The AL West is always an intriguing division in the MLB. The division consists of the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels, and the Texas Rangers. Last season, Houston, Seattle, and Oakland all finished with an above .500 record.
Meanwhile, the Angels won 77 games and the Rangers ended up winning just 60 games. The big surprise last season was Seattle, earning 90 wins after most critics expected them to finish in last place. Free agency hasn’t concluded and many teams are still far from complete. So it’s not going to be easy deciding on a winner as we approach February.
However, the Rangers, the team that finished in last place, wasted no time this off-season, before the lockout and signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray, and Kole Calhoun, spending $561 million.
The Rangers should be much better than last year, but, for now, the playoffs still seem unlikely. The Angels, on the other hand, played last season without Mike Trout in the second half of the year. With Shohei Ohtani leading the charge, it would’ve been nice to have Trout and Anthony Rendon healthy and in the lineup.
The offense should come around when healthy now, but the pitching was the biggest concern. So the Angels went out and brought in a couple of wait-and-see guys on a one-year deal. Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen bot came on one-year deals and of course, both pitchers have a ton of upside.
They’ve added bullpen depth and cheaper hitting. For now, it also looks like the Angels will get better over time and improve from last year’s record. The Oakland Athletics came in third place last season.
But that roster is going to look completely different this upcoming season. Somehow, the A’s always found a way, but without players like Starling Marte and potentially Matt Olson, the Athletics could start to drop in the standings. I specifically don’t think the A’s are contenders this season.
That leaves us with Seattle and Houston. And let’s be honest, Seattle overachieved last season, winning 90 games. But last year’s season helped the Mariners recognize that they’re in winnow mode.
The Mariners brought in Robbie Ray, the American League Cy Young Award winner as the number one starter for the team. Ray has had his ups and downs as well, but he’s looking like the real deal now.
The Mariners are becoming and young and entertaining team, but still, asking for 90 wins is a bit much. Lastly, the Astros are always hard to beat, but if Carlos Correa is out of the picture, the Astros might be in trouble. The starting pitching didn’t look that great in the postseason and a lot of the Astros’ rotation struggled at some point this season.
The division is really wide open this year. More games within the division will be tight and tense. But all in all, I think the Angels will make enough moves to be contenders this year. If all works out and there are no significant injuries, I like the Angels to finally win this division.
Los Angeles is finally recognizing that they need to build a team to win now with Trout. It’s going to happen this year.
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