You may have noticed that the Jargon Sports Network didn't reach out to every team this year. It seems the regional sports network got hit hard by the Bally Sports bankruptcy.
What?
They're not connected?
Oh, well, then I guess there are no excuses.
And while, I don't have time to write 12 previews, I do have time this morning to write one long preview.
The S-Scale came out last night, and Choo seems to think it's wrong — but it's definitely not — and Parker loves it.
One thing I can be sure of after writing this is: The grind in the NL is going to be brutal, and the AL is going to get very interesting with the roster construction of the teams battling for the playoffs — and the teams that will not battle for it.
Playoff spots may come down to who takes care of business against the Choo. You know, like how the Royals and Tigers made the playoffs on the heels of beating the White Sox 12 out of 13 times.
Strangely, the reigning JLB champ is going to have that effect on the 2025 JLB playoffs.
Let's take a look team by team in the order of which they were predicted to finish by the perfect, absolutely flawless S-Scale.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CHEESE STEAKS
2024: 269-171-64, 1st in NL, lost in World Series
The Steaks never lose — except in the playoffs, of late with six straight playoff exits, and that's truly a shame considering his last four seasons have been the best four seasons in JLB history.
JV has won 276, 252, 276 and 269 games in the regular season over the last four seasons.
And even though age isn't on his side right now, he still has a lineup that if healthy, will be the best the JLB. Freddie Freeman, Corey Seager, Jose Ramirez, Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and Mike Trout is just a stupid collection of All-Stars. The problem has been getting them all to be healthy together. Judge joined the team this offseason, and he provides the production of 2 players in several categories.
Seager already has the red flag and Freeman is already set to play with scheduled days off, so that gives everyone a quick look at the only thing that will derail the Steaks.
But let's face it. JV has never been derailed in the regular season. His worst season was 2016 when he only had a .527 winning percentage.
If Trout, Harper and Seager play full seasons, I can't imagine him falling short of that number.
THE DUDE
2024: 274-186-44, 2nd in NL, lost in NLCS
The Dude set a franchise record for wins with 274, but in spite of having five more wins that JV, his 15 more losses led to a 5-game deficit in the standings and he landed in second place.
That threw him into a Divisional Series matchup again the Slammers for a second straight year.
I don't think he'll have to worry about that this year.
I think the Dude will pull away late in the summer and win the National League.
Yes, JV has all of the names on offense that sound cool, but the Dude is no slacker with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Yordan Alvarez, Christian Walker and Rafael Devers. And youngsters Mark Vientos, Corbin Carroll and James Wood will just make this offense even better.
This is truly a scary group and it's going to be a tough offense to take down. Pretty much expect to lose homers and RBIs every time you play the Dude.
The pitching would be the vulnerable spot for the Dude — and the same goes for JV. I skipped over JV's pitching because these two teams have a similar setup. They have front-line starters who have questions or injury history that makes you wonder if they can go 180 innings in 2025. There's bounceback hopefuls and young breakout candidates, but end of the day, the pitching staffs are so far behind the offense.
That's why the S-Scale saw both JV and the Dude put up 90-plus points in bats and the arms score 65 or less.
So the only real hope of the rest of the National League is to take the pitching categories and poach as many bat cats as you can.
THE SLAMMERS
2024: 263-179-62, 3rd in NL, lost in NLDS
The Slammers had a franchise-best 263 wins in 2024 and it was only good enough for third place. It was quite the battle in 2024 and I fully expect the same kind of battle at the top of the NL once again.
Last year saw the Slammers third straight playoff appearance, which comes on the heels of a stretch where the Slammers had just one playoff appearance in nine seasons.
I know the projections don't have me up at the level offensively as the Dude and the Steaks, but I truly believe the projection on Cody Bellinger is way off. I think he is going to absolutely explode in that Yankees lineup with Judge in front of him in the lineup. He's slated to bat third behind Judge and in front of Goldschmidt.
He is going to see a lot of pitches and have a season closer to 2023 where he hit .307 with 26 homers and 97 RBIs.
Last year, he batted .266 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs, and two things limited him. First were freak injuries (broken rib smashing into the damn bricks in the outfield and a broken hand on a hit-by-pitch). Second was the very odd weather pattern at Wrigley that had winds blowing in virtually all season. It hampered the Cubs as a whole and led to home (.247, 8 HRs)/away (.282, 10 HRs) splits that were indicative of the issue.
