LF Alan Roden is the most interesting man with the Toronto Blue Jays — on Mark Whicker’s Dos Equis scale. Photo: Toronto Blue Jays

March 27, 2025

By Mark Whicker

Canadian Baseball Network

In a tribute to the late, lamented Dos Equis commercials, here are the Most Interesting Man in each team’s world on opening day.

Teams are grouped by predicted order of finish in each division.:

NL EAST

PHILADELPHIA: Andrew Painter hasn’t pitched significantly in two years but he remains the Phillies’ top prospect. In 2022 he struck out 155 in 103 innings. He might surface in 2025 to join Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.

ATLANTA: Drake Baldwin led Wisconsin high schoolers with 37 goals at Madison West. He cast aside his skates and became a fearsome power hitter at Missouri State. Then he had a .891 OPS in 72 games at Triple-A. With Sean Murphy hurt, Baldwin is the starting catcher.

New York Mets Luisangel Acuna, obtained from the Rangers for Max Scherzer. Photo: MLB.com

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NEW YORK METS: Luisangel Acuna is Ronald’s little brother, literally, at 5-foot-8. He hit three home runs once he was called up late last season, and will get a lot more time with the Mets in 2025. They got him from the Rangers for Max Scherzer.

WASHINGTON: It’s a big year for James Wood, the 6-foot-7 would-be slugger who came from San Diego in the Juan Soto trade. Wood had nine home runs in 79 games and with an OPS of .781.

MIAMI: Sandy Alcantara pitched 619 innings from 2021 through 2023 and won a Cy Young award. Then he missed last season with Tommy John surgery. He’s building himself up for this season, under the gaze of the Red Sox, Yankees and other vultures.

NL CENTRAL

CHICAGO CUBS: Matt Shaw set Maryland’s all-time home run record and the Cubs drafted him in the first round 18 months ago. He was the Southern League’s MVP last year and will start this season at third base, as Wrigley Field fans hope he’ll channel Ron Santo and Kris Bryant.

CINCINNATI: Elly De La Cruz is the most interesting player in whatever room he’s in. Who else can lead the league in strikeouts and stolen bases while he makes 29 errors and hts 25 home runs? Terry Francona says his goal, as the Reds first-year manager, is to help De La Cruz become baseball’s best player.

MILWAUKEE: The Brewers have said goodbye to Josh Hader and Devin Williams but they aren’t worried about the ninth. Trevor Megill saved 21 games when Williams was hurt last year,and gave up 33 hits in 46 innings.

PITTSBURGH: Joey Bart was the Giants’ second-overall pick in 2018 but never got traction, and the Georgia Tech catcher was eventually passed by Patrick Bailey. The Pirates got him last

year and Bart had a .799 OPS in 80 games. He’s still only 27, which makes him a spring chicken on a surprisingly old Pirates team.

ST. LOUIS: Masyn Winn was one of the few reasons to endure the Busch Stadium heat. The rookie shortstop from Katy, Tex., played 150 games and was more than adequate defensively. With the Cardinals playing the same hand this year, he’ll have to do it again.

NL WEST

LOS ANGELES: ,The Dodgers bought Blake Snell in hopes he’d emulate the prime Clayton Kershaw. But he has pitched 180 innings in only two seasons. In both, he won Cy Young awards. If he’s as durable this year, the Dodgers might not lose as many games as the Lakers.

ARIZONA: Corbin Carroll has had one really good year and one mediocre year, but he’s always captivating. He has led the NL in triples in each of those years. If he finds his 2023 self, the Diamondbacks can make the playoffs.

SAN DIEGO: Joe Musgrove is out for the year, so the Padres found lefthander Kyle Hart, a Boston draftee. Hart won the Korean Baseball Organization’s equivalent of the Cy Young award last year with a 13-3 record and a 2.69 ERA.

SAN FRANCISCO: Robbie Ray is a former Cy Young winner and once was a renowned Dodger-killer. He has pitched 33 innings the past two years but he had a nice spring.

COLORADO: Was Seth Halvorsen a late-season mirage when he posted a 1.46 ERA in 12 relief appearances? Anybody who gets anybody out in Colorado deserves a second glance. Besides, nobody else is interesting.

AL EAST

N.Y. YANKEES: Gerrit Cole is out, so Carlos Rodon becomes the de facto No. 1. He won 16 games last year but gave up 31 homers. In his last three healthy seasons, he’s 43-22.

BALTIMORE: They call him The Mountain because he’s 6-foot-8 and 285, and Felix Bautista has a brilliant 0.924 WHIP in his two years. He missed the 2024 season and the Orioles made the playoffs anyway. He’s back, so hitters should consider oxygen.

BOSTON: The Sox went big for Alex Bregman, who has leveled off at the plate. They’re just as interested in his leadership and competitiveness, for a team that’s relatively young and getting younger.

TAMPA BAY: Christopher Morel is the Rays’ type. He had 21 home runs last year and hit .196. Since they’ll playing outdoors this year, maybe he’ll hit a few into the Gulf of Mexico.

TORONTO: Alan Roden received a NASA grant while he was at Creighton, for the study of quasars, and graduated with a degree in physics. He also hit well enough to hit .387 and become a third-round pick by Toronto, and now he’s the starting leftfielder.

AL WEST

TEXAS: Joc Pederson brings his uninhibited bat to Texas, his fifth team this century. He has 209 home runs now with a career .811 OPS. But have the bruises faded from 2024, when he was hit by 18 pitches in Arizona?

SEATTLE: Dan Wilson was a mainstay behind the plate for the Mariners, but now he enters his first full year as manager. The M’s averaged five runs in Wilson’s 34 games last year, and coaches Edgar Martinez and Kevin Seitzer are stressing a line-drive approach.

ATHLETICS: Luis Severino went against the current when he signed with the Athletics, but maybe he figures he’s just what they need. He has a career 1.196 WHIP and joins Jeff Springs at the top of the rotation.

HOUSTON: At 22, rookie Cam Smith barged into the right-field spot vacated by Kyle Tucker. Smith was part of the Astros’ haul when they dealt Tucker to the Cubs.

ANGELS: Mike Trout made a hand adjustment, at the suggestion of his dad, and recovered his power stroke back in Arizona. The main adjustment is in the hand of manager Ron Washington. If he can take his Sharpie and write Trout’s name in the lineup more than 150 times, Angel fans will at least have a reason for the season..

AL CENTRAL

KANSAS CITY: Kris Bubic was going nowhere even before he had Tommy John surgery. He had an atrocious 1.70 WHIP in 2022. He came back from the operation and was an effective reliever with a 1.022 WHIP. Now the Royals are counting on Bubic replacing Brady Singer in the rotation.

DETROIT: What if Jackson Jobe can match all the hype and become a Rookie of the Year candidate? It’s why some are predicting the Tigers to win the division, with Jobe and Tarik Skubal at the top of the rotation. Jobe’s father Brandt won six pro golf events in Japan.

MINNESOTA: It’s always Royce Lewis, the first-overall pick in 2017. He’s managed to play only 152 games in three seasons but has smacked 33 home runs, and he’s still just 25.

CLEVELAND: Hunter Gaddis was the best of a brilliant setup procession for Emmanuel Clase in the bullpen. He went from 11 appearances to 74 and gave up 43 hits in nearly 75 innings. Will the bill come due in 2025?.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX: One hundred percent of this team’s star power belongs to Luis Robert Jr., who hit 38 homers with 80 RBI in 2023. He played 100 games last year so he can only take so much blame.

Mark Whicker: Examining each team via the Dos Equis most interesting scale