Grimace and co.

As 2024 comes to a close, the MLB season gave us a lot of ups and downs. We knew Juan Soto would be a free agent, but a $765-million man wasn’t on our BINGO cards.

There were plenty of high moments to take away from the season as we wrap up the year.

Here are some of the best …

Arizona Diamondbacks

Ketel Marte

Marte wasn’t happy after being left off the 2023 All-Star roster, but he made up for it in 2024, putting together a .292/.372/.560 slash line with 36 home runs.

He did get his second selection to the All-Star Game in 2024, while finishing third in NL MVP voting and earning a Silver Slugger.

Atlanta Braves

15 seasons young

Veteran pitcher Chris Sale entered his 15th season in 2024, only to conclude it with a Cy Young Award. He finished his stint boasting an MLB-leading 2.38 ERA with 225 strikeouts in 177 ⅔ innings.

Oh, and the doubleheader between the Braves and the New York Mets to secure a spot in the NL Wild Card Series will remain one of the most insane duo of games ever.

Baltimore Orioles

A superstar in the making

Gunnar Henderson hit the ground running in his debut season with the Baltimore Orioles in 2022. He earned AL Rookie of the Year honors — as he still qualified for the award — in 2023 and won a Silver Slugger Award.

In 2024, he was in AL MVP talks and earned his first All-Star selection after slashing .281/.364/.529 with 37 home runs and 92 RBI.

Boston Red Sox

Duran Duran

Jarren Duran had a breakout season, slashing .285/.342/.492 with a league-leading 48 doubles and 14 triples. He became the first player in history to have as many as 10 triples, 20 homers, 30 stolen bases, and 40 doubles in the same season.

He also earned his first career All-Star selection and was named the MVP of the Midsummer Classic after hitting a go-ahead two-run homer that helped the AL to a win.

Chicago Cubs

A little here and there

There were some bits and pieces that stood for the Chicago Cubs in 2024. Seiya Suzuki slashed .283/.366/.482 with 21 home runs, so he stayed around his similar numbers from 2023. He also stole 16 bases which was an improvement.

Ian Happ hit 25 home runs and electrifying rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong had a strong second half.

The starting rotation was the team’s strength. Rookie left-hander Shota Imanaga had a 2.91 ERA over 173 1/3 innings pitched, and southpaw Justin Steele had an ERA under 3.20 for the third straight season.

As far as the offseason is concerned, fans must be sitting pretty knowing the Cubs acquired superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker in a trade with the Houston Astros.

Chicago White Sox

Hmm …

Well, the Chicago White Sox went 41-121. The most losses for any club since 1900. That wasn’t the good news.

However, Garrett Crochet put up an All-Star season with a 2.69 FIP and 209 strikeouts over 146 innings (the dreadful Chicago defense dragged his ERA down to a more pedestrian 3.58 ERA). But… then he got traded to the Boston Red Sox during the Winter Meetings.

Cleveland Guardians

First-place Vogt

First season as manager and you earn the AL Manager of the Year Award? Not a bad way to start your tenure.

Stephen Vogt retired from Major League Baseball just two years ago as a player, and it’s the quickest a person has ever gone from a player to Manager of the Year. The Cleveland Guardians went 92-69, clinching first place in the AL Central and a postseason berth in 2024.


Cleveland advanced to the ALCS for the first time since 2016, where they lost to the New York Yankees in five games.

Colorado Rockies

Golden

Hard to find the good after the season the Colorado Rockies had, but Ezequiel Tovar’s success on defense earned him a Gold Glove.

“Anyone wants to win the Gold Glove,” Tovar said prior to the announcement. “If it happens, thanks to God. But if it doesn’t happen, also thanks to God. It’s out of my control. It’s not something that I give myself. I’m thankful for the season that I had.”

Detroit Tigers

Isn’t it obvious?

Dominance is an understatement for what Tarik Skubal did in 2024.

It was a (pitching) Triple Crown season and a unanimous decision to win the AL CY Young Award for the Detroit Tigers left-handed pitcher.

Oh … and the award was announced on his 28th birthday too.

He finished his 2024 campaign with an 18-4 record in 31 starts, a 2.39 ERA, an MLB-leading 228 strikeouts, and MLB-leading 6.3 WAR (per Baseball Reference).

Houston Astros

Offense, offense, offense

Yordan Álvarez, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Jose Altuve were in typical form at the plate.

Pitching needs to get its roses as well.

Framber Valdez finished his seventh season with a 2.91 ERA and a 3.08 xFIP, striking out 169 batters in 176 1/3 innings. Spencer Arrighetti had a 3.18 ERA in the second half of his rookie season.

Kansas City Royals

Seth Lugo

In his ninth MLB season, veteran starter Seth Lugo earned his first All-Star selection, a Gold Glove, and finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting. He finished the season with a 3.00 ERA striking out 181 in 206 2/3 innings over 33 starts. He also threw everything in his arsenal making him impossible to figure out.

“It was just hard for everyone to get a bead on him,” New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said when facing Lugo. “He’s not making mistakes. It’s hard to really look for one pitch because he’s throwing the kitchen sink at you, and he’s changing speeds on you, and he’s got a lead, and he knows how to attack with that. He beat us tonight.”

Los Angeles Angels

High brow moves

The Angels wanted to make some moves entering the offseason, and they didn’t waste any time. Owner Arte Moreno said they wanted to add players that were going to help them compete.

One day after the World Series ended, the Angels traded right-handed pitcher Griffin Canning to the Atlanta Braves to acquire power bat Jorge Soler.

