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Operation Sports

Kyler Wolff

Playing Franchise Mode in MLB The Show 25? Here’s How to Rebuild the AL East

MLB AL East the AL East

If you want to rebuild teams in MLB The Show 25 Franchise mode, it’s best to be prepared and informed on the team you want to rebuild before you start. Each team has different goals and expectations entering the 2025 season, and every team, regardless of its quality, needs additional pieces to build out its roster.

I’m going to break down each MLB team to help you build it into a true dynasty, and I’m going to start in the AL East.

Before we begin, I’d like to share my approach to breaking down rosters and determining the early direction of a franchise. I have five standard categories for typical MLB players under team control, four categories for veterans that are likely to end up on different teams in a few years, and three categories for prospects.

All Roles Explained

Long Term Pros

Franchise Players (1) – The best of the best, these are household names and are synonymous with the team that can lock them down on a huge 10+ year deal.

Stars (2) – Top 100 players in the league, these are the players you need to accrue around your franchise to become a true dynasty.

Long Term Core (3) – Everyday players and starters for at least the first three years of your franchise.

Pros With Potential (4) – Average MLB players who could develop into long-term players or end up as bench or bubble players.

Bench/Bubble MLB player (5) – Provides solid depth, but little starting potential; could wind up in the minors part of the year.

Short Term Veterans

Short Term Veterans/Trade Bait (1S) – Quality starters for the first year or two before you replace them. They offer value but don’t figure to be part of the long-term plans.

Low End Pros (2S) – A current MLB player that needs to be replaced in the lineup/rotation if you want to make a playoff run.

Liability Veterans (3S) – These players are putting up below-average numbers, but are locked into the starting unit for the time being because of their contract and/or reputation.

Minor League Veteran (4S) – A veteran who can strengthen your minor league teams and can be a “break glass in case of emergency” option in the pros if needed. This category is applied to all non-40-man players with MLB experience.

Prospects

Pro-ready Prospect (1P) – Provides solid depth or low-end starts, but has the potential to earn a bigger role soon.

High End Prospect (2P) – A minor league player with the ability to become a high-end starter or better.

Prospect (3P) – a minor league player with the ability to become a future low end to average starter.

Without a further ado, here are the breakdowns for each of the five AL East teams.

Orioles

Expectation/goal: Three playoff runs and at least one World Series appearance during first GM contract.

Starting Pitchers (SP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Kyle Bradish	83	28	A	4
(1S)	Zach Eflin	83	30	B	1
(3)	Grayson Rodriguez	80	25	B	5
(4)	Dean Kremer	74	28	B	3
(1S)	Charlie Morton	74	41	B	1
(2S)	Albert Suarez	74	35	C	4
(5)	Tyler Wells	73	30	C	3
(3P)	Cade Povich	69	24	B	6

Relief Pitchers (RP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Yennier Cano	75	31	B	4
(3)	Keegan Akin	74	29	C	4
(5)	Bryan Baker	71	30	C	2
(1S)	Gregory Soto	71	30	B	1
(1S)	Andrew Kittredge	70	34	B	1
(2S)	Seranthony Dominguez	67	30	B	1
(5)	Cionel Perez	66	28	C	2
(3P)	Roansy Contreras	62	25	B	4
(5)	Colin Selby	62	27	D	6
(4S)	Trevor Rogers	61	27	C	2

Closer (CP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Felix Bautista	85	29	B	3

Catchers (C)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Adley Rutschman	88	27	A	3
(1S)	Gary Sanchez	79	32	C	1
(3P)	Samuel Basallo	63	20	B	6

First Basemen (1B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1S)	Ryan Mountcastle	78	28	B	2
(2S)	Ryan O’Hearn	72	31	B	1

Second Basemen (2B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2S)	Jorge Mateo	73	29	C	1
(1P)	Jackson Holliday	71	21	A	6

Third Basemen (3B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Jordan Westburg	82	26	B	5
(1P)	Coby Mayo	71	23	B	6
(2S)	Ramon Urias	68	30	C	2

Shortstop (SS)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1)	Gunnar Henderson	94	23	A	4

Left Fielders (LF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Tyler O’Neill	82	29	B	3
(2S)	Dylan Carlson	63	26	B	2

Center Fielders (CF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1S)	Cedric Mullins	78	30	B	1
(3P)	Vance Honeycutt	61	21	B	6

Right Fielders (RF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Colton Cowser	83	24	B	5
(1S)	Ramon Laureano	75	30	C	1
(1P)	Heston Kjersted	72	26	B	6

Team Needs:

A true ace pitcher
A young 1st baseman of the future
Outfield depth going foward
More farm system guys

Red Sox

Expectation/goal: Make the playoffs at least two of first three seasons and win one playoff series in your first three seasons.