Add in the fact that Aaron Judge is going to walk and get on base at least 130 times, there is going to be a great opportunity for Bellinger to put up an MVP-like season.
So Bellinger added with Witt, Tucker, Arraez, Bregman, Merrill and Rutchman, and I feel good about my chances because my pitching was among the JLB's best a year ago and I don't see it taking a step back in 2025 — especially with the super pen coming back.
QUAD EH
2024: 247-201-56, 4th in NL
Now you didn't see me complain above. I merely stated the facts of what happened because I cannot possibly complain after what happened to Quad Eh a year ago.
He blew away the franchise record for wins with 247 and missed the playoffs. He went 247-201-56 and had to settle for an American League silver medal.
It's a horrible feeling because I've been there in that position before several times, but the fashion in which Erik did it was truly heartbreaking.
But the regular season is a grind and he had his chances against the teams above him and he just didn't pick up the big wins in those matchups.
He'll need them this year for sure to flip the script.
The offense will be able to hang, especially if Gunnar Henderson gets back healthy ASAP. With Juan Soto and Jarren Duran, there are some serious categories that those two guys will combine to win each week. And I expect Jonathan India to have a huge season out in Kansas City batting in front of Bobby Witt. With his OBP, he is going to have a chance to blow by his projected 81 runs and end up in the 100s — easily.
Quad's biggest issue is going to be pitching, but as mentioned before, the Steaks and Dude have question marks in that department, too. But, it's definitely going to take a pair of starters to step forward and be "that guy" for 2025 for him to hang with the NL big boys.
Nutz
2024: 155-288-61, 6th in NL
On the flip side, after talking about several teams having franchise-best years, we have the Nutz who had a franchise-worst season.
This was a combination of pitching injuries and star bats losing their stars. There are several former Nutz who are sitting on the waiver wire right now (or on Choo's roster, which I'd argue is similar to sitting on the waiver wire at this point). Their hope, their stardom is gone.
Ke'Bryan Hayes? Who?
Jordan Walker? Who?
I could go on.
But the Nutz decided to move on and he had one helluva offseason moving players around and building quite the rotation. He has the most projected quality starts by a long shot. He brought in Aaron Nola, Freddy Peralta, Luis Castillo and Mitch Keller to be keepers alongside Kodai Senga, Shota Imanaga. Add in a potential mid-season boost from Luis Gil and he's going to be tough to beat on the mound each week. The bullpen is strong, too, and will be one to rival the Slammers' pen.
The offense has some big question marks, but if the pitching holds, Butter will only be asking for his offense to win a few categories each week.
And that will keep him from matching a forgettable 2024 season.
The Tots
2024: 194-255-55, 5th in NL
Winning 194 games in a first season in the JLB is actually pretty good. The Tots may look at 2024 as a failure due to the fifth-place finish and the rough battles against the division leaders, but the fact remains, he still put up 194 wins in his inaugural season.
The sophomore season may be tough once again just based on the projections of the divisional favorites, but the fact is, he has some strong front-line starters and some young offensive prospects that are a good base to build around.
There were some really bad losses, especially at the end of the season, and I think the big difference for the Tots in 2025 will be avoiding the blowout losses. He'll keep matchups closer, as I think both the Nutz and Quad Eh will do, which may keep the top 3 from all pushing 260-plus wins.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
GAMBLERS
2024: 226-217-61, 2nd in AL, lost in ALDS
Parker won 226 games last year. That's cute. Now he's projected to win the AL. He has to be feeling pretty good.
But Choo basically handed him the division by shipping almost all of his talent to the National League.
Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are the game-changers here for the Gamblers. His team is shaping up to be like one of his World Series-winning squads of yesteryear.
The key to holding this top spot won't be in the arms, but on the bat side — and I think it will come down to two players.
First, Julio Rodriguez. He has not been the guy he was as a breakout rookie, and Parker needs him to take that step forward.
Believe it or not, there was a moment there where I wondered if I made the wrong choice between J-Rod and Witt when trading with Sam. I stood by my Witt choice, and definitely stand by it now, but there's still time for J-Rod to jump back and make it a conversation.
Parker needs that to happen.