After that, the Angels signed free agent veteran arms Kyle Hendricks and Yusei Kikuchi, as well as catcher Travis d’Arnaud. They also signed pitcher Dakota Hudson and third baseman Darter Kieboom to minor-league contracts, so by the time Winter Meetings rolled around, they didn’t have many moves to make.

During the season, catcher Logan O’Hoppe made some strides with a strong start to the season. Manager Ron Washington dubbed O’Hoppe a leader, and he continues to make improvements behind the plate.

Los Angeles Dodgers

They won the World Series.

What else can you say?

Next season, they’ll get Shohei Ohtani the hitter and the pitcher.

Miami Marlins

A breakout season for X

It was a breakout season for rookie shortstop Xavier Edwards. The switch-hitter finished his 2024 campaign slashing .328/.397/.423 stealing 31 bases on 35 attempts. Even in just 70 games played, his 2.2 fWAR (FanGraphs’ WAR) was second among Miami Marlins players on the season.

Former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker on Edwards:

“I think he’s just a gamer. He’s a good baseball player. No matter where you put him, he’s going to grind out at-bats. He’s not an easy at-bat to face, and he’s just a winning baseball player. And that’s honestly the best compliment a manager or coach can give a player. He’s a winning baseball player, and X is that.”

Milwaukee Brewers

Offensive boom

Despite reliving a heartbreaking moment where Christian Yelich believed he let legendary voice Bob Uecker down after a shortened playoff run, the Milwaukee Brewers had an excellent season, winning 93 games.

The squad stole a decent amount of bases (second-most in the league), got on base, and Willy Adames put together a .251/.331/.462 with 32 home runs and 21 stolen bases. However, the free-agent shortstop went on to leave Milwaukee, signing a seven-year, $182 million deal with the San Francisco Giants this winter.

Minnesota Twins

Carlos Correa

It was a small sample size, but in his third All-Star season, Carlos Correa batted .310/.388/.517 with 14 home runs and 54 RBI in 367 plate appearances, producing 3.7 WAR in 87 games.

New York Mets

A purple monster

I mentioned that doubleheader against the Braves, and I once again have to mention the Juan Soto signing. But Grimace also did something.

New York Yankees

It’s the Yankees …

To make it to the World Series, you had to do something right.

The combination of Juan Soto and AL MVP Aaron Judge (10.8 bWAR) made an impact, and having a finally healthy Giancarlo Stanton helped things as well. The addition of Jazz Chisholm around the trade deadline.

Luke Weaver was also sensational out of the bullpen with a 2.89 ERA in the regular season and a 1.76 ERA in the postseason. He’s also a gem.

Oakland Athletics

Rook of the Year

Brent Rooker should have had his second All-Star selection in 2024, joining closer Mason Miller in Dallas. A Silver Slugger Award will have to do after hitting .293 with 39 home runs and 112 RBI. He was the first designated hitter to earn the award in Athletics franchise history.

General manager David Forst confirmed he’s been in contact with Rooker’s representatives about a possible contract extension.

Philadelphia Phillies

Bats

Bryce Harper’s transition to first base was seamless. He slashed .285/.373/.525 in 145 games with 30 home runs, 85 runs, and 87 RBI. Trea Turner also put up another solid season at the plate.

And as always – what he does with his glove …

Pittsburgh Pirates

The answer is always Paul Skenes

San Diego Padres

The kid

It’s no surprise the San Diego Padres discussed an extension with center fielder Jackson Merrill.

In his rookie season, he earned an All-Star selection and a Silver Slugger Award. He was also in MVP discussions and was second in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

He slashed .292/.326/.500 with a 127 OPS. He hit 24 home runs with 90 RBI, stealing 16 bases.

San Francisco Giants

Webby

Logan Webb earned his first All-Star selection after finishing with a 3.47 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 172 strikeouts. He also had 33 starts for the second consecutive season.

Seattle Mariners

Pitching

If it were solely up to pitching, the Seattle Mariners would be just fine, but the offense was their ultimate demise.

The pitching was not only some of the best in the league, but they had arms at their disposal.

Bryan Woo was sensational, posting a 2.89 ERA with 101 strikeouts in 121 1/3 innings. Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, Luis Castillo, and George Kirby also had strong seasons to form an excellent starting rotation.

St. Louis Cardinals

Gray and Winn

Sonny Gray’s first season in St. Louis made it a great debut for the three-time All-Star.

Masyn Winn had a breakout season, slashing .267/.314/.416 with 15 home runs and 57 RBI with 11 stolen bases in 150 games.

Tampa Bay Rays

Pitching staff

Pitching development is something the Tampa Bay Rays are known for, so the fact that the team was ranked 9th in ERA wasn’t a surprise. On the offensive side, Jose Caballero stole 44 bases which is what they were hoping for when they traded for him last offseason.

Toronto Blue Jays

Vladdy

After his fourth consecutive All-Star season, and hitting 30 home runs, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will finish the 2025 season as a free agent at the age of 26. This will be one year after that Soto contract.

Imagine what that contract could looks like. Lordy.

Washington Nationals

Abrams

Despite an “internal matter” following CJ Abrams spending all night at a Chicago casino that resulted in a demotion, the Washington Nationals still view him as the future.

“He’s still our guy,” Rizzo said during an end-of-season conversation. “We love him and he’s going to be a great player for us. Optioning him out wasn’t the end of the world. We have a standard here and we have to keep people accountable. He still has a great upside and still in our minds is going to be a great major league shortstop.”

The shortstop is very talented and earned a trip to the All-Star Game in his age-23 season.

About Jessica Kleinschmidt

Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.