12 holiday gifts for MLB stars under the tree

Wednesday is Christmas, so let’s bring joy to the baseball world by handing out some gifts.

Below are a dozen presents, each procured with a bountiful 2025 in mind, and each waiting to be unwrapped by a lucky recipient (or two, or three). Now let’s take a look under the tree, shall we?

The recipient: Roki Sasaki
The gift: A perfect fit

The ultra-talented, 23-year-old Sasaki is in a unique position among free agents this offseason, in that his decision won’t be heavily impacted by dollars. That’s because Sasaki is subject to international bonus pool restrictions after getting posted by his NPB team, significantly limiting what any MLB team can offer him (theoretically, around $7.5 million at most.) Therefore, other factors could heavily influence where Sasaki goes, as his agent, Joel Wolfe, has suggested. And there is plenty of incentive for Sasaki to find the right landing spot, one where he feels comfortable, with a team that can help him develop and adjust. As we saw with Shohei Ohtani, a player in Sasaki’s position might not land a huge contract initially, but if he proves himself in the big leagues, it’s only a matter of time before that day comes.

• Latest Roki Sasaki rumors

The recipient: Mike Trout
The gift: 600 plate appearances

It’s been an exercise in frustration and disappointment for all involved -- fans, the Angels, certainly Trout himself -- to see a generational star unable to stay on the field. Trout racked up the most WAR in history (72.5, per Baseball-Reference) through a position player’s age-27 campaign but has averaged just 64 games and 275 plate appearances since then. Trout has, for the first time, expressed a willingness to shift to a corner outfield spot or even spend time at DH in service of staying healthy in 2025 and beyond. If the result is keeping his still-potent bat in the Angels’ lineup, Trout could reach some big career numbers next season (400 homers, 1,000 RBIs, 90 WAR) -- and remind everyone why he spent nearly a decade as the best player in the sport.

The recipients: Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander
The gift: A clock, turned back

After Trout, these veteran starting pitchers are the next three up on the active career WAR list. All three are free agents but have professed their intention to play in 2025. Even the greats eventually lose the battle with Father Time, though, and each member of this accomplished trio dealt with some combination of injury woes and drop in performance this past season. On the other hand, none got this far by being anything less than a maniacal worker and competitor, so it seems foolish to dismiss the idea of one or more of them having at least one more big season. It certainly would be fun to watch if it happens.

The recipient: Jacob deGrom
The gift: Cy Young Award No. 3

We just saw a 35-year-old Chris Sale, with a checkered injury history and six years removed from his last great season, win the 2024 NL Cy Young Award. In that light, it hardly seems far-fetched to think a 37-year-old deGrom could do the same in the AL in 2025, especially after his highly successful return from Tommy John surgery late last season. And if the Rangers righty pulls it off? deGrom would become the 12th three-time Cy winner, joining a list that includes seven inner-circle Hall of Famers, three clear-cut future Hall of Famers (Kershaw, Scherzer and Verlander) and Roger Clemens. It’s hard to say what impact that might make on deGrom’s future Cooperstown case -- his career totals are well short of typical standards -- but as Hall voters face a reckoning in terms of evaluating starting pitchers, it would certainly be a major point in his favor.

The recipient: Paul Skenes
The gift: A resilient arm

Pitcher injuries have been such a part of the conversation in recent years that on Dec. 17, Major League Baseball released a lengthy report on the subject, looking to identify causes and solutions. That’s all background to the emergence of Skenes, who soared from No. 1 overall Draft pick to Pirates ace in less than a year, immediately putting himself into the conversation as one of MLB’s top pitchers, at age 22. The sky seems to be the limit for Skenes, and staying on the mound by far the biggest obstacle. Can Skenes be his generation’s Verlander, or Aaron Nola, making 30-plus starts annually throughout his 20s and into his 30s? Time will tell, but here’s hoping.

