Welcome to September! Five months into Major League Baseball’s 2025 season, a number of things seem to be settled — from a few divisions to some award races — but plenty of intrigue remains entering the homestretch.

Which of the current contenders will reach the playoffs? How will the closer division races play out? Which teams will secure first-round byes? And how many games will the Colorado Rockies lose?!

To discuss what the final month of the regular season might bring, we asked 16 ESPN baseball experts some of the game’s biggest questions, covering September and beyond, and to explain their answers. We also asked them to make bold predictions about what will happen over the final stretch.

Let’s get into it.

Which team will finish with the best record in baseball?

Milwaukee Brewers: 14
Detroit Tigers: 1
Los Angeles Dodgers: 1

What makes the Brewers the favorite to secure the majors’ best record? Besides the buffer the Brewers have built as we enter the final month of the regular season, there’s just nothing to suggest a falloff. They are on track to win about 100 games and their run differential supports that pace. The remaining schedule is friendly. And Milwaukee’s production has come from every position and category. It’s just a really complete team. — Bradford Doolittle

How many of the current 12 teams projected for the playoffs will be in the postseason field?

All 12: 15
11: 1

You have the Royals ousting the Mariners from the playoff field. Why do you think that will happen? The Kansas City Royals will make the playoffs. Crazy? Not so. They’ve played great in July and August. Vinnie Pasquantino is mashing home runs, Bobby Witt Jr. is red hot and the players they added at the trade deadline have chipped in to make this a good offense. The Royals also have a pretty easy schedule the rest of the way. But which team can they catch?

It might hinge on a three-game series at home against Seattle in mid-September. The Mariners have a recent history of falling just short of the postseason — including last year, when the Royals clinched a wild-card spot with 86 wins and the Mariners won 85 (the Mariners blew an 8-0 lead against Kansas City in June, which loomed large at the end of the season). Seattle has struggled on the road, so the aforementioned series can catapult the Royals back into the postseason. — David Schoenfield

Who will be the No. 1 seed in the AL: Toronto or Detroit?

Detroit Tigers: 14
Toronto Blue Jays: 2

The Tigers were the overwhelming choice. Why did you take them? For me, this was mostly a schedule play. The top seed, based on the standings, is likely to be the Tigers or the Blue Jays, with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners all within plausible striking distance. Toronto doesn’t have an easy series left. Detroit’s schedule isn’t nearly as rigorous. In a race this close, with teams this close in talent and production, little things like schedule luck often determine the outcome. — Jeff Passan

You were one of two voters to pick the Blue Jays. Why do you think they top Detroit? The Tigers are a wonderful story, but not so much since the All-Star break, as they have played .500 ball, struggled to score runs and their ERA is among the bottom 10 in baseball. The Blue Jays are peaking at the right time, scoring plenty of runs, and Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber make the rotation formidable. Frankly, all three AL East contenders are better than the current Tigers, and it should show in the final standings. — Eric Karabell

Assuming the Brewers get one, who will get the second bye in the NL?

Los Angeles Dodgers: 9
Philadelphia Phillies: 5
San Diego Padres: 2

Despite dealing with star players slumping and a mountain of injuries this season, the Dodgers are still the slight favorites for the No. 2 seed in a stacked NL. Explain why. Because those are the very reasons why the Dodgers firmly believe their best baseball is still ahead of them. Their bullpen will soon be as close to whole as it has been all season. The same can be said about the lineup. The rotation already is, and the four-man group they’ll put together in October will be scary if the starters remain healthy.

That’s a big “if,” considering the pitching ailments that have plagued them the last couple years. But at the end of the day, the Dodgers possess the most depth and talent in the sport. They feel as if they’re on the verge of truly showcasing it. — Alden Gonzalez

The Phillies also received a fair number of votes. What makes them your pick? The Phillies seem to be flying under the radar for a team that has spent most of the season on a 95-win pace. Maybe it’s the Zack Wheeler injury, maybe it’s their struggles against the New York Mets — or maybe it’s just that this is about what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from Philly over the past few seasons.

But there is plenty to like here over the final month and into October as well. Even without Wheeler, the Phillies have the best Game 1 starter of any NL contender in Cristopher Sanchez. Kyle Schwarber has a real shot at Ryan Howard’s franchise home run record (58). They acquired the best reliever to move at the deadline in Jhoan Duran and filled their biggest hole by trading for outfielder Harrison Bader. Oh, and they currently hold that second spot in the NL — with a 1 1/2 game cushion over the Dodgers. — Dan Mullen

Will the Dodgers or Padres win the NL West?

