- Rangers
- Mariners
- Astros
- A’s
- Angels
Rangers
Texas is looking to bounce back after a championship hangover season. They will get a big arm back in the rotation as Jacob deGrom will be healthy. Him staying healthy over the course of the season could be a big push for the Rangers to take the AL West crown for the first time since 2016. While they have not won a division title since 2016, they have won the World Series in the last 2 seasons.
There is lots of young talent mixed around with some good veterans on this team. Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Adolis Garcia will be the guys, I think, that show the way for those important positional rookies and sophomores. Garcia has had somewhat of the tale of two seasons over the past 2 years. In 2023, his home-road batting splits were very different, as he hit much better at home that year. Last year, this went in the opposite direction. He was able to get his road hitting splits up, while his home splits dipped. If he could become more consistent, he would be one of the best pure power bats in the majors.
As mentioned before, Jacob deGrom will be back in the rotation. When healthy, he is easily a top-5 pitcher in all of the MLB. His last fully healthy season in the MLB was 2019, when he led the league in strikeouts. His career 156 ERA+ puts him 56% better than the average pitcher in the MLB for his entire career. deGrom is also the all-time leader in strikeout to walk ratio. He is getting up there in age, but he should be good in the veteran leader role to Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter.
All of these leads me to believe this is the year for a Rangers division win. Their pitching staff, other than deGrom, may be what hinders this.
Mariners
This pitching staff is FILTHY and was almost the sole reason I picked for them to win the division. The only reason against it is Jacob deGrom. I like this pitching staff of Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Bryan Woo a lot because they are all good in their own ways. None of them pitch the same style which gives hitters a harder time when they have a series against them. It has been nice that the organization is keping this group together, however, I am not sure how long they can keep all 5. One of them is bound to get traded at some point.
Offensively, there were not many changes to the lineup over the offseason. They added Randy Arozarena during the trade deadline last year and he will anchor their lineup yet again, sitting anywhere from the 3-5 spot most likely. Him and Cal Raleigh are two guys that will need to limit their strikeout numbers in order for the team to keep innings going and momentum on their side.
Astros
The Astros had an interesting offseason. They traded Kyle Tucker to the Cubs in exchange for some younger/lower tier major league players and some minor league prospects. The additions of Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes should be good for Houston to be able to get runners on base for Yordan Alvarez. This will be Jose Altuve’s first season in Left Field as he decided to give up the infield to help the team in a position in which they were very low in production for the past few seasons.
The Houston pitching clinic should have another good season. Framber Valdez will lead the way again and when he is on he is lights out. The other person I think everyone should watch out for is Spencer Arrighetti, who had a productive second half in 2024 and will look to build off that good performance. If he can show some signs that he can be a vital part of this pitching staff, he could see a Wild Card start in the playoffs. I think that final wild card spot will be a battle between Houston and a team we will talk about next Tuesday.
A’s
Their first season in Sacramento will be a weird one because they should be in Oakland, but three names should be watched. Lawrence Butler had a great second half last season and was a great add for myself in my fantasy baseball league. He will be a guy that can do everything at the plate and also run the bases well.
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Brent Rooker rakes. He had a .927 OPS in 2024, which was 65% better than league average. He has gotten better and better each year and is now towards the top of the league when you think about true power. He can hit 2 home runs in any game he plays because he does not slump as much as other hitters. On their pitching side of things, Luis Severino got a bag in the offseason. His contract with the A’s is the biggest one given out in their franchise’s history.
Angels
I have a future out for the under wins for this Angels team. Moving Mike Trout to the outfield will keep him healthier, hopefully, and if that is enough to keep him playing a full season, baseball fans will rejoice. I wish to see Trout back to as close to his old self as possible, because when he is healthy, he’s one of the best baseball players of my generation. Jorge Soler being right behind him in the lineup should be able to help the Angels produce more runs, if he can strike out less. Their pitching staff should be okay at best, but Kyle Hendricks as your #4 starter is never a good look.