Starting Pitchers (SP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Garrett Crochet	85	25	A	2
(3)	Tanner Houck	80	28	B	3
(3)	Kutter Crawford	77	28	B	4
(4)	Garrett Whitlock	73	28	B	4
(4)	Brayan Bello	71	25	B	6
(2S)	Lucas Giolito	70	30	B	2
(5)	Walker Buehler	69	30	B	1
(3P)	Luis Perales	63	21	C	6
(3P)	Quinn Priester	63	24	B	6

Relief Pitchers (RP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1S)	Aroldis Chapman	78	37	B	1
(3)	Justin Slaten	77	27	C	5
(4)	Brennan Bernardino	70	33	C	5
(5)	Josh Winckowski	65	26	C	4
(5)	Greg Weissert	62	30	C	5
(2S)	Justin Wilson	62	37	C	1
(5)	Cooper Criswell	61	28	C	5
(5)	Chris Murphy	58	26	C	5

Closer (CP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2S)	Liam Hendriks	73	36	B	2
(4S)	Zack Kelly	66	30	C	4

Catchers (C)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(4)	Connor Wong	75	28	B	4
(5)	Blake Sabol	65	27	C	5

First Basemen (1B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Triston Casas	80	25	B	4

Second Basemen (2B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Alex Bregman	81	30	A	3
(5)	Romy Gonzalez	67	28	C	4
(2P)	Kristian Campbell	66	22	A	6
(4S)	Nick Sogard	59	27	C	6

Third Basemen (3B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1)	Rafael Devers	86	28	A	9

Shortstops (SS)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(5)	David Hamilton	74	27	C	5
(3S)	Trevor Story	72	32	C	4
(3P)	Marcelo Mayer	67	22	B	6
(5)	Vaughn Grissom	61	24	C	5

Left Fielders (LF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Jarren Duran	86	28	B	4
(2S)	Rob Refsnyder	73	33	C	1
(4)	Masataka Yoshida	69	31	B	4

Center Fielders (CF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Ceddanne Rafaela	78	24	B	8
(2P)	Roman Anthony	67	20	A	6

Right Fielders (RF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Wilyer Abreu	78	25	B	5

Team Needs:

A true starting Shortstop
A true starting Catcher
A Closer of the future
Bullpen arms
Outfield depth
Infield depth

Yankees

Expectation/Goal: At least two World Series appearances and at least one WS win in the first three seasons.

Starting Pitchers (SP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Gerrit Cole	88	34	A	4
(2)	Max Fried	85	31	A	8
(3)	Luis Gil	81	26	B	4
(3)	Clarke Schmidt	80	29	B	3
(3)	Carlos Rodon	76	32	B	4
(4S)	Clayton Beeter	67	26	C	6
(5)	JT Brubaker	67	31	C	1

Relief Pitchers (RP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Fernando Cruz	75	34	C	4
(4)	Ian Hamilton	75	29	C	4
(4)	Luke Weaver	74	31	B	1
(4)	Mark Leiter Jr.	73	33	B	2
(5)	Jake Cousins	71	30	C	4
(5)	Scott Efross	71	31	C	4
(5)	Marcus Stroman	65 (73)	33	B	2
(2S)	Tim Hill	61	35	C	1

Closer (CP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Devin Williams	84	30	B	1
(3)	Jonathan Loaisiga	73	30	C	1

Catchers (C)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Austin Wells	74	25	B	5
(4S)	Alex Jackson	61	29	D	4

First Basemen (1B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1S)	Paul Goldschmidt	77	37	B	1
(5)	Ben Rice	66	26	C	6

Second Basemen (2B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	86	27	A	2
(3P)	Jorbit Vivas	62	23	C	6
(4S)	Braden Shemake	61	27	C	6

Third Basemen (3B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3S)	D.J. Lemahieu	70	36	C	2
(1P)	Oswaldo Cabrera	69	26	C	4

