AL West Preview 2022
The race for the top of the American League West wasn’t the most exciting race to watch last year.
The Houston Astros seemed to be clear favorites to win the division all year while the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics both made the Wild Card race somewhat intriguing.
With teams making many moves in the offseason, players leaving teams and players returning from injury, the standings at the end of this season may look very different.
Houston Astros
Houston didn’t acquire many players this offseason, but they did have one big loss with Carlos Correa signing with the Minnesota Twins.
The Astros are losing one of the best hitting shortstops in the league, as he hit for an average of .279 last year with 26 home runs and 92 RBIs.
Houston’s pitching staff remains solid, and it could get a nice addition with Justin Verlander returning from injury.
Despite this, expect The Astros to have a slightly worse record than last year due to the loss of Correa.
Seattle Mariners
Seattle made a lot of big moves across the diamond this season.
The Mariners gave up very little to get Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez from the Reds. These two are both bats that can bring in more than 70 RBIs a season.
They also acquired the American League Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, who had an ERA of 2.84 last year. He should still pitch well but is more than likely to regress as he had an ERA over 4.00 the two years before last.
What may be the biggest addition to the team, though, is top prospect Julio Rodriguez, who was just added to the
Opening Day roster. If he can bring his hot bat up from spring training, he could create a spot for himself in the middle of the batting order.
These additions by the Mariners should make the team able to compete with the Astros for first place in the division.
Oakland Athletics
Oakland decided to completely blow up its roster this offseason and embrace a rebuild.
After sending away Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt, and with many other players leaving in free agency, the A’s are expected to be at the bottom of the A.L. West.
With their payroll being slightly over $30 million, all that Oakland fans have to look forward to is seeing prospects like Shea Langeliers, Cristian Pache and Nick Allen progress.
Los Angeles Angels
Shohei Ohtani caught the eyes of America in 2021 by dominating at the plate and on the mound, but even his MVP season couldn’t make the Angels compete for the playoffs.
The Angels didn’t make any big deals or trades to improve their roster in the offseason. They signed Noah Syndergaard, but he hasn’t pitched well recently and has been dealing with injuries the past few seasons.
Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon will be returning from injury, which will be a big boost for the lineup.
If these two hitters and Syndergaard can return to their old selves, the Angels can get above .500, but they’re still likely to fall behind Houston and Seattle
Texas Rangers
When you finish with over 100 losses, it’s going to take a lot to turnover the roster to compete. Texas took big steps to improve its roster with the signings of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.
These two will help the Rangers out a lot, but they’re still far away from competing.
Outside of their new signings and Adolis García, they have very few hitters that they can rely on. Their pitching staff is also very weak, as the team’s ERA was 4.79 last year.
The team will likely end below .500 again, so fans will likely see some of their top prospects get called up near the end of the season. Five of their prospects are in the top 100, so the team has a lot to look forward to in the future.
Expect final standings: 1. Mariners 2. Astros 3. Angels 4. Rangers 5. Athletics
Jayson O’Connell is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jbo5216@psu.edu.
