By Dan Schlossberg,Megan Briggs,Senior Contributor

Copyright forbes

Lured by the largest and longest contract in baseball history, Juan Soto jumped from the Mets to the Yankees and hit a career-best 43 homers. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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Follow the money.

That time-tested philosophy bookended the 2025 baseball season, which began with a pair of record free-agent signings and ended with two of the three top-paid teams in the playoffs.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees – last year’s World Series opponents — invested heavily in the open market and reaped big dividends as a result.

The New York Mets, another big-spending team, weren’t so fortunate.

Soto’s Windfall

After a wild winter bidding war, the Mets lured slugging outfielder Juan Soto from the Yankees with a record contract of $765 million, to be paid up-front over 15 years at an average annual rate of $51 million. Then the crosstown Yankees used some of the money ticketed for Soto on an eight-year, $218 million pact for star starting pitcher Max Fried. It was the largest and longest contract ever given a left-handed pitcher.

Sandwiched between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso in a potent Mets lineup, Soto hit a career-best 43 home runs and just missed a rare 40/40 season when he finished with a league-leading 38 stolen bases.

In his first year with the Yankees after signing an eight-year contract, Max Fried led the majors with 19 wins and filled the void created by Gerrit Cole’s Tommy John surgery. (Photo by Evan Bernstein/Getty Images)
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After replacing injured Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery) as ace of the Yankees, Fried fried opponents with a career-best 19 wins, most in the major leagues, and a 2.86 earned run average, pitching the Yankees into the playoffs.

Along with the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees proved that teams that pay well usually play well.

According to Roster Resource, the Dodgers had the highest payroll at a record $394 million, followed by the Mets at $339 million and the Yankees at $294 million.

But dreams of the first Subway Series since 2000 ended when the Mets missed the playoffs on the last day of the season – after having the best record in baseball on June 12.

Detroit’s Disaster

A bigger collapse also kept the Detroit Tigers from winning the American League Central race, which they led by double digits as late as Labor Day. The Cleveland Guardians made a historic climb from 15½ games behind Detroit on July 8 to win their second straight title.

They were one of two playoff teams, along with the Milwaukee Brewers, to advance to the playoffs without exorbitant payrolls. The Brewers ($123 million payroll) won home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with 97 wins, most in the majors, just missing a .600 winning percentage. Cleveland’s $102 million payroll was even smaller – ranked 25th by Roster Resource.

Entering the final day of the 162-game season, three playoff spots remained undecided: the winners of both the East and Central Division in the American League and the third and final wild-card spot in the National.

The AL East champion took the top seed – and thus a bye – in the playoffs that start Sept. 30 but also home-field advantage through the Championship Series. The Toronto Blue Jays finished with the same record as the Yankees at 94-68 but earned the division crown by default because it won its season’s series against New York. It was their sixth AL East title but first since 2015.

Cal Raleigh’s surprise 60-homer season helped the Seattle Mariners win the AL West crown and take aim at their first pennant. (Photo by Olivia Vanni/Getty Images)
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The second bye in the American League playoffs belongs to the Seattle Mariners, a team without a divisional title in 24 years. Much of Seattle’s success can be attributed to Cal Raleigh, a switch-hitting catcher who produced the seventh 60-homer season in baseball history, and mid-season trade acquisitions Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor.

While he was still with Arizona, Suarez swatted four home runs in a game – a feat duplicated later in the season by rookie Nick Kurtz of the Athletics and veteran Kyle Schwarber of the playoff-bound Phillies, who won their second straight National League East crown.

Schwarber vs. Ohtani

Schwarber emerged as a strong candidate for NL MVP honors – to be announced next month – but could have a hard time wresting that trophy from Shohei Ohtani, the only two-way player in the majors. The leadoff man of the Los Angeles Dodgers led the majors in numerous categories, including on-base percentage and runs scored, while topping 50 home runs for the second straight season.

With a career-best 55 home runs, Shohei Ohtani was one of four players to scale the 50-homer plateau. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
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Ohtani was one of a four players with 50 home runs, joined by Raleigh, Schwarber, and defending American League MVP Aaron Judge. Suarez fell one short.

The 30/30 club also had record membership for a single season. Seven players had at least that many home runs and stolen bases, led by Mets teammates Francisco Lindor and Soto. Also in the 30/30 group were Corbin Carroll, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jose Ramirez, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Julio Rodriguez.

Rafael Devers hit a combined 34 home runs between the Red Sox and Giants, who acquired him in June, and played in 163 games – one more than the regular schedule – since he suited up 73 times for Boston and 90 times for San Francisco. Not since Justin Morneau in 2008 has any player notched 163 games played.

Although nobody pitched a no-hitter in 2025, there were plenty of pitching stars. Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, the defending American League Cy Young Award winner, made a valiant effort to retain the trophy, while Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes was the prohibitive favorite to win the honor for the first time in the National League.

Rookies who reached instant stardom included Kurtz, who hit 35 home runs for the Athletics after his April 23 promotion from the minors, and Drake Baldwin, a catcher who caught on with the Braves after a hot spring and held the job while Sean Murphy suffered assorted slumps and injuries.

Strange Ending

For the first time, the All-Star Game had no winning pitcher. After the game ended in a 6-6 tie after nine innings, its resolution was determined by an in-game “Home Run Derby” won by Schwarber, representing the National League. The regular Home Run Derby, staged the previous night, went to Cal Raleigh in a preview of regular-season things to come.

Two teams played home games in minor-league parks, with the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field after borrowing the spring training facility from the Yankees, and the Athletics at Sutter Health Field in West Sacramento while awaiting completion of their future home in Las Vegas.

The Rays have new ownership but no future park, as the costly restoration of the Tropicana Field roof – imploded by Hurricane Milton – is uncertain, even on a temporary basis.

With their future in doubt, pending expansion to 32 teams is also on the back burner, according to Commissioner Rob Manfred.

He did announce, however, that Major League Baseball will use ABS – automatic balls and strikes – next season to help improve decisions made by human umpires at home plate.

A bigger worry for Manfred is keeping the labor peace between players and owners. The current Basic Agreement expires after next season and could trigger a serious work stoppage, with money the main stumbling block.

Many teams seek a salary cap, which the Players Association has always opposed, or at least a payroll cap.

The average player salary in 2025 was $5.2 million, according to The Associated Press. That total, which topped $5 million for the first time, was a 3.6 per cent hike from the previous year’s average of roughly $4.7 million, the wire service reported.

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