2021 AL West Preview

Happy Opening Day Eve!

With the Major League season kicking off tomorrow, I have one day left to get this in. The past couple of days, I've gone through both East and Central divisions for the upcoming season, leaving us with just a pair of divisions to go today.

So before we tackle our defending champion, let's take a look at the American League West.

2019 MLB Preview: AL West

We're staying out west for the second post of the day.

Earlier today I kicked off my series of MLB preview posts with a look at the NL West. Like last year, especially with the regular season starting on a Thursday, I need to get this series expedited, so I'm covering two divisions a day. This means for the afternoon portion, we're going to take a look at the AL West.

2018 MLB Preview: AL West

And so we've come all the way across the country. Five divisions down, one to go.

I broke one tradition with my 2018 MLB previews in condensing this down from six days of posts to three. But one tradition I didn't break was the alternating of leagues and working across the country.

And now, we conclude with the division that contains our defending champion: the AL West.

2017 MLB Preview: AL West

Happy Tuesday! We're onto Day 3 of MLB previews. We're less than a week from the start of the season, though a few teams will officially kick off the year a week from today. A week from today is also the second day of the MLB Tournament of Champions, which I hope you'll check out.

We're going from one coast to the other, as we swap leagues again and preview the AL West today.

2016 MLB Predictions: AL West

Day 2 of baseball previews is upon us, and I'm back with a look at another division.

I'm starting out on the western edge of the country before swinging out east and then coming back to the heartland of the country this weekend to look at our defending champions as well as some of the other major contenders. Today, however, I remain out towards the Pacific with a look at the AL West.

2015 MLB Preview: AL West

Happy Good Friday and Almost Opening Day! We've almost wrapped up with our look around Major League Baseball in anticipation of the 2015 season.

Today we make the trek out west to finish out the previews, starting in the American League. If you want to refer back to my predictions from last year, you can view them here.

Let's take a look at the 2015 AL West.

2013 MLB Preview: AL West

After some time off between posts, it's time for me to get these finished off. We have 4 divisions down and 2 left to go, with just the West Coast left in play. Let's get back to the American League.

AL West
With the realignment of divisions, the AL West finally gets a fifth team, but it really doesn't add much to the divisional picture as Houston is not good. Even with that, this is a division that could still see a couple teams make the playoffs pretty easily. Based on how I've predicted the first two American League divisions, I'm thinking they definitely will. And maybe this time I'll get the division's winner right.

 


1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2012: 89-73, 3rd in AL West
Last year I had these guys winning the division after being one of the winners of the 2011-2012 offseason. They never really got on a great roll though and ended up being behind Oakland and Texas down the stretch. I do think having a full season of Mike Trout will help, as will the addition of Josh Hamilton to an already deadly lineup (that Pujols guy is pretty good too). Jered Weaver anchors a good rotation, and I think this team should get to the playoffs this year.
2013 Projection: 97-65

2. Texas Rangers
2012: 93-69, 2nd in AL West, lost in AL Wild Card Game
Even with you taking Josh Hamilton out of the equation, this team still returns a lot of the key pieces that were part of back to back pennants and the group that had the Rangers in first until the end of the season. Losing Mike Napoli hurts, but picking up Lance Berkman helps the lineup, and AJ Pierzynski is a good catcher even at his age. The rotation can do some damage, and if Joe Nathan stays healthy, this Rangers team should be back in the playoff mix this year.
2013 Projection: 95-67, Wild Card

3. Oakland Athletics
2012: 94-68, 1st in AL West, lost in ALDS
This A's team came out of nowhere last season for all intents and purposes to sneak into the playoffs after no one expected them to. I think that experience certainly helps them for 2013, but I'm not sure they can make it back. Yoenis Cespedes had a good first year in the bigs and I'm sure he will improve in his sophomore campaign, but I'm just not overly impressed with this team. They'll compete in a polarized division, but I don't think they'll make the playoffs.
2013 Projection: 89-73

4. Seattle Mariners
2012: 79-87, 4th in AL West
They actually finished with a better record than I remembered them having last year, which bodes well for this team. Having Felix Hernandez always helps, and there's decent pitching behind him. The biggest question once again will be whether or not they can score enough runs after finishing with the fewest in the American League last year (yet there were a few NL teams that did worse).
2013 Projection: 79-83

5. Houston Astros
2012: 55-107, 6th in NL Central
Houston gets to start off the Major League season on Sunday night against Texas in their first American League game ever. I think you could safely argue that the American League as a whole is better than the National League, so with Houston switching to tougher competition, I think this is going to be a rough year in South Texas. There's some decent youth here with guys like Jose Altuve, but that can only get you so far.
2013 Projection: 49-113

Tomorrow at some point I'll get the last prediction up, probably during the interim between Easter Sunday church and dinner. One more division, and a look at the NL West is next!