a free agent television bonanza with Netflix securing a three-year deal to stream live MLB events that include Opening Day, the Home Run Derby in conjunction with ESPN ($50 million annually). In the deal also obtaining rights to the World Baseball Classic in Japan. Yes the complexion of viewing live baseball has changed, then again we are in a new world in March when the Yankees and Giants debut for the Opening Night on Netflix.

Some highlights in no particular order. Spencer Strider of the Braves with 500 career strikeouts in 329 ⅔ innings. Soto with the most career walks (896) before his 27th birthday, Shohei Ohtani’s 250 home runs and 156 career stolen bases in 944 career games and fewest in MLB annals. Ohtani and the Dodgers with consecutive World Series championships, first since the Yankees teams of 1998-2000.

Ohtani in Game 4 of the NLCS led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run and became the first pitcher to hit a lead-off home run in MLB history. In the same game, he hit two more out of the ballpark, pitched six plus innings, allowed two hits, and struck out ten.

And that dramatic World Series with the Blue Jays, Game 7 thriller was epic in 11 innings. The Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto cemented his place in postseason history as a starter and came out of the bullpen to pitch the final 2-⅔ innings to seal the win and throw a complete game in Game 2.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit .397 for the AL champion Blue Jays in October, connected for eight home runs and tied for the second most ever in a postseason.

The Guardians of Cleveland were 15-½ games behind first place in the AL Central in early July then found a way and overcame the odds as their deficit was erased and reached the postseason.

The Mariners under new manager Dan Wilson won their first AL West title since 2001, and Aaron Judge won the AL batting title (.331). Despite the Yankees falling short, the captain slugged 53 home runs and marked the most for a player who led the league in hitting.

Cal Raleigh hit 60 home runs and set single season records for a switch-hitter and catcher, becoming the fourth player in baseball to ever hit 50 home runs, last accomplished in 2001.

Back to Soto, who was one of a MLB-season record of seven players with a 30-30 season, the first of his career.

Tarik Skubal won a second consecutive AL Cy Young Award and is now the subject of trade talk as the Tigers also fell short in their October run. The Brewers set a franchise record with 97 wins, winning streaks of 14 and 11, disposing of the Cubs in five games of the NLDS.

Other notable moments, Willy Adames smashing 30 home runs, becoming the Giants first player to do so since Barry Bonds in 2004. Nick Kurtz named the AL Rookie of the Year with 36 home runs for the Athletics which tied for eighth among rookies in baseball history. The Reds and manager Terry Francona reached the postseason and snuck in over the Mets in the final game of the season.

Note of interest—nearly 30 percent of MLB players in 2025 comprised rosters from Latin American countries. The Dominican Republic (over 100), Venezuela (90 plus), Puerto Rico (19), Cuba (20 plus) and Mexico (15). So that’s 78 percent from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, or Cuba.

No debate, Latin American representation was highlighted in 2025, the game is strong. But the looming labor strike is a distraction that could be the center of attention in 2026. And new rules of course that were approved this year that will be implemented when the first pitch is thrown in March.

Are we ready for the automatic ball strike challenge system and umpires under further review? That’s baseball in a nutshell, 2025 with some hits and misses of course from here, much too much to recap and profile. You know the deal if you are a baseball fanatic.

Happy New Year and the boxing year in perspective coming before the ball drops.

Rich Mancuso is a senior writer and columnist at LatinoSports.com – X: @Ring786, Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso

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