The second player is Dylan Crews. I think this kid is going to be a star. I'm upset because when I look at Parker's roster, I realized there's still a blue notebook next to Crews. I tagged him in like 2021 with a note that read "2023 top pick" and that note is still there.
I should have grabbed him back then.
And I think his projections on Fantrax are not high enough.
TORNADOES
2024: 202-247-55, 4th in AL
Tommy battled in 2024, but came up short after Breakfast pulled away to lock up the third spot. The offense was there for the Tornadoes, and so was the pitching, but injuries and innings limits plagued him.
Pitching should be a strong point for Topton in 2025.
Sandy Alcantara and Cole Ragans should lead the way — even though Alcantara is projected to miss games this year — and one would expect to get more innings out of Tyler Glasnow, Jeffrey Springs and Max Meyer. Anything Roki Sasaki provides is a bonus, and Christopher Sanchez, Chris Bassitt and Charlie Morton provide great depth.
The bats should mash, and there are some contract year implications here with Vlad, as well as Pete Alonso who has an opt-out after a disappointing free agency this winter.
I think Riley Green and Josh Jung take big steps forward, and watch out if Wyatt Langford improves off of his rookie year.
BREAKFAST
2024: 209-222-73, 3rd in AL, lost in ALCS
Breakfast had his first losing season since joining the JLB in 2016, but he still kept his playoff streak alive by making his eighth consecutive postseason.
His legion of shortstops will lead the way as they all have great projections when it comes to runs scored, triples, homers, RBIs and stolen bases — to name a few.
Elly De La Cruz is a game-changer — outside of strikeouts — and he will single-handedly win several categories for Breakfast throughout the year.
The pitching is top-heavy, but it lacks depth at this point. I use that "but" very lightly because we all know Sam will find four or five diamonds in the rough for pitching.
He always does.
CROX SOX
2024: 193-255-56, 5th in AL
The Crocodile has been waiting, hiding in the brush, just waiting to attack.
I think this could be the year.
He's been piecing together a strong team through trades and this could be the season if Ronald Acuna and Royce Lewis return in May and take off without any setbacks.
Crox needs them to join Austin Riley, Ketel Marte, Kyle Schwarber and Luis Robert and set up a formidable lineup.
He has depth to help cover while he waits for them, and he definitely has the arms in Hunter Greene, Justin Steele, Framber Valdez, Chris Sale and Nate Eovaldi to carry the pitching categories. Jackson Jobe, Brandon Woodruff and his first-round pick of Walker Buehler provide promise and depth.
The bullpen is full of closers so Crox should carry that category on most weeks, too — and when playoff spots are decided by a few games, winning saves in most of the 21 regular-season weeks can be a difference maker.
Trust me, I know. I've missed the playoffs by a few games in years where I lost saves almost every week.
SEX PANTHERS
2024: 164-273-67, 6th in AL
The rough stretch continued for the Panthers. After putting up 201 wins in 2023, the Panthers fell back to a 164-273-67 season which was the worst in franchise history.
A lot went wrong. Injuries, prospect failures.
It was frustrating for sure.
Does that change in 2025?
Cam Smith is providing some hope, but it's going to take more than a breakout star in Houston to change things for Gina.
Bo Bichette needs to return the .300 hitter he was before last season; Nolan Gorman needs to get a real chance to play everyday and, of course, he needs to succeed in that role; and Byron Buxton needs to stay on the field for at least 140 games.
The pitching has some strong performances at the top of the rotation, but there is a lack of depth and some serious question marks around Jared Jones, who was supposed to be the top arm on this staff.
Joe Ryan, Mackenzie Gore, Jose Berrios, Brandon Pfaadt and Max Scherzer can lead the way, but it is going to take some smart spot starts all season long to change the playoff chances for the Panthers.
BIG LEAGUE CHOO
2024: 276-178-50, 1st in AL, won World Series
I truly cannot believe this is the last preview capsule that I'm writing.
How on Earth did we get here?
Now he has the worst projections I've seen in the JLB in years — if not all time. There's no way for me to really tell where this team ranks among lowest expectations, but it's definitely one of the lowest I've seen in a while.
A rebuild can be fun, but man, it's really something I only find fun when I have to do it.
This seemed unnecessary and it will certainly have a huge impact on the JLB — from the teams that got the superstars to the teams that will benefit from a depleted Little League Choo roster.
Yes, Little League Choo.
Change the team name now.
Comments