Los Angeles Dodgers: 13
San Diego Padres: 3

The Dodgers were our voters’ overwhelming favorite to win the division. Why — and how — do you think San Diego can overtake L.A.? More than any other team, I think the Dodgers look at their seasons from 30,000 feet, rather than succumbing to the concerns of the moment. They demonstrate this every year with their handling of pitching injuries — they essentially rest veteran starters through long stretches of the season, rather than push them in May and June, in order to do what they can to ensure that the players will be relatively fresh in October. This is why we’ve seen such a deliberate ramp-up with Shohei Ohtani.

That’s why I think the Padres will wind up winning the division. They bolstered their bullpen with Mason Miller at the trade deadline, and since then, it feels like they’ve been playing a series of Game 7s. And, let’s face it, San Diego is all-in in trying to win right now, with its top-heavy roster and the likes of Dylan Cease and Michael King headed for free agency in the fall. The Dodgers, on the other hand, won’t go to the whip in September in the same way. No matter how their own division plays out, they’ll make the playoffs and have a shot to repeat as World Series winners, while it feels as if San Diego is going to go all-out down the stretch to win the NL West.

Different pressures, different styles, different context. — Buster Olney

Who will win the AL West?

Houston Astros: 8
Seattle Mariners: 8

Make the case for the Astros: Picking Houston to win the West isn’t going out on much of a limb: They’re currently in first place, just got slugger Yordan Alvarez back from injury and simply have more pedigree than Seattle. The Mariners have a slightly easier schedule the rest of the way but their road woes are for real — and will likely prevent them from going on an extended run. Picking against the Astros would be the headline-scratching move. They’re the division champ once again. — Jesse Rogers

Make the case for the Mariners: The Mariners aren’t playing their best baseball, but they are healthy and within striking distance of the Astros for the division entering September. Their starting rotation is elite. The bullpen and offense should be better. Meanwhile, the Astros have recently gotten Yordan Alvarez back from injury, but they’re without Josh Hader and Isaac Paredes, among others. The division could come down to the three-game series between the two rivals in late September. — Jorge Castillo

How many games will the Rockies lose?

119: 1
118: 3
117: 1
116: 3
115: 3
114: 3
113: 1
112: 1

We got quite the breadth of answers to this question, but you were one of three to say 118 losses — our second-highest loss total. Why is that your prediction? The Rockies aren’t far removed from being on a modern record-setting pace for losses, and they’ve been especially awful against the current 12 teams in the playoff field: 9-50 (.153). They play 13 of their final 24 against that group, at a time when they’re increasingly leaning on younger and less experienced players. Their September isn’t going to be pretty. — Tristan Cockcroft

Make one bold prediction about the final stretch

Tim Kurkjian: Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh will finish the season with 60 home runs.

Matt Marrone: With most of the playoff field set — other than last-minute jockeying for seeds — all eyes will be on the Mariners over the final days of the season, as Raleigh sets a new AL home run record.

Kiley McDaniel: Between hitting and pitching, Shohei Ohtani catches Raleigh in total WAR.

Passan: Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz will finish in the top five of AL MVP voting.

Karabell: The Phillies call up top pitching prospect Andrew Painter on Sept. 7 and he goes 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA.

Mullen: Nolan McLean will be the NL’s best pitcher not named Paul Skenes over the final month and take the mound in October — as the Mets’ Game 1 playoff starter.

Paul Hembekides: Boston’s Garrett Crochet will overtake Detroit’s Tarik Skubal and win the AL Cy Young Award.

Schoenfield: The Red Sox will catch the Blue Jays and win the AL East.

Gonzalez: Actually, the Yankees will win the AL East.

Cockcroft: Not only do the Yankees overtake Toronto for the division title, but they also grab a first-round bye, even if they can’t quite catch the Tigers for the No. 1 seed.

Olney: The Yankees have such a soft schedule in the final weeks that they wind up with the second-best record in the AL … but because Toronto holds on to win the division, New York is the No. 4 seed and faces Boston in the wild-card round.

Tim Keown: The Padres, with the easiest remaining schedule in baseball, will go 7-0 against the Colorado Rockies in September to win the NL West and take the second first-round bye spot.

