American League West Preview

Story posted March 30, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Colin Snyder

Oakland Athletics

It’s no secret the Oakland A’s could be playing out their final seasons in the Bay Area, as a move to Las Vegas or another city looks more and more likely after each season.

So is it possible they could pull off some success before their move? Unlikely.

Oakland was the AL’s first team eliminated from playoff contention last year, and with the additions and subtractions to this roster, nothing appears to change that.

The A’s will welcome the free agency signings of power hitter Jesús Aguilar and relief pitcher Trevor May, as well as starting pitcher Shintaro Fujinami who they acquired from Japan.

If Oakland falls behind early this season, expect them to be a selling team at the deadline as they’ll aim to get younger.

Los Angeles Angels

The Angels enter this season knowing that their performance will have major implications for Shohei Ohtani’s future; whether that be in free agency next winter, or the trade deadline this summer.

The Halo’s made a considerable amount of moves ahead of this campaign, adding the bats of Brandon Drury, Hunter Renfroe and Gio Urshela.

They’ll seek to improve a lineup that ranked bottom-third in the league in hits, runs, runs batted in, walks, batting average and on-base percentage last season.

The Angels' x-factors will be Mike Trout and his ability to stay healthy, as well as a pitching staff that did not make many additions outside of Tyler Anderson.

It should be an uphill battle for the Angels in this competitive division, but they certainly have the talent to compete.

Texas Rangers

The weakness in Arlington last season was without a doubt, the pitching staff.

After committing over $500M to their lineup in the 2021-22 offseason, they were still handcuffed by an incomplete roster, mainly the pitching.

This past offseason they addressed that by signing two-time Cy Young winner, Jacob deGrom, and the seasoned veteran from Boston, Nathan Eovaldi.

This tandem will serve as a one-two punch for the Texas rotation, and should also ease some of the pressure on their star hitters, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Adolís Garcia.

The Rangers will need to bank on deGrom staying healthy and their lineup continuing to mesh, but the Rangers do have the potential to be a dangerous wild-card team.

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners ended a 20-year playoff drought last season, where they reached the ALDS and proceeded to get swept by the Astros in three games.

This past offseason they lost some key players like Mitch Haniger and Adam Frazier, but they made up for those losses with the additions of Teoscar Hernández and Kolten Wong.

A big factor playing into Seattle’s success this year will be star center fielder Julio Rodríguez, as well as the dynamic pitching duo of Luis Castillo and Robbie Ray.

The Mariners can count on their abundance of youth for years to come, but their ceiling this season is more than likely an ALDS appearance in this strong AL.

Houston Astros

Winners of five of the last six AL West pennants are in line to claim another pennant this season, as talent spreads across the diamond for Space City.

While the Astros saw the departure of Cy Young winner Justin Verlander and first-baseman Yuli Gurriel, there are still no signs of this roster taking any steps back.

Houston boasts one of the league's top lineups, featuring five Silver Slugger winners in Altuve, Alvarez, Brantley, Bregman and free agency signing José Abreu.

While this roster is aging, they can also turn to youngsters Kyle Tucker and Jeremy Peña for great production behind the plate.

The defending World Series champions are a major threat to repeat that success again this season.

Colin Snyder is a third-year public relations major. To contact him, please email czs5980@psu.edu.