The recipient: Jackson Holliday
The gift: A second chance at a first impression

Sure, sometimes a top prospect makes a Skenes-like entrance. But Trout had a .672 OPS during a 40-game debut in 2011. Aaron Judge had a .608 OPS during a 27-game debut in 2016. Even Hall of Famers have struggled mightily at first. So as difficult as Holliday’s rookie year with the Orioles was (.565 OPS in 60 games, surrounding a stint back in Triple-A), there is plenty of precedent to suggest that he can use it as a learning experience and make it a small footnote to his career when all is said and done. There are no guarantees, of course, but Holliday only just turned 21 earlier this month, and the skills that made him MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 prospect are still there. Given a clean slate in 2025, don’t be surprised if he unlocks his potential.

The recipients: Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis
The gift: Togetherness

Last season, the Twins had this trio in the lineup for Opening Day -- and then not again until June. In the end, Minnesota played just 27 games all year with each in a starting role, with none of the three starting more than 92 times individually. That can’t happen again, certainly not if the Twins hope to rebound to the top of the AL Central despite an offseason that so far appears unlikely to net them any game-changing additions to their roster. More than likely, it’s improvement from within that will have to carry Minnesota, and that starts with these three stars, each of whom is dynamic enough (when healthy) to carry a lineup.

The recipients: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kyle Tucker
The gift: A Soto-esque walk year

In each of the past three seasons, one of the game’s top sluggers has produced an enviable walk year heading into free agency, then cashed in accordingly. There was Judge in 2022, Shohei Ohtani in 2023 and Juan Soto in 2024. Now Guerrero and Tucker are two of the players in the best position to follow suit in 2025, assuming neither signs an extension before then (with the Blue Jays and Cubs, respectively). While neither figures to quite reach the Soto stratosphere, contract-wise, the fact that both would also be young free agents -- Guerrero is entering his age-26 season and Tucker his age-28 season -- sets them up for sizeable paydays if the production is there.

The recipients: Cody Bellinger and Jordan Montgomery
The gift: A mulligan

With that being said, not every good contract year nets the player the type of deal they were seeking. Take Bellinger and Montgomery, who both were excellent in 2023 but then waited until late last offseason to sign short-term deals with opt-outs from the Cubs and D-backs, respectively. Both players then took a big step back in 2024 (Montgomery especially), leaving both to decline their opt-outs. However, the Cubs quickly shipped Bellinger to the Yankees after acquiring Tucker, and Montgomery also has been rumored as a trade candidate. If Bellinger and Montgomery bounce back in 2025, though, each will get another good crack at free agency.

The recipients: Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider
The gift: A smooth return

It was the Braves’ year in 2023 -- during the regular season, at least -- as the team won 103 games and ran away with the NL East title. That was thanks to strong contributions from up and down the roster, but especially from Acuña (40-70 season, NL MVP Award) and Strider (MLB leader with 20 wins and 281 K’s). Then 2024 happened. Acuña struggled through his first 49 games, then sustained a season-ending knee injury. Strider had season-ending elbow surgery after two starts. The Braves still made the playoffs despite those issues, as well as regression from several other key players, but the NL East only figures to be tougher in 2025. Atlanta needs star-caliber returns from Acuña and Strider, even if that doesn’t happen by Opening Day.

The recipient: Billy Wagner
The gift: Five more votes

Wagner is on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Hall of Fame ballot for the final time, forced once more to sweat it out until the announcement of the Class of 2025 on Jan. 21. A year ago, he fell an agonizing five votes short of the 75% threshold for induction in his ninth year on the ballot. One would think that Wagner stands a good chance of becoming the eighth player to make it in his final year of eligibility. He is “hopeful” this time around, and MLB.com's staff is confident in his chances.

The recipient: Will Venable
The gift: Patience

The 42-year-old Venable, a Major League outfielder from 2008-16 and most recently Bruce Bochy’s associate manager in Texas, took on perhaps the biggest challenge in baseball when he was hired earlier this offseason to manage the White Sox. This is a team that just set a Modern Era record for most losses in a season (121) and is now without by far the two best players from that team, pitchers Erick Fedde (traded at the Deadline) and Garrett Crochet (traded this offseason). The team’s top player in 2023, center fielder Luis Robert Jr., could move next. So while there is really nowhere to go but up for the White Sox in 2025, Venable also faces quite a tall task as he seeks to help develop the talent that can be a part of the next competitive White Sox team.