The last post we focused on the AL East so we're headed west for this edition.
It's a Not Even Close!
1st Place Houston Astros
The Stros sit atop the AL West standings with a 14 game lead. The club's playing great ball and they are deep throughout their lineups.
The acquisition of Justin Verlander makes Houston are serious contender for a World Series appearance in my opinion. Their top 3 starters, Keuchel, Verlander and Morton put them right their with anyone in the league as far as SP firepower goes.
The batting order is deadly and this team can throw up big numbers. Jose Altuve is playing like he's an MVP favorite. At the time of writing this he's hitting .348 on the year and is just a ton of fun to watch the lil guy.
The entire lineup is almost hitting at a .300 avg.. Correa, Springer, Reddick, Gurriel and Gonzalez. The team can flat out score runs!
This could be the year for the Astros and expectations are high. After suffering for so long it's nice to see Texas's other team doing well and ownership investing in them.
Let's Get To The Losers
2nd Place Anahiem Angels
14+ games back the Angels are toast. Having one of the best players of this generation in Mike Trout, it's sad to see him wallowing with this club. There hasn't been a point where it looked like the Angels we're gonna compete for a playoff birth all year. When Trout went down with an injury earlier in the year it sealed their fate. This club needs direction because right now they are not competitively built.
3rd Place Seattle Mariners
17.5 games back. Seattle is just plain terrible and their seasons been over since shortly after the all-star break. I was looking for some positive points to draw from this club but the truth is I can't find any. If I were a Mariners fan I'd be pretty frustrated with management here. The club isn't competitive this year and won't be next year. It's hard for a smaller market team to compete but they don't even look to be trying. I'm sorry Seattle.
4th Place Texas Rangers
The Rangers have dropped 5 games in a row at the time of this writing. The team's 18.5 games back and are just looking to play spoilers at this point.
Inconsistency is the brand of ball the Rangers have been playing all year. Their deep prospect pool and mix of younger controllable players at the major league level gives a little hope to Rangers fans though. The club will have to add some starting pitching if they're to compete next season. Not much sense in spending too much time here, if I were from Texas I'd go grab some Astros gear and go cheer on the other club from this state with a chance.
5th Place Oakland Athletics
When you stink you stink. The A's maybe the most miserable team in baseball, there's no trophy for that though. The club is 25 games out of 1st place right now. They can't pitch, they don't run and they can't hit. They better start playing money ball better because they are not at all fun to watch or write about.
If there's any hope it's that the club is very young and loaded with prospects. The average age of the team is 25. While having many young players there's not too many standouts and Oakland management has been working the kids into the lineup to see who's gonna breakout?
Growing up an A's fan it's depressing to see them so uncompetitive. Noone's at the stadium watching them play and I have to wonder how long the club will stay there like this before their sold and moved? Hopefully I'm wrong but we have to remember baseball is a business at this level. I do hope they can turn it around but i'm doubtful.
That's your overview of the AL West standings. It's not a very competitive division but they have one team that has a real good chance of going deep. (Astros) I'm rooting for Verlander to regain his status as one of the premier pitchers in baseball and helping the club go deep into the postseason.
Stay tuned to majorleaguenews as next time we'll be wrapping up the American League by focusing on the Central Division.
Thanks for reading sports fans!
*Images Courtesy of Sports Illustrated
