Wrapping up the American League with a trip out West. One serious contender, two up and coming teams and two that'll be battling for the basement throughout the summer months, and plenty to talk about in between. Coming out first, out of the red corner, we have...
Houston Astros
The reigning, defending champions of the world, the Houston Astros! Channeling our inner Bruce Buffer. Seriously though, a lot to be excited about with this squad. Starting out with an intimidating lineup.
Where do we start...trash cans or not, Jose Altuve's an all-time great whose been putting up monster stat lines in H-Town for over a decade now. Rookie sensation Jeremy Peña will be his counterpart up the middle, with mainstay Alex Bregman being joined on the opposite corner by newcomer Jose Abreu. The rich get richer...quite possibly the best infield in the league. The outfield isn't exactly one to scoff at either, headlined by Yordan Alvarez and rounded out by Chas McCormick and slugger Kyle Tucker. Opposing pitchers really don't get a break going through this group, which is why they'll be among the league's best offenses again.
Crazy thing is, their starters may be just as good, even with Justin Verlander departing for Queens. Framber Valdez is a monster of an ace, followed up by an equally impressive Cristian Javier. Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garcia and Jose Urquidy compose the rest of a staff that are all under the age of thirty and all posted sub-four ERAs a year ago. Throw in top prospect Hunter Brown on the come up and look out. Young, cheap and dominant.
If you happen to survive their opening pitcher, the top bullpen from 2022 offers no respite. Closer Ryan Pressly is the main guy to know here, but this unit is elite overall. Rafael Montero and Bryan Abreu are each lockdown arms who'd likely be closers on lesser squads. As it stands though, they're crucial pieces of the gauntlet that is the Astros' pen. Nobody's stealing the division title from them this season.
Los Angeles Angels
From a team chock full of stars and success to one with arguably the best players in the league and absolutely nothing to show for it. At some point, you have to feel bad for what Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani have to deal with out in Anaheim. This is a sorry organization with a pretty bleak forecast.
In just his third season, the Anthony Rendon contract already seems to be an albatross. Gio Urshela was brought in to hopefully push him back to the form that earned him his $245 million deal, but I wouldn't bet money on it working out. Brandon Drury will add some pop to the infield, but his lack of consistent contact will be a burden. Luis Rengifo and Taylor Ward are respectable guys in their own right, but this team is super thin and top heavy overall. They'll have some solid stretches of scoring, especially if Ohtani and Trout stay healthy, but don't expect them to be a consistent force.
On the pitching side of things, the Angels may end up stumbling into a pretty okay starting rotation. Shohei is the clear ace of the bunch, but Reid Detmers and Patrick Sandoval are two interesting, young lefties. Could make for a solid trio if they continue to develop. Throw in Jose Suarez and recent signee Tyler Anderson, and this group may actually be alright.
Carlos Estevez will be the man closing out games for the Halos this year. Going from the hitter friendly Coors Field to LA should only benefit him statistically as he embraces his new role. Jimmy Herget and Aaron Loop are nice pieces too, but this isn't a great unit overall. Smells like some blown leads and missed opportunities to me.
Oakland Athletics
Absolutely uninspired to discuss this glorified AAAA club...so we won't take a ton of your time on them.
They literally don't have a returning starter on offense who batted over .250 last season in meaningful time. Shea Langeliers is a really exciting young gun behind the plate and Esteury Ruiz has some serious, serious wheels, but that's about it in terms of excitement with this lineup. They could be historically bad this season.
Not many pitchers to keep an eye on in Oakland. They traded their prospective ace in Cole Irvin to Baltimore roughly a month ago, meaning Paul Blackburn will trot out to the bump opening day. His 4.28 ERA from 2022 doesn't inspire me with confidence personally. Rookie Ken Waldichuk has a little bit of promise, but he's not going to revolutionize this group. Dany Jimenez and free agent addition Trevor May will hold down the 8th and 9th for this team-- don't anticipate them to be splitting too many save opportunities.
