3 MLB teams that need to choose a path for the 2025 season and beyond

I recently wrote about the pretenders and surprises for the upcoming 2025 season. Now, we will dive into the teams that need to get off the fence and choose a path, whether it be rebuilding or going all-in on contending for a postseason spot.

Tampa Bay Rays

Next season, the Rays may have one of the best young starting rotations, with every projected starter 29 years old or younger.

Shane McClanahan missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and Drew Rasmussen only threw 28.2 innings before missing the rest of the season due to a flexor strain in his right elbow. Still, both have shown they can dominate on the mound in only a few seasons. In 2022, they each threw more than 140 innings and had a 2.84 or lower ERA and McClanahan drew some CY Young votes.

Shane Baz missed a majority of the first half of last season, but he threw 69 innings in the second half, posting a 2.74 ERA and allowing hitters only to have a .182 batting average off him. Ryan Pepiot and Zack Littell threw over 130 innings with sub-three ERAs, and the team also has Taj Bradley if they decide to use a six-man rotation to help reduce the workload on the young pitchers.

With a starting rotation loaded with talent, one would think the front office would want to put together an offense that could put up runs. However, they have done nothing to improve a lineup that ranked 27th in batting average (.230), 29th in RBIs (564), and 28th in HRs (147) last season.

Four rookies, based on service time, contributed to these struggles. Jonathan Aranda (.234, 6 HRs, and 14 RBIs), Jonny DeLuca (.217, 6 HRs, and 31 RBIs), José Caballero (.227, 9 HRs, and 44 RBIs), and Richie Palacious (.223, 5 HRs, and 21 RBIs) all spent a substantial amount of time in the starting lineup.

Both Christopher Morel, acquired from the Chicago Cubs at last season's trade deadline, and Taylor Walls hit under .200 for the Rays. Tampa Bay needs all of them to have a bounce-back seasons, as they are banking massively on these young players to lengthen their lineup.

Danny Jansen, Eloy Jiménez, and Ha-Seong Kim (who will start the season on the injured list) are the only additions from this offseason, and they all come with too many questions to assume they will improve the offense significantly. Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe have had their names brought up in trade rumors as the team looked to dump salaries, but luckily for fans, it does not look to be happening.

The Rays are known for building their team through the farm system and not paying for top-tier free-agent talent even though they have the fourth-most Competitive Balance Tax Space ($153 million) available to spend, and 13 players are signed through 2026 or later.

Littell is the only player in his final year ahead of free agency. He will command a significant contract, but the Rays have plenty of space to add talent to supplement one of the best pitching staffs as they look to return to the postseason after missing it last season.