Shortstops (SS)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1P)	Anthony Volpe	78	23	B	4
(1P)	Oswald Peraza	66	24	B	5

Left Fielders (LF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3S)	Giancarlo Stanton	74	35	B	3
(1P)	Jasson Dominguez	71	22	B	6

Center Fielders (CF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Cody Bellinger	86	29	B	2
(2S)	Trent Grisham	72	28	C	1
(3P)	Everson Pereira	65	23	C	6
(3P)	Spencer Jones	65	23	B	6

Right Fielders (RF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1)	Aaron Judge	99	32	A	7

Team Needs:

Another MLB ready catcher
Long term Corner infielders
Short term defensive left fielder
Young relievers

Rays

Expectation/Goal: an upwards trajectory towards a playoff run.

Starting Pitcher (SP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Shane McClanahan	82	27	A	3
(3)	Ryan Pepiot	79	27	B	4
(1P)	Taj Bradley	78	23	B	5
(3)	Shane Baz	76	25	B	4
(1S)	Zack Littell	76	29	C	1
(5)	Joe Boyle	69	25	B	6
(3P)	Dylan Lesko	66	21	B	6

Relief Pitchers (RP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Edwin Uceta	79	27	C	5
(3)	Kevin Kelly	78	27	C	4
(3)	Drew Rasmussen	78	29	B	2
(4)	Manuel Rodriguez	71	29	C	5
(4)	Garrett Cleavinger	70	30	C	3
(5)	Alex Faedo	67	29	C	5
(2S)	Cole Sulser	62	34	C	2
(4S)	Mike Vasil	59	24	C	6

Closer (CP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Pete Fairbanks	77	31	B	2

Catchers (C)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2S)	Danny Jansen	72	29	B	1
(5)	Ben Rortvedt	66	27	C	3

First Basemen (1B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1S)	Yandy Diaz	80	33	B	2
(3P)	Xavier Isaac	63	21	B	6
(3P)	Tre’ Morgan	58	22	B	6

Second Basemen (2B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(2)	Brandon Lowe	83	30	B	2
(5)	Jonathan Aranda	63	26	C	5

Third Basemen (3B)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(1P)	Junior Caminero	71	21	B	6
(3P)	Brayden Taylor	65	22	B	6
(3P)	Curtis Mead	61	24	C	6
(3P)	Theo Gillen	60	19	B	6

Shortstops (SS)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(3)	Ha-Seong Kim	81	29	A	2
(4)	Jose Caballero	72	28	B	5
(2S)	Taylor Walls	66	28	C	3
(2P)	Carson Williams	60	21	A	6

Left Fielders (LF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(4)	Richie Palacios	73	27	C	5
(1P)	Christopher Morel	70	25	B	4

Center Fielders (CF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(5)	Jonny DeLuca	71	26	C	5
(4S)	Kameron Misner	64	27	C	6

Right Fielders (RF)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	# of Years Left of Team Control
(4)	Josh Lowe	71	27	B	4

Team Needs:

Stars
They need to turn 4s into 3s and 3s into 2s
Catcher, 3rd base, outfield, and pitcher depth stability

Blue Jays

Expectation/Goal: Total burn down and rebuild, with the goal of at least 70 wins in year three. (Must turn off GM contracts!)

Starting Pitchers (SP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	Years of Team Control
(2)	Kevin Gausman	83	34	B	2
(3)	Bowden Francis	81	28	B	5
(3)	Jose Berrios	79	30	B	4
(1S)	Max Scherzer	79	40	A	1
(1S)	Chris Bassitt	76	36	B	1
(3P)	Ricky Tiedemann	67	22	B	6
(5)	Jake Bloss	66	23	C	6
(5)	Alek Manoah	65	27	C	3
(4S)	Adam Macko	64	24	C	6
(3P)	Adam Kloffenstein	60	24	B	6

Relief Pitchers (RP)

Role	Player Name	Overall	Age	Potential	Years of Team Control
(1S)	Yimi Garcia	82	34	C	2
(2S)	Chad Green	72	33	B	1
(5)	Ryan Burr	71	30	C	4
(5)	Nick Sandlin	68	28	C	3
(5)	Erik Swanson	68	31	C	1
(4S)	Tommy Nance	65	33	D	4
(1P)	Yariel Rodriguez	64	27	B	6
(4S)	Brendon Little	63	28	C	6
(4S)	Zach Pop	57	28	C	4