Joe Fortenbaugh points finger at Harper, Phillies’ bats for playoff exit (0:50)Joe Fortenbaugh joins “Get Up” to discuss why it’s the Phillies’ bats that failed them against the Dodgers. (0:50)
The 2025 MLB playoffs are here — and for some teams, October has lasted a lot longer than it has for others.
Starting with the wild-card round, the Cincinnati Reds became the first team eliminated from postseason contention — on the very first day of the month, no less. They were followed the next day by the Cleveland Guardians and, ultimately, the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox.
In the division series, the New York Yankees were first to go, followed by the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs.
What’s next for the teams and towns that won’t be celebrating a World Series parade this fall? As each contender is eliminated, ESPN MLB experts Bradford Doolittle, Alden Gonzalez and David Schoenfield will list that club’s key free agents and biggest offseason questions and make their predictions for the long, cold winter ahead.
Who gets an extension? The Brewers have Jackson Chourio on a team-friendly deal for the foreseeable future but after a historic season for the franchise, it’s time to lock down some of the core and perhaps slow down the ongoing roster attrition that the Brewers have executed so well over the past decade. Brice Turang would be a good start.
Offseason prediction: The Tigers will go hard after multiple free agent starters — think Framber Valdez and Dylan Cease — in free agency. The time to make a splash has arrived. — Doolittle
Key free agents: C J.T. Realmuto, DH Kyle Schwarber, OF Max Kepler, LHP Ranger Suarez, RHP Jordan Romano
Biggest offseason priority: Replacing the free agents. The Phillies aren’t going to enter into a soft rebuild, a hard rebuild or any kind of rebuild. The Phils have a star-studded group of free agents, but assuming the payroll remains in the same neighborhood — a luxury neighborhood at that — it’s safe to say the Phillies will remain a top-heavy team with expensive stars. It just might not be the same group of stars.
Offseason prediction: Realmuto stays, Schwarber goes, and the Phillies land two star free agents from other teams. — Doolittle
Key free agents: 1B Paul Goldschmidt, CF Trent Grisham, RHP Luke Weaver, RHP Devin Williams, OF/1B Cody Bellinger ($25 million player option)
The bullpen obviously didn’t have its best season, but the reinforcements Brian Cashman made at the trade deadline — David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Jake Bird — will help the depth in 2026. Still, you could see a move here, maybe re-signing Weaver, who has been a durable, valuable arm the past two years.
Offseason prediction: The Reds will get aggressive. No, they won’t go wild, of course, but besides having a contention-worthy rotation and a star in Elly De La Cruz who is edging toward his prime, they have a 66-year-old future Hall of Fame manager in Francona who isn’t going to be around forever. — Doolittle
Biggest offseason priority: The term “Guards Ball” caught on during Cleveland’s unlikely second-half run. It was fun to watch and even inspiring. It’s also not generally how championships are won in baseball these days. The Guardians need more firepower on offense, and while there are a lot of promising bats in the system, maybe for once the team will splurge on a middle-of-the-order anchor? Yeah, that’s probably wishful thinking.
Offseason prediction: The Guardians, with prospects on the way and the roster full of players under team control, won’t do much in the offseason. They certainly can afford to with so little future guaranteed funds tied up — a big pillow contract to someone like Ohio native Kyle Schwarber would be amazing — but it’s not likely. So, take heart, Cleveland fans, and enjoy the Guardians’ still-spewing fountain of youth. — Doolittle
Key free agents: 1B/2B Luis Arraez, SP Dylan Cease, SP Michael King ($15M mutual option), CL Robert Suarez ($8M player option), 1B Ryan O’Hearn, OF Ramon Laureano ($6.5M club option), INF Jose Iglesias, RP Wandy Peralta ($4.45M player option), C Elias Diaz ($7M mutual option), SP Nestor Cortes
Biggest offseason priority: Cease and King will venture into free agency, and the Padres will have to replace them in the rotation. San Diego will have Joe Musgrove back in 2026, but he’ll be coming off Tommy John surgery. Yu Darvish will still be there, but he’ll be in his age-39 season, having accumulated fewer than 100 innings each of the past two years. The depth beyond them, outside of Nick Pivetta, is suspect. First base will also be a priority unless the team brings Arraez back.
Key free agents: 3B Alex Bregman (opt-out), RHP Lucas Giolito ($19 million mutual option), OF Rob Refsnyder, RHP Dustin May, LHP Steven Matz
Giolito had a solid season as a low-volume starter in his return from Tommy John surgery, so there could be mutual interest there on a longer deal. But outside of Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and perhaps rookie Connelly Early, who looked good in four late-season starts, the projected rotation is unsettled.