Castillo: The Mets will overtake the Phillies and win the NL East.

Doolittle: If we started the playoffs tomorrow, the bracket would look exactly the same as it will after we’ve played out the season.

Voters: Dan Mullen, Liz Finny, Paul Hembekides, Jeff Passan, Eric Karabell, Alden Gonzalez, David Schoenfield, Tim Kurkjian, Kiley McDaniel, Tim Keown, Jorge Castillo, Matt Marrone, Bradford Doolittle, Jesse Rogers, Tristan Cockcroft, Buster Olney

Nestle shares opened down more than 2.5% after the maker of Nescafe, Cheerios, KitKat, and Rolos dismissed its chief executive after an investigation into an undisclosed romantic relationship with an employee.

On Monday night, Nestle announced that the immediate dismissal of Laurent Freixe, effective immediately, following the investigation into the relationship, with a direct employee, which had breached the company’s code of business conduct.

Money blog: ‘My best friend didn’t give me a wedding gift – what should I do?’

The replacement for Mr Freixe was announced as being Philipp Navratil, a long-time Nestle executive and former head of Nespresso, the brand of coffee machines owned by Nestle.

It’s the second CEO departure from the Swiss food giant in a year.

Mr Freixe’s predecessor, Mark Schneider, was suddenly removed a year ago, and in June, the longstanding chair, Paul Bulcke, announced he would step down in 2026.

No further detail on the relationship was released by the company, nor was additional information on whom the person Mr Freixe had the relationship with.

Mr Bulcke, who led the investigation, said: “This was a necessary decision. Nestle’s values and governance are strong foundations of our company. I thank Laurent for his years of service at Nestle.”

Mr Freixe had been with Nestle since 1986, holding roles around the world, including chief executive of Zone Latin America.

Read more:
Thames Water creditors offer £1bn ‘sweetener’
Empty flats that developers say sum up UK’s housing crisis

Nestle’s shares, a bedrock of the Swiss stock exchange, lost almost a third of their value over the past five years, performing worse than other European stocks.

The appointment of Mr Freixe’s had failed to halt the slide, and the company’s shares shed 17% during his leadership, disappointing investors.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived in Beijing to meet with his Chinese and Russian counterparts, ahead of one of the largest military parades ever staged.

It is the first time in his 14-year rule that Mr Kim has joined a multilateral event, and it is the first time all three leaders have met, with commentators saying the visit is designed to demonstrate trilateral solidarity against the United States.

According to the Associated Press, Mr Kim, who does not like to fly, took his trademark green armoured train to Beijing, but stopped first en route to check progress on a North Korean missile research institute developing a new engine for a “next-generation” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The North in recent years has tested various versions of ICBMs capable of reaching the US mainland, and analysts say the next-generation ICBM likely refers to a long-range weapon with multiple nuclear warheads that can penetrate US missile defence systems.

Follow the latest on the Beijing summit

While none of the three countries have confirmed a private trilateral leaders’ meeting in Beijing, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russia’s TASS news agency a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Mr Kim on the sidelines was “under consideration”.

Earlier, Chinese leader Xi Jinping had welcomed the Russian President as an “old friend” before the two began a series of meetings.

In turn, Mr Putin addressed Mr Xi as his “dear friend” and said Moscow’s ties with Beijing were “at an unprecedentedly high level”.

Today is the third of four days in which China’s president is hosting world leaders.

It began with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on Sunday and will end with the major military parade tomorrow that commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and China’s fight against Japan’s wartime aggression.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said Mr Kim may stand alongside Mr Xi and Mr Putin on the rostrum at Tiananmen Square during Wednesday’s parade.

It also anticipates he will hold bilateral meetings with the Chinese and Russian leaders and interact with other heads of state at a reception and cultural performance as he seeks to break out of isolation and expand his diplomatic relations.

More from Sky News:
Former US ambassador to the UN on Trump and Putin
Pound on course for biggest single-day fall in months
Green Party announcing new leader in England and Wales

North Korea’s foreign policy priority has been Russia in recent years, as it has been supplying troops and ammunition to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in exchange for economic and military assistance.

According to South Korean assessments, North Korea has sent around 15,000 troops to Russia.

North Korea’s relations with China have reportedly turned sour in recent years, but experts say Mr Kim likely hopes to restore ties as China is North Korea’s biggest trading partner and aid benefactor, and he would want to brace for the end of the Russia-Ukraine war.