We Hit Dingers: AL West Preview

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Projected Standings

I love the moves made by the Astros front office this offseason. Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann are both professional hitters who will be beneficial to the team's younger hitters. They will also provide a lot of depth to an already-quality lineup. I'm not certain how well the Josh Reddick signing will work out for them long-term but he has shown that he can be a good hitter in the past. Their pitching rotation is questionable but I believe that Dallas Keuchel is closer to the pitcher who won the Cy Young Award than the one who struggled last season. I think that the Astros have done more than any of the other teams in the division and were already a good team before the moves. I think they will win the division by a sizable margin.

Seattle is a better team than they were in 2016 after acquiring Drew Smyly, Jean Segura, and Danny Valencia, all moves that should help them be more competitive. Felix Hernandez should bounce back in 2017 and looks to be in the best shape of his professional career plus they have Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz. They should outslug the Rangers for a Wild Card spot.

I really thought that the Rangers had a chance to win the division this year before the offseason began. However, after the bizarre moves they made this offseason, I don't think that they are a better team than they were in 2016 while the Astros and Mariners did get better. They are going to rely on two starting pitchers with significant injury histories with Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross, plus Yu Darvish has had his own injuries in the past. I also believe that their lineup is weaker than they were in 2016 after losing Ian Desmond and Carlos Beltran.. I feel like they missed out on a great opportunity to repeat as division champs and will miss the playoffs this season.

They have the best player in the game and that's it. Their pitching rotation is one giant question mark and their lineup lacks depth or anything beyond Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. They are in the really bad category as a middling team with a horrible farm system and a non-competitive major league roster.

Who are the Athletics and what are they doing? They refuse to spend any money, claiming to be a small market team despite playing in one of the biggest markets in baseball. They don't have a good pitching rotation and their lineup lacks any real punch. They need to finally just give in and stop trying to compete.