Can the Cubs fashion a championship-caliber bullpen? For a couple of years, the Cubs have iterated their bullpen to mixed results. There have been successes — the emergence of Daniel Palencia, the reinvention of Brad Keller, and the depth hasn’t been bad. But Chicago hasn’t pinned down that core duo or trio of late-inning relievers who anchor the bullpens of baseball’s best teams. The answer here isn’t necessarily a high-level free agent or an expensive trade, but it can be with the right assessments. The Cubs ranked in the middle of the pack in every relief pitching metric, including strikeout percentage, and until they crack that nut, it limits Chicago’s ceiling.
Biggest offseason priority: Restocking the rotation. The Tigers have a tremendous foundation in ace Tarik Skubal and midrotation standout Casey Mize. But with health concerns surrounding the likes of Ty Madden, Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson, the Tigers will need more. Most of the top-ranked prospects in a talented system are on the position player side, which will allow GM Scott Harris to target the pitching side this offseason, though you can always talk yourself into a splurge on a middle-of-the-lineup hitter. The Tigers’ focus on building out their depth with veterans on short-duration contracts gives the club all kinds of flexibility this winter. Signings. Trades. It’s all on the table for an organization just a move or two away from becoming an American League front-runner by the time next season begins.
How long can this model be sustained? Dave Dombrowski’s teams have generally been contenders, and even champions. They’ve also tended to get expensive, and he has tended to move on when the team hits a plateau. Are the Phillies at that stage? The 2025 club had nine players earning eight digits, and seven of them made $20 million or more. Given the list of free agents and the uncertainty over what version of Zack Wheeler the Phillies get when he returns from his shoulder injury, you can’t help but wonder if the Phils’ window is ever so slightly beginning to close.
The Yankees have finished seventh in the AL in runs allowed three seasons in a row. How can they improve that figure in 2026? Well, they played all of 2025 without ace Gerrit Cole after his spring training Tommy John surgery, so getting him back will help. Luis Gil, coming off his Rookie of the Year season, didn’t make his first start until August. Cam Schlittler started the year in Double-A and ended it with a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts in the majors, living off 98 mph heat. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon will be back after winning 37 games, and while Clarke Schmidt had TJ surgery, Will Warren adds even more depth. The Yankees might project as the best rotation in the AL.
Offseason prediction: With most of the roster set, it shapes up as one of the least active Yankees offseasons in years. While last year the prediction was re-signing Juan Soto (a swing and a miss), let’s go with re-signing Bellinger while working Jones into the lineup. With Marcus Stroman and Aaron Hicks (yes, they were still paying him) coming off the books, that’s $28 million in savings. Goldschmidt made $12.5 million in 2025. DJ LeMahieu has just one year left on his bad contract. The pitching is in good shape. Jose Caballero gives them an excellent utility player who can play anywhere. Yes, it was another bitter ending for Yankees fans, and 2009 looks like a very long time ago, but the Yankees will enter 2026 among the clear favorites in the AL, especially if Cole can return to where he was before the injury. — Schoenfield
Is it time to really unleash this rotation? The Reds have collected quite a collection of high-upside young pitchers. Some of them have established themselves in the majors — Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott. Abbott had a career season in 2025, but Greene still hasn’t paired his dominance with season-long durability. Lodolo produced 28 mostly excellent starts but has plenty of room to grow in his innings count. Then you have Chase Petty, Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder, along with the veteran stability of Brady Singer. The ideal for 2026 would be for manager Terry Francona to push this group of seven for a full season and perhaps lighten up a bit on the innings management side of the equation. This has the potential to be among MLB’s best rotations.
What will Cleveland get from its young hitters? It’s not hard to imagine some of the Guardians we saw on the playoff roster getting better — Kyle Manzardo, CJ Kayfus, Johnathan Rodriguez, Jhonkensy Noel. It’s not hard to see Chase DeLauter becoming an AL Rookie of the Year favorite. Given his numbers at Triple-A, it’s a little harder to see Travis Bazzana being part of the Opening Day mix, but it’s not difficult to envision him making a leap during the 2026 season. The crucial question the Guardians have to answer is: What will this group do to lift the offensive profile of a lineup led by Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan? The Guardians won a division title despite scoring more runs than just two other teams. That’s not a sustainable formula.