Were this year's City Connect uniforms an upgrade or downgrade? We grade all eight

New York Times

23-05-2025

Now four years into the City Connect uniform program from Nike and Major League Baseball, each of the 28 participating teams (sans the New York Yankees and the city-less Athletics) has unveiled alternate looks.
When announced in 2021, MLB announced that each City Connect uniform would have a lifespan of roughly three years, which was the case for every team but the Los Angeles Dodgers, who introduced their do-over last year. A total of eight teams have introduced new uniforms this season, culminating with the Boston Red Sox last week.
The City Connect uniforms have brought together not just good and bad uniforms, but also bold designs, head-scratching decisions and utterly boring looks. Some fans love the looks and some hate them, but few garner no response.
There will always be differing opinions in matters of taste. For this exercise, our resident tastemakers are looking at how each team has handled its second swing at an alternate uniform.
MLB writers Tyler Kepner and C. Trent Rosecrans and Culture writer Jason Jones take a look at this year's suite to assess whether teams upgraded or downgraded with their new threads.
Tyler Kepner
Grade: C
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The Nationals' first City Connects had a tasteful homage to Washington's cherry blossom trees. The pink-and-gray color scheme was unique to the Nats, and while I didn't like the 'WSH' lettering on the jerseys, it was a very nice set overall and proved that an all-new color palette can work.
The new one sort of disproves that theory. Lots of teams have light blue, so there's nothing special about it here. If they'd done it to honor the Expos' light blue, I could see it. But this set is all about DC. I like how the outline of the Capitol Dome wedges into the W on the cap, though I don't understand why there's a different W on the helmet. And while I like the concept of etching a city map on the jersey, it falls a little flat here.
C. Trent Rosecrans
Grade: C+
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The best part of the Nationals' new set? The old ones went on sale, and I picked up the gray Nationals cap with the cherry blossoms on the side for the price you'd pay for a New Era 5950 cap back before there was a Nationals cap.
The design itself is fine, but it lacks impact after the beautiful (though not perfect — I'm looking at you 'WSH') previous model.
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Jason Jones
Grade: B+
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My opinion is based largely on being a fan of various shades of blue. I'm more pro-blue than anti-cherry blossoms. The blueprint design also works for me. It's better than a basic gray backdrop.
If the Nationals hadn't changed, they would have been fine. But give me various shades of blue over gray any day.
Kepner
Grade: B-
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I liked this one a lot when it first came out because it combines Houston's shooting star of the '60s with its open-sided star of the '90s. On the field, though, the STROS wordmark looks too small, and the star above it should be bolder.
In other words, it's too white. And while that's better than the navy jersey over navy pants that preceded it, it's short of the 'Tequila Sunrise' explosion that an ideal Astros' City Connect needs. The colorful high socks accomplish this best, but most of the Astros, alas, still wear their pants low.
Rosecrans
Grade: B-
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When the socks are the best part, like they were in the previous iteration, that's not a great sign — especially when the best part is routinely covered.
These are better than the previous ones, but also look like a home version of the first Astros City Connect uniform. It's fine. Boring, but fine.
Jones
Grade: B
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Just about anything was going to be better than last year's 'Space City' jerseys. I can't recall the last time someone told me they were going to Space City or were from Space City. Even knowing NASA's history in Houston, I just wasn't feeling the name.
I would have kept the hat closer to the 2024 model, keeping the H for H-Town. Beyond that, this is an overall improvement.
Kepner
Grade: A
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The ideal City Connect outfit was staring at the Red Sox from their vantage point in Fenway's home dugout. The Green Monster has a distinctive color and distinctive lettering. Why not incorporate both into the new uniforms?
Green isn't a Red Sox color – but that green is. It evokes something unique to the city and team, and feels fresh and timeless all at once. This is the new City Connect standard.
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Rosecrans
Grade: A+
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Even as someone who liked the Boston Marathon City Connects, the Red Sox took a huge step forward. The last set required an explanation. If someone asks why the Red Sox are wearing green, all you have to do is point to the wall.
The design team also did a nice job ensuring the details are fun and not forced. The yellow and white numbers tell a story and aren't distracting. The notches on the numbers? Very cool, if and when you notice them.
And the team not only learned from the Rockies' initial City Connect, but improved upon it. The simple switch from green pants to white lets the rest of the kit shine.
Honestly, this is not only the best of the City Connects so far, but it's also proof of concept that the City Connect program can work wonderfully.
Jones
Grade: A
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What took so long? It's as if going with green for the Green Monster was so obvious that previous editions really overthought the design. This should have been the look from the start. If the Red Sox keep this look for years to come, it'll always be one of the better City Connect uniforms.
Previous editions needed too much explaining and guessing. This is perfect.
Kepner
Grade: A-
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I don't care what anyone says: Arizona's first City Connect outfit was inspired by The Man In The Yellow Hat from the 'Curious George' books. Now they look like the Diamondbacks should, with all sorts of fun elements.
The Diamondbacks have had several insignias that utilize the snake, and the Serpientes' 'S' on the cap and jersey works well. The sleeve patch that mimics the state flag, the snakeskin gradients on the jersey front, the subtle black pinstripes, the white pants — all of it works. I wonder if it might pop better with a white outline, but that's a minor point. Well done.
Rosecrans
Grade: C+
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From visually boring to conceptually boring. Upgrade? Sure. Good grade? No.
It's a nostalgic throwback, sure, but not a particularly good one.
Jones
Grade: C+
