Expectations can be hard to live up to and every season there are a handful of teams that seemingly falter under the pressure and fail to reach their goals.  

The same can be said for teams that come into the season with no lofty goals but get hot at the right time and ride that momentum into a deep playoff run. 

Many teams suffered disappointment last year that they will be looking to bounce back from, whilst others will be hoping to catch magic in a bottle for a second year in a row. Let’s take a look at what these four teams can expect from the 2925 MLB season. 

Riser – Texas Rangers 

The Texas Rangers went through the rather common championship hangover in 2024 and finished third in a tough AL West with a record of 78-84. 

After capturing the franchise's first ever world series win in 2023, some regression might have been expected, but missing the playoffs entirely and finishing below .500 was definitely not in anyone's thoughts. 

Texas’ line-up is still up there with the best in baseball and there pitching is good enough for the team to compete for a playoff berth in 2025.

They find themselves in a tough division with the Astros and Mariners but with all three teams evenly matched I envision the Rangers bats making the difference in the big moments.  

Faller – New York Yankees 

Coming off the back of a world series birth the Yankees lost arguably their best player in Juan Soto to the New York Mets in free agency and haven’t done enough to replace his output from last season. 

Not only do I not think they’ll be the first seed in the American League this year, but I think an AL East division title might be hard for them to achieve with the young Baltimore Orioles breathing down their necks. 

With the loss of ace Gerrit Cole for the season and the potential loss of Giancarlo Stanton for 2025 as well, the Yankees will have to scrap through the wildcard road if they want to achieve what they did last year.