AL West
The AL West is another ultra-competitive division. The projections call for the Astros to win this division but last place A’s would only be 7 games behind. Top to bottom is not much of a difference.
I believe there is a bit more gap in there especially from the top to the bottom. The Astros are good but young. They also strike out WAY too much. Learn from the Royals and put the ball in play. The Mariners have some stabilized pitching depth and talent at every position. They will be better than 2015. The Rangers get Yu Darvish back. He will matter. They got on a run a year ago and were dynamite on the road. They will not have the same road success this year and will fall out of the top spot. The Angels are a bat or two away plus in need of better pitching. They are better than last place, but not good enough to compete for the division crown.
The arrows up go to the Astros and Mariners for 2016. I am a believer in the young Astros. I do not envision a scenario where Kuechel gets another Cy Young but, I do think the young hitters grow and the pitchers are quality enough to get them to the top. The Mariners come second but a very close second. Their pitching is what keeps them close. They need their younger offensive players to be good. The Rangers will again be good but I think .500 is where they fall. Their offense is just not as good as the rest.
The AL West is another ultra-competitive division. The projections call for the Astros to win this division but last place A’s would only be 7 games behind. Top to bottom is not much of a difference.
I believe there is a bit more gap in there especially from the top to the bottom. The Astros are good but young. They also strike out WAY too much. Learn from the Royals and put the ball in play. The Mariners have some stabilized pitching depth and talent at every position. They will be better than 2015. The Rangers get Yu Darvish back. He will matter. They got on a run a year ago and were dynamite on the road. They will not have the same road success this year and will fall out of the top spot. The Angels are a bat or two away plus in need of better pitching. They are better than last place, but not good enough to compete for the division crown.
The arrows up go to the Astros and Mariners for 2016. I am a believer in the young Astros. I do not envision a scenario where Kuechel gets another Cy Young but, I do think the young hitters grow and the pitchers are quality enough to get them to the top. The Mariners come second but a very close second. Their pitching is what keeps them close. They need their younger offensive players to be good. The Rangers will again be good but I think .500 is where they fall. Their offense is just not as good as the rest.