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I get the goal was nostalgia, but I was never too keen on the Diamondbacks wearing purple, especially since their division-mates, Colorado, also wear that color. The 'Serpientes' across the chest and the snake forming the 'S' on the hat are winners. I just would have liked it more on the gold-colored uniforms from last year.
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Kepner
Grade B+
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The Giants used only two colors in their last City Connects — white and orange — so it always sort of looked unfinished. The old logo-in-the-clouds conceit should have worked, but didn't quite get there.
The new ones are a bit simple, but I like the splash of purple; it doesn't detract from the team's traditional colors, which are all still there. The groovy sleeve patch, shaped like a glove, looks like it was peeled off a poster for a '60s music festival. And the graffiti letters and numbers work well, too.
Rosecrans
Grade: C
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The key to life? Low expectations. The 'fog' whites were an interesting first draft, but the Giants' first City Connect uniform shouldn't have advanced past the planning stages. It doesn't take much to improve upon what they had.
This set, though, leans too hard into trying to be cute and appease everyone. It's the type of safe design that doesn't move people either way. It's fine. It's better than what they had, but that's damning with faint praise.
Jones
Grade: D
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The Giants' creamsicle jerseys were one of the worst City Connect uniforms I'd ever seen. I recently saw the 2025 version in person and didn't care too much for it. Reminds me of a logo that belongs on Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine, which was probably the goal — to give us something that feels like Woodstock.
Still not my favorite, but much better than the previous edition.
Kepner
Grade: C
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The Rockies' license plate jerseys were one of the charms of the first City Connect wave, especially when the team paired them with white pants. Alas, now the Rockies are struggling in this area, too.
I'm fine with the pullover look — a first for the City Connect series — but they should have gone all in with that. Pullover jerseys were popular in the '70s and '80s, before MLB came to Denver. How would the Rockies have looked back then? Tampa Bay tried this years ago with its fun 'fauxback' style, and I'd have liked to see Colorado do it, too. Instead, Nike gives us 'a palette that pays homage to that perfect transition between day and night,' which apparently happens only in Denver.
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Rosecrans
Grade: B-
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The orange and pink look great on the light blue. But a good color palette isn't enough. The entire look feels like a rough draft and I'm not even sure what the assignment was. The biggest problem with this isn't the uniform itself, it's just that the previous look was among the best City Connects. Alas, time moves on without us.
Jones
Grade: C-
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Some teams needed to change things up. The Rockies were not one of those teams. The green license plate models from 2022 were elite. (We even had them at No.1 in our uniform rankings.) Now the Rockies look like part of a spring display at a grocery store. I don't see the Denver sunset, I see dye for Easter eggs.
Kepner
Grade: C-
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Hey, look, the White Sox are dressing like the Bulls. Did you know that Jerry Reinsdorf owns both teams? Do you think we'll see the reverse when the Bulls start up again in the fall?
The White Sox have worn red before, and they wear black now, but it just feels like a Reinsdorf vanity project. The cap logo is great: an homage to the 'Go-Go Sox' of 1959, the only team besides the Yankees to win an AL pennant from 1955 to 1964. But it drowns in all the Bulls nostalgia.
Rosecrans
Grade: D
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The first White Sox City Connect uniform garnered some rave reviews and served as proof that the program could work.
The second attempt? Well, the logo on the hat is cool.
The rest? The jersey looks like a Chicago Bulls baseball jersey you'd find at a T.J. Maxx. At the very least, they could've made them sleeveless like a basketball jersey.
In the end, it just seems like it's an ode to Reinsdorf, something that I'm sure every baseball fan can appreciate. (Sadly, The Athletic doesn't have a sarcasm font, so I'll just have to go ahead and point out my joke was a joke, which in itself is always a good indicator of the quality of a joke.)
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Jones
Grade: D+
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I don't hate these, but they feel unnecessary. It isn't 1996. And the red with the black pinstripes is just way too Bulls. The sock logo with the wing? Looks like the logo for some knockoff Air Jordans. Reminds me too much of a Cincinnati Reds uniform, too.
Kepner
Grade: B-
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This makes me want to eat a Miami Subs sandwich while watching 'Miami Vice.' I don't know if that's advisable, or even possible anymore. But I have a low bar for Marlins uniforms, and this one clears it.
The franchise that once paired black letters with black jerseys now boldly declares itself 'MIAMI' in teal letters with a neon pink outline on a black backdrop. Gotta love that. And while I don't like numbers on a cap, folks from Miami sure seem to love their 305 area code. For a team that always struggles to connect to its city, that seems like a good thing.
JUST IN: The Marlins have revealed their new City Connect uniforms 🎆 pic.twitter.com/cr9NUvjtcH
— MLB (@MLB) April 30, 2025
Rosecrans
Grade: D-
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There's a big 'dog ate my homework' vibe with this one. It looks like the Marlins forgot their assignment and went through the files from the last uniform redesign and submitted a rejected idea.
Not only that, the one thing they turned in that resembles anything new is the hat, but that, too, backfired. Using an area code on an official MLB hat is like using ChatGPT to write your report and still leaving your prompts in. The gradient piping on the pants and the pink hem on the sleeves just slightly help bring up the grade for me.
This one doesn't just fail to live up to its predecessor, it fails to show up at all.
Jones
Grade: C-
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The Miami Heat already have the 'Miami Vice' look covered and they did it better. The cap is the best part, but the Marlin inside of the '305' doesn't work and the brim of the hat reminds me of cotton candy. The hat, however, isn't terrible. Remove 'Marlins' from the jersey and this could be something to wear for a night of dancing. That's the only justification for those random horizontal pinstripes. Even then, I'm only doing that if it's last minute, Marshalls is closed and I haven't done laundry.
(Top photo of Chicago's Luis Robert Jr.: Matt Dirksen / Getty Images)