You know, looking at the final national league and american league standings from the 2025 season, it’s hard not to feel like we just watched a fever dream. If you had told me in April that the Milwaukee Brewers would finish with the best record in all of baseball, I probably would’ve laughed. But here we are.
Baseball is weird.
One day your team is up ten games, and the next, you're staring at the "games back" column wondering where the pitching went. The 2025 season wrapped up with the Los Angeles Dodgers pulling off the impossible—a repeat. They took down the Toronto Blue Jays in a seven-game World Series that ended just a few months ago in November. But the standings tell a much deeper story than just who got the trophy.
Breaking Down the American League Standings
The American League was a total bloodbath. Honestly, the AL East was exactly the chaotic mess we expected. Both the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees finished with identical 94-68 records.
Can you imagine? 162 games and they couldn't find an inch of daylight between them.
Toronto eventually took the tiebreaker, which set the tone for their massive postseason run. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox were right there with 89 wins, proving that the division is still the hardest place to play professional sports.
In the AL Central, the Cleveland Guardians managed to hold off the Detroit Tigers by a single game. It was 88 wins for Cleveland and 87 for Detroit. The Tigers were the "Cinderella" story of the second half, but they just ran out of gas. And let’s not even talk about the White Sox. 102 losses. It’s been a long year on the South Side.
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The AL West had its own drama. The Seattle Mariners finally broke through to win the division with 90 wins. They held off the Houston Astros, who finished with 87. It feels like the guard is finally shifting in the West, though Houston isn't going away quietly.
Why the National League Standings Shook Everyone
Over in the National League, the story was the Milwaukee Brewers.
97 wins.
They weren't just lucky; they were a machine. They finished five games ahead of a very good Chicago Cubs team (92 wins) in the NL Central. People keep waiting for the Brewers to fall off, but they just keep finding ways to develop pitching out of thin air.
The NL East was a bit of a shocker too. The Philadelphia Phillies were the class of the division with 96 wins, but the Atlanta Braves actually struggled. They finished 76-86. Read that again. The Braves, a perennial powerhouse, finished ten games under .500. Injuries happen, sure, but that was a collapse nobody saw coming.
Then you have the NL West.
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The Dodgers won it, obviously. They went 93-69. But the San Diego Padres gave them a real scare, finishing just three games back with 90 wins. The gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" in the NL West was massive, though. The Colorado Rockies finished with 119 losses. That is a historic level of "not good." It’s actually painful to look at that 50-game gap in the standings.
Realities of the 2025 Regular Season
If you’re looking at these national league and american league standings to figure out what happens in 2026, you have to look at the run differentials.
The Yankees actually had a better run differential (+164) than the Dodgers (+142), despite the Dodgers winning the World Series. That suggests the Yankees were actually a more dominant regular-season team than their record showed. On the flip side, the Brewers’ +130 differential confirms their 97 wins weren't a fluke. They were legit.
Surprising Statistical Nuggets:
- The Athletics' Move: Playing in West Sacramento didn't help much on the field, but they stayed competitive enough to finish with 76 wins.
- The No-Hitter Drought: For the first time since 2005, we didn't see a single no-hitter in 2025. Pitchers are throwing harder than ever, but hitters are making just enough contact to ruin history.
- Interleague Impact: The new "Rivalry Weekend" in May actually shifted the standings significantly for the Mets and Yankees, who played six times.
What’s Changing for the 2026 Standings?
We are currently in the thick of the 2026 offseason, and the "Hot Stove" is melting. If you're tracking the national league and american league standings for the upcoming year, you need to know where the power is shifting.
The Mets just landed Marcus Semien. That's a huge blow to the Rangers and a massive boost for a Mets team that won 83 games last year. They’re clearly trying to close that 13-game gap with the Phillies.
The Orioles also made a splash by signing Pete Alonso. Baltimore won 75 games in 2025—a disappointing step back—but adding Alonso’s projected 35+ home runs to that young lineup makes the AL East even more terrifying.
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And then there's the Dylan Cease trade to Toronto. The Blue Jays are clearly not satisfied with just being World Series runners-up. They want to turn that 94-win floor into a 100-win ceiling.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you're trying to predict the 2026 standings, keep an eye on these three factors:
- Bullpen Volatility: Teams like the Dodgers and Mets have completely overhauled their closers (Edwin Díaz to LA, Devin Williams to NYM).
- The "Sophomore" Managers: Several teams are entering year two with new leadership; historically, this is when the clubhouse culture either clicks or crumbles.
- The Starting Pitching Market: With Sonny Gray moving to Boston, the Red Sox are finally addressing the rotation issues that kept them at 89 wins last year.
The 2025 season provided a wild map of where the power lies in MLB. The national league and american league standings showed us that the Dodgers are the kings, the Brewers are the most underrated organization in sports, and the AL East is a meat grinder that doesn't care about your feelings.
As Spring Training 2026 approaches, the movement we're seeing in free agency suggests that the middle-of-the-pack teams are tired of losing. The gap is closing. Or at least, they're spending enough money to hope it is.
Next Steps for You: Check the latest injury reports for your team's starting rotation. With the "pitch clock era" entering its fourth full year, arm fatigue in late August has become the number one factor in late-season standings collapses. If your team hasn't signed at least three reliable starters, that "games back" number is going to get ugly fast.