Year Review: After dealing away star edge rusher Micah Parsons less than a week before the start of the 2025 regular season, the Cowboys were scrambling to find some pass rush help. Dallas knew their pass rush group, minus Parsons, was not good enough to be a consistent threat, so they went outside the organization to get a much-needed upgrade.
The other two free agents that stepped on the mound for the Jays in 2025 are Chad Green and Nick Sandlin. Green threw just 43.2 innings in 2025, giving up 14 home runs, the third-most for any reliever in baseball (and one behind Jeff Hoffman). Sandlin, acquired alongside Andrés Giménez, spent a large portion of the 2025 season injured and was outrighted after the end of the season, electing free agency.
Anyway, Santander's 2025 wasn't great. A natural slow starter, Santander struggled in the first month or so, before getting hot for just under two weeks. Then, the injuries started, as he played through a hip and shoulder injury in May, ending up on the injured list. He stayed there until the final four games of the season, and was removed from their American League Championship Series roster due to a back injury.
Last season's numbers were, however, a step back from the 154 wRC+ and 7.9 fWAR Henderson delivered in 2024. Henderson missed most of Spring Training and the first week of regular-season action recovering from an intercostal strain, but the shortstop revealed Thursday that he also spent about " three-quarters of the year " dealing with a heretofore unknown shoulder impingement.
The year of 2025 has been one defined maybe most by wild swings of emotion for the Toronto Raptors. Toronto traded for Brandon Ingram, which allowed it to continue to tank to end the year. Then the team didn't rise in the draft and added Collin Murray-Boyles. The season started, and the team looked great! (For one game.) Then terrible, then great, now terrible again. A real roller coaster.
No matter what you think of his season, Norris did enough this year to be crowned world champion at the end of 2025. Only 35 drivers in the history of Formula 1 have achieved that feat, and no matter what gets written about him, Norris name is now permanently etched among the greats. Was he the best driver on the grid this year? Arguably not, but there were times when he was utterly unbeatable, and over the course of the season he overcame his fair share of setbacks to emerge as the champion. His performances in the final third of the season were some of the best of his career and, most importantly, he delivered when it mattered. -- Edmondson
2025 stats (67 games, including postseason): 10.3 PTS, 6.4 AST, 1.2 STL, 50.5 FG%, 42.4 3P%, 59.5 TS% Skinny: I was bullish on Mitchell's fit when they first acquired him in the Jimmy Butler blockbuster. His tough, relentless, energetic demeanor made him a quintessential Miami Heat player. He hasn't been as aggressive this year as he was in 2024-25, but he's shown to be an incredibly important focal point of this team.
He was one of the very best in the game... about a decade ago as a member of the Diamondbacks. At the age of 36, he's still a durable starter good for 5-inning starts and generating ground balls. He has almost no velocity to speak of anymore and has been very hittable. He ranks in the lowest 30th percentile in strikeouts, which is actually the highest he's ranked since the pandemic.
Finnegan has the best season of his career in 2025. It didn't start that way with the Washington Nationals, as his 4.38 ERA was tracking to be the worst of his career, while on the brighter side, his FIP sat at 3.65. After 39 innings pitched, Finnegan was traded ahead of the 2025 trade deadline to the Detroit Tigers. It was in the Motor City where the 34-year-old excelled.
Bregman was a free agent last winter as well, but when the market didn't produce a $200MM+ deal to his liking, he signed for three years and $120MM (with plenty of deferred money) in Boston. That contract allowed him to opt out after each season. Early in 2025, Bregman played like an MVP candidate. Through May 23, he was hitting .299/.385/.553 with 11 home runs, 17 doubles, an 18.6% strikeout rate and a 9.7% walk rate.
On the season Luke appeared in 91 games for the Stripers and hit a very respectable .272/.364/.340 in those games good for a 98 wRC+. With offense not really being his calling card, being able to tune in with a solid line while providing solid defense up the middle, Luke gave the Braves organization really good value despite the injury struggles. He rarely struck out (12% K%), walked at a good rate (12%), and found his MaxEV all the way up to 109 MPH.
2025 was a strange year for Nathaniel Lowe. He was coming off 4 straight years averaging 2.8 bWAR per season with a .274/.359./.432 batting line. He was joining a new team - the Washington Nationals - who many believed to be something of a sleeper in the National League with young stars James Wood and CJ Abrams. Lowe was positioned to be a key veteran presence with playoff and World Series experience.
Daysbel Hernández has a live arm and has shown flashes of the type of stuff that could make any fan dream of him coming in during a big moment in a big game and pitching a shutdown inning in order to preserve the lead. However, he's found it pretty difficult to put it all together in terms of control and command. He also hasn't had much of an opportunity