Seattle Mariners
What a story the Mariners were last season. On June 19th, they sat ten games under .500 at 29-39 and were easily among the most disappointing teams in the league. Fast forward a month...and they were 51-42, priming themselves for a big playoff push. What a turnaround.
Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez was an integral part of this, slashing .284/28/75 while playing a fine center field. At the ripe, young age of 22, he's set to be a problem on the Pacific coast for at least another decade and a half. Fellow rookie Cal Raleigh didn't boast quite the same average, but knocked out 27 dingers of his own during his first full campaign behind the plate. Throw in 23 year-old Jarred Kelenic in the outfield and Seattle has an incredible, young core of guys to work with. Ty France and Eugenio Suarez add some power on the corners of the infield too, providing a really tough starting nine for opposing pitchers to navigate.
The M's rotation has enough talent to optimistically call them a contender. Top dog Luis Castillo was a splash addition at last year's trade deadline who's rewarded the team in his short time there, going 4-2 in eleven starts with a 3.17 ERA. Given the cavernous confines of T-Mobile Park, we expect him to build on those numbers in 2023. Robbie Ray and Marco Gonzales are the other vets of this group, setting the example for 25 year-old's George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. The younger, latter two led all full-season starters last season in ERA. Solid group of arms with a high ceiling.
Seattle's bullpen was a top ten unit in 2022 that really shouldn't fall off much. Penn Murfee and Andres Munoz are tough customers to run into in the seventh and eighth innings. And once they're done with you, Paul Sewald is there to slam the door shut. All three are coming off of campaigns that saw them post sub-1.00 WHIPs. No easy matchups at the dish for opposing batters. This team should absolutely clinch a wild card spot.
Texas Rangers
Wrapping up our AL West preview with one of the more fascinating teams in the American League, the Texas Rangers. Despite winning a paltry 39% of their games over the last three seasons, the Lone Star squad has splurged in free agency, dishing out over $819 million dollars in contracts over the last two years. The results have yet to follow.
Texas' lineup has some potential to be productive across the board, starting with first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. The key piece of their 2020 trade with Tampa Bay has ripped the best two batting lines of his career since taking his talents to Arlington and shouldn't skip a beat this year. Expectations are high up the middle of the infield, with the pricey Marcus Semien and Corey Seager coming off of two bad statistical campaigns. They'll need to bounce back strong to prove they're worth their exorbitant contracts. Excited to see how Josh Jung does in his inaugural season as a starter on the hot corner. He and his younger brother Jace are highly touted prospects.
Health will be the biggest obstacle for the Rangers' starters to overcome. Jacob DeGrom is as fun a pitcher as you'll find in the league, but it's been four years since he's put together a full season of work. Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney are solid free agent pickups, with the former working his way back from shoulder and back ailments in 2022. Not ever what you want your pitchers dealing with... Jon Gray and Martin Perez are pretty reliable as far as 4th and 5th starters go too. Curious if we'll get a taste of Kumar Rocker or Jack Leiter come September?
Nothing too eye popping about the bullpen in Texas. Will Smith was a nice piece to pry away from their in-state rivals. He'll mesh nicely with Jose LeClerc and Brock Burke shoring up a pen that was middle of the pack. This group is far from elite, but it shouldn't be a weakness.
Bold Predictions
-Cristian Javier will lead Houston in strikeouts
-Jose Abreu will have a career high in RBI
-Shohei Ohtani will be traded midseason
-Reid Detmers will lead the Angels in wins
-Oakland will have the worst record in the MLB
-Shea Langeliers will be the A's only All-Star
-Julio Rodriguez posts .300/30/100 + 30 stolen bases
-George Kirby has the best ERA of any Mariners starters
-Jacob DeGrom won't start more than 17 games for Texas
-Corey Seager hits under .260 for a second consecutive season
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@Choppinglines
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