The Biggest Weakness For Each of The Best AL Teams; And How to Address It

A Blog by Greg

With the 2025 MLB season nearly at its halfway mark and the trade deadline rapidly approaching, teams are starting to fall into one of two categories: teams that have a realistic shot of winning at least their league's respective pennant, and hopefully the World Series, and the teams that do not. Regardless of how well a team is performing, there are always some cracks in the armor (even the Death Star had a vulnerable exhaust pipe that led to the demise of the battle station). Today I will be taking a look at the five best teams (by record) in the American League and diagnosing their biggest weaknesses while offering my personal opinion on how the front office should go about addressing these issues in the coming month.

Detroit Tigers (50-30)

The Tigers are not only comfortably in first place in the AL Central and American League standings, but they are still one game ahead of the daunting Los Angeles Dodgers, giving Detroit the best record in Major League Baseball through 80 games. From unexpected standouts, like Javier Baez and Zach McKinstry, to the team’s faces of the franchise in Riley Greene and Tarik Skubal, the Tigers have had elite output at nearly every aspect of the game. The key word in that sentence was “nearly.” The most glaring weak spot on the Tigers is starting shortstop Trey Sweeney. The 25-year-old is in his sophomore year and is currently the only Tiger in the starting lineup with a sub-100 OPS+ (69) and a negative WAR (-0.2). Given the availability of veteran utility men such as Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Amed Rosario, the Tigers can easily pick up a cheap player to replace the struggling Seeney for at least just the remainder of the 2025 season. If the Tigers really want to make a splash and strengthen their chances of making the World Series for the first time since 2012, they can go after Bo Bichette. Bichette would likely be a rental for Detroit, given he will become a free agent at the end of the season. Despite not having his best season to date, the former two-time All-Star will be a stark improvement over the Tigers current option at shortstop.

Houston Astros (46-33)

Despite holding the second-best record in the American League, the Astros have serious problems all over their roster. The Astros’ issues in 2025 can be summed up with two words: no depth. With the exception of 3 hitters (Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes, and Jake Myers), the Astros have been quite poor offensively, holding a barely above average 103 OPS+ and a disappointing average 89 OPS+ when excluding their top 3 hitters (minimum 100 PA). Additionally, their starting pitching has been quite top-heavy as well. Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown have been outstanding so far, holding a 145 and 215 ERA+, respectively, throughout a combined 31 starts. However, the rest of their starters have been subpar. The remainder of the Houston starters (Ryan Guston, Ronel Blanco, Colton Gordan, and Lance McCullers Jr.) all have an FIP over 4.00 and an ERA+ below 100. If the Astros continue to win games and decide to be buyers at the deadline, they should prioritize acquiring a starter such as Miami’s Sandy Alcántara.

New York Yankees (45-34)

The Yankees’ current struggles (they have lost 9 of their last 12 games since sweeping the Royals) have caused many fans to panic and request the front office make numerous rash decisions at the trade deadline. I am not one of those fans. The Yankees are in a good place right now and just need to plug a few holes, the biggest hole being the situation at 3B/2B. Jazz Chisholm, who has been playing fantastically this season contrary to popular discourse on X, is currently manning the hot corner despite being a natural second baseman. DJ LeMahieu has been playing second base since returning from the IL and has proven to be a liability in the lineup. The Yanks can certainly pick a second baseman to replace LeMahieu; however, the ideal choice seems to be going after a third baseman, allowing Jazz to return to second. While talks of Nolan Arenado coming to the Bronx have been present since the offseason, I don’t think the Yankees will pursue that option. Rather, I suggest they take the safer route and go after the Colorado Rockies’ Ryan McMahon or the Angels’ Yoan Moncada (given the latter recovers from his injury in a timely fashion). Regardless of what the Yankees do, I hope they do not overreact to the underwhelming performance of the team over the last few weeks.

Tampa Bay Rays (44-35)

The Rays are one game behind the Yankees in the AL East, but it's unclear if they'll buy at the trade deadline. All indications have led to the Rays potentially moving on from a few of their veterans, such as closer Pete Fairbanks and second baseman Brandon Lowe. While making the playoffs this season and possibly winning the AL East would be nice for Tampa Bay, the Rays are clearly focused on the future. Currently, the biggest weakness for the Rays is experience; that is fine, however. If they were to decide to make a push in the second half of the season and acquire some talent, Luis Robert Jr. is an interesting player who could bolster their weak outfield. Adding a bat like Robert and locking him up for the next few years could give the Rays another talented bat to surround young star Junior Caminero and slightly older but still relatively young star Jonathan Aranda.

Toronto Blue Jays (42-36)

The Jays are in a very similar spot to their AL East foe, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Jays certainly won’t be full-blown sellers at the trade deadline; however, they don’t appear to be very committed to shortstop Bo Bichette. In my opinion, the Jays will work out a deal with Bichette and not trade him this season despite the reports claiming otherwise. The Jays have two glaring weaknesses: the outfield and the starting rotation. Alan Roden, Myles Straw, Nathan Lukes, and George Springer are a less than ideal quartet in the outfield. Additionally, the Jays desperately need at least one other quality starter to pitch alongside José Berríos and Chris Bassitt, who have both been serviceable this season. Zac Gallen, Sandy Alcantara, Freddy Peralta, and Luis Severino are a few names I would consider going after if I were running the Blue Jays. Additionally, to bolster the outfield, Cedric Mullens, Jarren Duran, and Luis Robert are solid options to inquire about.

Stay tuned for this articles' counterpart regarding the National League coming soon. And, as always, thank you for reading!