The dust has settled on the 2024 MLB season for both teams. Cleveland Guards and World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s never too early to look ahead to the 2025 season and how the current rosters stack up against each other.

ESPN Releases Extremely Cautious 2025 Power Rankingsand the Guardians are ranked as the fifth-best team in baseball entering the season. This clearly makes them the favorites to win the American League Central, and the Baltimore Orioles can barely beat them in fourth place.

Here’s what ESPN’s David Schoenfield had to say about Guardians heading into next year:

“The 2025 Guardians will look like the team that reached the ALCS: bullpen, defense and José Ramirez. As always, they will try to squeeze a 90-win team into a 70-win payroll. Resignation Matthew Boyd may be a relatively inexpensive option for rotation, but Josh Naylor He could be trade bait entering his final season before free agency. The bullpen likely gives the Guardians a cushion for 80 wins, although it may be difficult to repeat the regular season performance in 2024. “If top prospects Travis Bazzana and Chase DeLauter sign on, they can make an impact in the second half and since Cleveland has the youngest group of position players in the majors, you can make some overall progress on the roster.”

Cleveland certainly has the potential to be a top-five team in MLB next season, Schoenfield details. But it’s not as simple as saying Cleveland can expect improvement from its young roster to spark another postseason run next year and hoping Boyd re-signs with the team.

The Guardians still have big questions with their starting rotation and outfield position group, and the offense needs another upgrade with a proven big league bat.

Cleveland could be a top-two seed in the AL next season, but they still need to make moves this offseason to solidify that position.