Fans love a good comeback story, and baseball arguably produces the most of any sport.

Each season, there are at least a handful of players who once built strong reputations, only to fall on hard times -- through underperformance or, more often, injury -- and are forced to start fresh with a new club. Then, somehow, they manage to rediscover what made them great in the first place. These are the players who are easy to root for -- the ones who remind us that while a promising career can unravel quickly, things can turn around just as fast.

There were 15 who fit our criteria for a "reclamation project" arc during the 2025 season:

Age 27 or older. (So, well past the prospect stage.)

Had either a 2-WAR season earlier in their career, or at least 3 WAR over the three seasons before their d

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