1 reason for every team to be thankful

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. In the words of a great bird I once met, “Gobble, gobble.” Thanksgiving is not a holiday traditionally associated with baseball, but if you’re reading a baseball site on Thanksgiving Day, you know that in a just world, every holiday is one associated with baseball.

So, today, on Turkey Day, we provide you with an old Thanksgiving staple: We give you something for every team’s fanbase to be thankful for. Even if the season didn’t go how you wanted it to, there’s still something you feel lucky to have.

Here’s one thing for everyone to give thanks for. Enjoy the yams.

AL EAST

Blue Jays

Last year was an absolute mess, and the sort of year that often leads to a reckoning. But if you are a Jays fan, you have been able to follow players such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette from their time as highly touted prospects through their maturation as big league stars. Both are scheduled to reach free agency next offseason, but rather than starting a rebuild, the Blue Jays are keeping the band together to make one last run at the playoffs.

Orioles

The playoffs have been frustrating the last two years, but this is still a team that’s the envy of baseball. Baltimore is packed with young talent, backed by a fanbase desperate to win, and has clear opportunities to upgrade in its first offseason under new ownership. It was a very rough decade for the Orioles faithful. These are now the good times. There are even better times coming.

First off, everyone’s grateful that the Rays are going to have a place to play in 2025, in a stadium that should actually prove a pretty terrific environment for the next year. This is a team with its usual share of young talent, and this could be the year Junior Caminero firmly establishes himself as the next big thing.

Red Sox

There are all sorts of signs that the Red Sox might be ready to spend big this offseason, and that’s coming off a year that was a lot more successful than many people thought it was going to be. The Red Sox have idled for a while now, but there’s a foundation of talent here, with the opportunity to grow, and a fanbase that is ready to, at last, get moving.

Yankees

Hey, you finally made that World Series you’d been waiting 15 years for. Sure, it didn’t end with a 28^th championship, which means it’s somewhat disappointing. But the Yankees still have Aaron Judge and the money to bring back Juan Soto … if they can make it happen. And again, even though you didn’t win it, no one should be shaking their head at a World Series appearance.

AL CENTRAL

Guardians

The Guardians have reached the playoffs six of the last nine seasons and won their division five times during that time. That is, essentially, the second-best stretch in franchise history, behind only those 1990s teams. There has been some playoff frustration, but these are in many ways the best of times for Guardians fans.

Royals

Royals fans get to watch Bobby Witt Jr. every day, which is pretty much the best possible gift, all told, especially when you consider that they’re locked into doing so for the next decade. He made his first playoff appearance this year. It won’t be his last.

Tigers

That glorious September run didn’t just electrify the fanbase — it served as a proof of concept for everything this franchise has been trying to do for a decade now. They look primed to add this offseason, and maybe make this the AL Central juggernaut moving forward. It’s a very good time in Detroit sports right now!

This year was disappointing, but this is still as stalwart of a franchise as this division has, with stars like Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton that would be the envy of any team. The question, as always, is health. And we should always try to be thankful for whatever health we have, every Thanksgiving.

White Sox

A trying 2024 is almost over. That’s something to be thankful for, and they also have a highly regarded new manager to help them turn the page.

AL WEST

Angels

The Angels have already made some moves this offseason, making it clear that they’re not slinking away after some rough seasons. They’ve got more young talent than you might think, and you may have vague memories of a Mike Trout fellow who will be back for Opening Day.

Astros

Their incredible ALCS streak finally ended, but they proved in 2024, after a rough start, that they aren’t going anywhere. The Astros have been the team of the AL over the last decade, and there’s no reason to think that won’t remain the case for at least one more year.

Athletics

After an emotional goodbye to Oakland, the A’s will start a new adventure in Sacramento, and they’re hardly doing so with a bare cupboard: Who would have thought we’d have a second coming of the Bash Brothers with Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler?

Mariners

That starting rotation, combined with Julio Rodríguez, gives them a high floor. One of these years, it’s all going to come together perfectly — maybe it’s this one.

Rangers

The title defense was a bit of a dud, but a healthy Corey Seager (and a healthy Jacob deGrom?) would get them right back in the mix in 2025. And all that 2023 World Series champions merchandise you bought still looks pretty, doesn’t it?

NL EAST

Braves

Just about everything other than Chris Sale went wrong for the Braves in 2024 … and they still made the playoffs. They’ll get just about everybody back for 2025, and their luck should improve. Thus, they may well be the NL favorites again.

Marlins

Every single member of the Marlins rotation and everyday lineup is currently under 30 years old. That sort of youth movement has sometimes worked out quite excellently for the Marlins in the past.

The Mets gave their fans the ride of a lifetime this October, and remember, they actually did it a year earlier than anyone expected. Now that we’ve seen where this team seems to be going, Mets fans have a whole offseason to watch their owner and front office add to it. This could get exciting.

Nationals

The last time we saw all this young talent in one place in a Nationals uniform, they were about to start a run of postseason appearances that would culminate with the 2019 World Series title.

Phillies

The recent run of frustrating postseason exits shouldn’t distract from the fact that the Phillies have a core that’s probably better than anyone else’s in baseball … a core they may well add to this offseason. Sure, they’re getting older. But hey, aren’t we all.

NL CENTRAL

Brewers

Remember when everyone wrote off the Brewers because they lost their manager and their ace heading into the 2024 season? Well, they ended up sprinting away with the division anyway. Pat Murphy stepped in for Craig Counsell to win the NL Manager of the Year Award, and the team made its sixth postseason appearance in seven years.

Cardinals

The Cardinals look to be taking a step back this year, but it may just look that way, as they focus on young players such as Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn. That should give them, and Cardinals fans, a concrete answer as to what the future of this franchise is really going to look like.

The Cubs haven’t lived up to expectations the last couple of years, but they’re hardly shrinking from those expectations moving forward. This is still going to be a team worth coming out to see at glorious Wrigley Field anytime you have the opportunity to do so.

Pirates

Paul Skenes is reason enough to be thankful, of course, but don’t forget Jared Jones and Mitch Keller. If the Pirates are ever able to sneak in the playoffs — and they just might in 2025 — that’s a triumvirate no one will want to deal with.

Elly De La Cruz finished in the top five of NL MVP voting, and it still feels like he’s only scratching the surface of what he’s capable of accomplishing. And with Terry Francona now in charge, the Reds clearly have an arrow pointing up.

NL WEST

Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks reached the World Series in 2023 and were still probably a better team in 2024. Ketel Marte has officially reached full-on star status; Corbin Carroll may well be next.

Dodgers

They just won the World Series. Better yet, both the team and the fans got to enjoy the full-on celebration that the pandemic made impossible in 2020.

Giants

After years of frustration, the Giants have a True Giant in charge of baseball operations now, with Buster Posey providing much-needed direction for the whole enterprise. The Giants are doing everything they can to bring back those good old days.

Padres

Last year may in fact have been the best Padres team ever, one that came this close to beating those blasted Dodgers. The ascension of Jackson Merrill has elevated this whole franchise to a brand new level.

Rockies

The Rockies are always looking for someone to build around, and Ezequiel Tovar is sure starting to look like that guy, as a 23-year-old Gold Glove Award-winning shortstop.