The AL West is one of the most underwhelming divisions in baseball this year. How will each team perform down the stretch?
Look, let’s call the spade, a spade. Going into the All-Star break, the AL West has been a very “mid” division. The 1st place Mariners feature a stellar pitching staff, but that’s all they’ve got. The offensive woes in Seattle are for real. The Astros stumbled out of the gates early, but they are running down 1st place. The defending World Champs in the Texas Rangers have been banged up all year. The Angels continue to play bad baseball with no clear plan from leadership and the fans in Oakland will watch their team finish as one of the worst teams in baseball.
Seattle Mariners
Team Record 52-46
First-Half Best Performer: SP Logan Gilbert
First-Half Underperformer: DH Mitch Garver
The Seattle Mariners find themselves leading the division for now. They have their pitching staff to thank for that as the group ranks 3rd in staff ERA, as they only trail the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves. The hitters in Seattle have probably caused coaches, front office execs, and even some fans to have sleepless nights. The Mariner offense currently ranks dead last in baseball by batting average. They rank 28th in runs per game and their 28.1 strikeout rate is shaping out to be the worst in MLB history.
President of Baseball Ops Jerry Dipoto and co. brought back old friend OF Mitch Haniger and INF Jorge Polanco via trade. C/DH Mitch Garver was also signed via free agency to help the offense. All three have tremendously underperformed to this point.
Second-Half Prediction
Seattle would need to have a monstrous deadline to aid their historically bad offense. Can they do it? Maybe. Will it happen? Probably not. Productive bats like OF Cody Bellinger, 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and OF Jazz Chisholm Jr. could all be acquired, but they face stiff competition from other teams in their own respective races. I predict that the AL West will slip away from Seattle sometime in late-July and the Astros won’t look back after taking over the lead. Their window with the bona fide group of starters like SPs Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, and Luis Castillo is for real. If they squeeze into the October party, it’ll be via the Wild Card. Jerry Dipoto could find himself in the hot seat very soon.
Houston Astros
Team Record 50-46
First-Half Best Performer: OF Kyle Tucker
First-Half Underperformer: 1B Jose Abreu
There was legitimate concern in Houston as the Astros had a troubling first couple of months. The championship pedigree and patience have paid off as they currently find themselves one game out of first place. Offensive stalwarts like 2B Jose Altuve, 3B Alex Bregman, DH Yordan Alvarez and OF Kyle Tucker have led the charge. C Yainer Diaz embracing his full-time role and SS Jeremy Pena have been huge parts of the bounce back as well.
SP Ronel Blanco has been a pleasant surprise in Houston. Blanco and SP Framber Valdez have held the rotation together as others have battled injury in 2024. Houston brought in 1B Jose Abreu in 2023 with the intention of having him aid another championship run for the next couple years. Abreu wasn’t very good in 2023. In 2024 he was so bad he got demoted to the minor leagues. Houston cut ties with the former MVP as he’d been flat out bad this year.
Second-Half Prediction
The Astros have been a mainstay in the AL Championship Series for quite a while and might be back again this season. I predict that they will chase down the AL West once again, and if they avoid the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS, you can probably bet that’s who they will play for the AL Pennant. Look for them to add multiple pieces to their rotation and bullpen.
Texas Rangers
Team Record 46-50
First-Half Best Performer: INF Josh Smith
First-Half Underperformer: OF Adolis Garcia
The defending World Series Champs. A bit of a championship hangover mixed with the injury bug have set Bruce Bochy’s Rangers back a bit in the AL West race. 3B Josh Jung had his wrist broken after getting hit by a pitch in early April. Jung and OF Evan Carter are poised to join the ball club after the All-Star break.
SP Tyler Mahle, SP Jacob deGrom, SP Dane Dunning, and SP Cody Bradford are all on pace to join the team later this summer. Three starters would join a rotation that has performed relatively well in 2024. SP Max Scherzer came off the injured list as well to join the group of starters composed by SPs Michael Lorenzen, Andrew Heaney, Nate Eovaldi, and Jon Gray. OF Adolis Garcia’s offensive numbers have somewhat regressed from seasons past. Garcia wasn’t an All-Star in his hometown park this year, but he was a HR Derby participant. Maybe that gets him going.
Second-Half Prediction
The Texas Rangers can gladly say been there, done that after their 2023 championship. With the numerous additions of key pieces to the position player group and rotation, I expect the Rangers to add relief help. I have my doubts about them running down the AL West division, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they come out of the hole and snag a wild card spot over the weak-hitting Mariners. The upside and pedigree are present in Arlington, but that remains a tall task.
Los Angeles Angels
Team Record 41-55
First-Half Best Performer: UT Luis Rengifo
First-Half Underperformer: SP Reid Detmers
So far, so bad has been the story in Anaheim this year. Due to the lack of direction and the state of the farm system, this will be a common theme for the Halos in the coming years. SP Tyler Anderson, SS Zach Neto, C Logan O’Hoppe, and UT Luis Rengifo have been bright spots among many dark ones this year. OF Mike Trout and 3B Anthony Rendon have missed significant time yet again due to injury. The already thin rotation also took a hit, as SP Patrick Sandoval went down with elbow surgery in late June.
The lack of talent and depth run rampant throughout the Angels roster. OF Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak are running out of time as their offensive output has been extremely poor this season. Instead of adding players on short term deals to add value and possibly flip them this deadline, Minasian opted to allocate all his money towards the bullpen. The Angel pitching staff ranks 28th in baseball by ERA.
Second-Half Prediction
The product that the Angels have continuously put out for fans this past decade has been pitiful. Owner Arte Moreno and his undermining nature have a huge hand in the constant failures. As of today, the Angels are stuck in a rut without direction. More bad baseball will be played in Anaheim for the rest of the summer. They will more than likely be sellers, but I believe they won’t execute the necessary sell off the franchise desperately needs. They are in dire need of young talent. I expect General Manager Perry Minasian and the Angels to part ways at the end of the season.
Oakland Athletics
Team Record 37-61
First-Half Best Performer: RP Mason Miller & Brent Rooker
The success of OF Brent Rooker and RP Mason Miller have been quite the story out of Oakland this season. Miller, the young fireballer, made the AL All-Star team for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Rooker has mashed baseballs all season. Oakland is positioning themselves to trade him away to a contending ball club at the deadline. The A’s will continue to depend heavily on young talent in order to obtain major league success. 2024 will be the last season for the Athletics in the Coliseum. The storied franchise will call Sacramento their new home for the next three seasons, before leaving for Las Vegas.
Second-Half Prediction
What can I say? Things are bad and will continue to be bad. I feel for the people of Oakland.
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