We recently looked at the 10 players who were the signature stars of the sport in 2024, the ones who will be the first players everybody thinks of when looking back at this past year. They were the names of 2024.

But who will be the top names of 2025? Obviously, some will be the same. Who else though?

Here¡¯s a look forward at 2025 as we try to guess who will define Major League Baseball in the upcoming season. (Again, we¡¯re looking only at players not featured in our 2024 list, linked above.)

Mookie Betts, SS, Dodgers

Mookie is headed back to shortstop this year, though it¡¯s easy to lose track of what position he is even playing anymore. It¡¯s funny how Betts -- you know, the 2018 American League MVP, the almost-certain Hall of Famer, the three-time World Series champion -- almost got lost this past season in Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani had his incredible season, Freddie Freeman became a postseason hero, and Betts missed 45 games in the middle of the 2024 season with a fractured left hand and was moving all over the field. There may be no more quintessential ballplayer than Betts, and here¡¯s betting we see him for a lot more than 116 games in 2025. Maybe he¡¯ll just go out and win another MVP Award.

Lawrence Butler, RF, Athletics

The A¡¯s have been a lot more aggressive this offseason than many might have anticipated, and you have to wonder if Butler¡¯s emergence is one of the primary reasons why. After being sent back to the Minors on May 14, Butler returned to the big leagues in June and, thanks to some tweaks to his swing, was simply one of the best hitters in baseball for the next four months. Butler and Brent Rooker look like the new Bash Brothers, and Butler (a perfect 18-for-18 in stolen bases last year) might put up a 30-30 season in 2025.

Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers

Chourio started last season as the youngest player in baseball -- debuting on Opening Day just 18 days past his 20th birthday -- and ended it that way as well. But while he began 2024 a little green and occasionally a little overwhelmed by big-league pitching, he finished it as the best hitter on a division-winning team. Chourio is the sort of superstar you build whole teams around, which is exactly what the Brewers are doing. (Don¡¯t forget, he¡¯s now under club control through 2033, thanks to an extension he signed before that debut.) Chourio may be repping the Brew Crew in the All-Star Game as soon as this year ... and he may win an MVP Award before you¡¯re quite ready for him to.

Dylan Crews, RF, Nationals

The No. 2 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft made it up for 31 games in 2024 and didn¡¯t quite take the Majors by storm, hitting .218 with only three homers. But you don¡¯t have to squint to see Crews' otherworldly talent. Crews basically does everything well, and now that his plate discipline is coming along, he and fellow Nats outfielder James Wood might be ready to help lead this team back toward serious contention. He¡¯s the No. 1 MLB Pipeline prospect right now. He¡¯ll be an All-Star any minute.

Jacob deGrom, RHP, Rangers

It has been a while -- a long while -- since we saw deGrom over a full season. In fact, we¡¯ve barely seen him at all lately, with just 41 innings in two seasons since signing with the Rangers. He hasn¡¯t pitched more than 15 games since 2019. But we all still remember who this guy is when he¡¯s healthy, right? deGrom finished ninth in NL Cy Young voting in '21 despite pitching in only 15 games. (That 1.08 ERA helped.) His cameo at the end of '24 (1.69 ERA over 10 2/3 innings) sets him up well for a normal offseason and a return to form in '25, and if he can stay on the hill ... well, he might just be the best pitcher in baseball. When deGrom is right, no one else is really all that close. That¡¯s a big if. But it could happen.

Elly De La Cruz, SS, Reds

De La Cruz was an outstanding, but significantly flawed, player in 2023. He was even better, with fewer flaws, in '24. What in the world is he going to be in '25? De La Cruz can do anything on a ballfield, and he has shown the ability to improve upon his weaknesses. This makes sense: He is, after all, only about to turn 23 on Jan. 11 and figures to keep evolving and improving every year. I can only assume, by 2028, he¡¯ll be able to fly. (And he¡¯ll still be only 26.)

Riley Greene RF, Tigers

The Tigers¡¯ efforts to rebuild around young players have not all quite panned out -- though there is still time for the likes of Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson -- but Greene sure has. He put up All-Star numbers in 2024 -- he and Kerry Carpenter have been the central drivers of this offense -- and, at the age of 24, Greene is only getting better. These are exciting times for Detroit sports right now, and Greene is set up to be a Tigers centerpiece for the next half-decade. He¡¯s also a blast to watch. He might be your favorite player; you just don¡¯t know it yet.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays

In 2021, Guerrero had an MVP-quality season, and he¡¯d have won the award if Shohei Ohtani hadn¡¯t been out there, doing Ohtani things. But for all the excitement about Vlad Jr., he took steps back in '22 and ¡®23, to the point that many wondered if he¡¯d ever reach those levels again. In '24, he did: His OPS+ was 166, just below 2019¡¯s 167, and he hit .323 on the season, the highest average of his career. As you have probably heard, he¡¯s going to be a free agent after this year because the Blue Jays never did work out an extension with him. That means we¡¯ll be talking about him essentially every day for eight months, once the season begins. And for good reason.

Jackson Holliday, 2B, Orioles

So his rookie season did not quite turn out the way most of us, least of all the Orioles, thought it was going to. But let¡¯s not forget just how heralded of a prospect Holliday was, just how much raw talent he has, and that he just turned 21. It¡¯s going to break through at some point, and probably soon. While his younger brother, Ethan, is now MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 1 Draft prospect for 2025, don¡¯t be surprised if Big Brother is the one who makes everyone¡¯s jaws drop this year.

Shohei Ohtani, SP, Dodgers

All right, this is cheating. We said at the top that we weren¡¯t going to include anyone who made our list of the top players of 2024, and Ohtani was, of course, atop that list. But that was Ohtani the DH. He didn¡¯t pitch, but he is going to this year, getting back to his jaw-dropping two-way feats. Man, can¡¯t you just not wait?

Julio Rodríguez, CF, Mariners

J-Rod has been primed for an MVP season for a couple of years now, but it should be noted that he has taken steps backward since his spectacular debut in 2022. In both of the past two seasons, his batting average, OBP, slugging and WAR total all have dropped. Rodriguez is still the best hitter on the Mariners, though, and no one¡¯s worried. It would be useful if the Mariners could get him a little lineup help, but more than anything else, you wonder if he¡¯s going to make a power jump here in the next year or so after launching only 20 homers in 2024. J-Rod has played three full seasons and he¡¯s still only 23 years old. We¡¯ve seen what he can do when he¡¯s on a hot streak. One of these days, he¡¯s going to put that together for a full season.

Kyle Tucker, RF, Cubs

Will he be the best Cub since ... peak Kris Bryant? Sammy Sosa? It remains to be seen if Tucker will remain at Wrigley Field beyond this season, but for 2025, he¡¯s the superstar this fanbase has been waiting for. His arrival instantly makes the Cubs the favorites in the NL Central, and the regulars at the Friendly Confines are going to love him. For years we¡¯ve been saying he¡¯s underrated, underappreciated, even under-seen. That¡¯s not going to be a problem when he¡¯s wearing a Cubs uniform.