AL West Predictions
Houston Astros: Until the Astros lose the division, they will be my AL West winner every year (last season doesn’t count). Every season we hear about the Angels and the Athletics possibly winning the division, it never happens and it will not happen this year. Even though the Astros got worse, every team in the AL West decided to sit idly by and not improve, thus allowing the Astros to win the division again. That’s not to say the Astros aren't a good team, they are, but I believe that the division could have been more competitive had the other teams signed some decent free agents.
Leading their staff is the ageless Donald Zack Greinke, who does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The guy is still nasty, even at the age of 37. I love the signing of Jake Odorizzi for this club, as Jake is one of the more underrated pitchers in the league. Unfortunately, the main reason they signed Odorizzi was because Framber Valdez fractured his finger during a start this Spring. I do really like the meat of their rotation consisting of Lance McCullers Jr., Josh James, Cristian Javier, and Jose Urquidy. I even see Ryne Stanek making some opener starts like he did in Tampa and Miami.
It is no doubt that the Astros lineup took a major hit when they lost George Springer to free agency. A good re-signing on their part was Michael Brantley, even though we thought he too signed with the Blue Jays for that 30-minute time frame this Winter. Although they have a hole in their outfield, I believe that they will fill their outfield with Kyle Tucker, who killed it last season in RF, Brantley in LF and Myles Straw in CF.
Once again, your AL West champs, the Houston Astros.
The Astros will achieve in 2021, they won't be better than past years, but they definitely won't be much worse.
Los Angeles Angels: It seems as though the Los Angeles Angels are the same team every year. Slowly torturing Mike Trout and us baseball fans with mediocrity, forever preventing him from making the playoffs we all want to see so bad. The Angels have the same problem every year and that is their pitching staff. Their lineup is very dangerous, but having to win every game 10-9 is not going to work out.
I think Shohei Otani will be very effective on the mound, but who knows how healthy he is or how long he can pitch and hit. I believe Dylan Bundy will not be as good as he was last year, Griffin Canning has not panned out to what he was supposed to, Alex Cobb will be subpar, Andrew Heaney will be just OK, and Jose Quintana will be decent. This is not enough to take the AL West champion Astros down. Though I’m down on their starers, I actually think they have a sufficient bullpen led by Ty Buttrey, Alex Claudio, Rasiel Iglesias and Aaron Slegers.
I do believe that they could have a top five lineup this year consisting of Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, Shohei Ohtani, David Fletcher, Jared Walsh, and rookie Jo Adell.
If the Angels had acquired two, or even one, of Jake Odorizzi, Jameson Taillon, Corey Kluber or Lance Lynn, this team would have a shot at winning the AL West.
The Angels will overachieve in 2021.
Oakland Athletics: I believe the Oakland A's will come in 3rd place in the AL West. I think the Astros and the Angels are both better while the Rangers and the Mariners are both clearly worse. Looking at the rotation, they do have some solid young pitchers such as Jesus Luzardo, Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, and AJ Puk (if he ever gets healthy). Their offense is a pesky bunch consisting of catcher Sean Murphy, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, newly acquired Elvis Andrus, and everyone’s favorite hot-head Ramon Laureano.
I like the signing of Trevor Rosenthal to bolster their rather thin bullpen. Rosenthal joins Sergio Romo, JB Wendelken, and Lou Trevino to fill the Athletics back end.
At the end of the day the 2021 Athletics are going to be a middle of the pack team although they could compete for a wild card spot if all the stars align.
Like their division rivals the Angels, I believe the Athletics should have signed one of Jake Odorizzi, Jameson Taillon, Corey Kluber, or Lance Lynn to have a better chance at winning the AL West.
The Oakland A's will underachieve in 2021.
Seattle Mariners: Perhaps the team with the most unique offseason, and not in a good way either. After deciding not to make an impactful move, the former Mariners president, Kevin Mather, stated that Hispanic players should learn English faster because he doesn’t like paying a translator $70,000 a year. Mather also stated that they were going to keep top prospect, Jared Kelenic, down in the minors to manipulate his service time. Mather soon thereafter stepped down as president and CEO of the Mariners. Not a great look entering the season as one of the worst teams in the League, and the team that hasn’t made the playoffs in two decades.
Since it is difficult to pay a translator $70,000 a year, then it will be even more difficult to pay a decent starter or bat $9-$12 million a year. The Mariners proved this to be true by only reuniting with James Paxton and failing to sign another starter and bat.
Paxton joins Marco Gonzales, Kendall Graveman, Yusei Kikuchi, and Justus Sheffield in the rotation. In my opinion the only one with the potential besides Paxton is Justus Sheffield. Interestingly enough, the Yankees had traded Justus Sheffield for Paxton back in November 2018.
Although their rotation is subpar, they do have a couple bright spots in their lineup such as 2020 ROY Kyle Lewis and shortstop JP Crawford.
The most exciting player Mariners fans can look forward to is Jared Kelenic, when and if he is finally called up. Unfortunately, on March 6th Kelenic strained his adductor in his left knee. He is on track to play this week, but it might delay him being called up to the majors. It would not surprise me if the Mariners used this injury as an excuse to extend Kelenic’s service time, fulfilling Mather’s original plan.
I believe if Kelenic recovers in time and doesn’t miss that much of the season then he has a good chance to be the 2021 AL Rookie of the Year.
Looks like another fourth-place finish in the AL West for your Seattle Mariners.
The Seattle Mariners will underachieve in 2021.
Texas Rangers: I am going to try to say this as nicely as possible. The Rangers might have the worst roster in the MLB this year, to be totally honest. They will be very bad in 2021 and they will finish in last place in the AL West.
They have a lot of question marks on their team especially within their rotation. Who knows how good Mike Foltynewicz, Kyle Gibson, and Jordan Lyles will be? These three could return to form and be decent (meh) pitchers for the Rangers, but I don’t see that happening. I believe all three will have ERA up in the fives and get beat up within the division.
I tried to think of some bright spots for this roster, but I honestly cannot think of any. Hey, at least they get to see Joey Gallo smash some home runs (and bat .190) in that beautiful new stadium of theirs. It is also going to be filled to 100% capacity for Opening Day! Woo!
The Texas Rangers will underachieve in 2021. (obviously)
Final ALW Standings Prediction
AL West
Astros 88-74
Angels 83-79
Athletics 81-81
Mariners 73-89
Rangers 68-94
