- Major League Baseball’s American League West will be a race between at least three contending teams. Four of the last six World Series teams from the league have come from the West.
- The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are favorites to make the playoffs.
- Can the Seattle Mariners overcome a quiet offseason to contend?
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Major League Baseball’s American League West is up for grabs in 2025, with three of the five teams having a legitimate shot at a deep playoff run. The Houston Astros won the World Series in 2022, and the Texas Rangers won in 2023. Those two teams are once again the favorites to return to the playoffs.
Can the Texas Rangers stay healthy?
The Rangers are just hoping their deadly lineup stays healthy. Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia welcome the additions of Joc Pederson and Jake Burger, who both hit more than 20 homers last year. The starting rotation will benefit from a healthy Jacob deGrom, along with Kumar Rocker and Nathan Eovaldi. The bullpen might be Texas’ only weakness, but manager Bruce Bochy will try to push all the right buttons.
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“We’re gonna be looking at the teams we’re playing, the pockets that they have that, you know, we might want to get the matchups we want,” Bochy said. “So now, by no means are we getting locked in on any roles right now, right? I think we’re gonna stay flexible with that.”
How will the Astros replace Bregman and Tucker?
The Astros are in a bit of a transitional phase, but they’ve still made the playoffs eight years running. Stalwarts like Kyle Tucker, Justin Verlander, Ryan Pressly and Alex Bregman are gone, but the cupboard isn’t bare by any stretch. The team signed slugging first baseman Christian Walker from the Arizona Diamondbacks to replace some of the power numbers. The starting rotation is largely intact, with Framber Valdez leading the way, and the bullpen is also locked down with Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu.
Can the Mariners survive without hitting?
Pitching will once again be what the Seattle Mariners lean on. Their starting five all clock in with mid-three ERAs, and pitching at T-Mobile Park plays to that strength. The issue has always been whether the team can find some hitting to complement superstars Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh. The answer over the last couple of years has been no. The M’s ranked 29th in baseball in hitting last season. They will count on bounce-back seasons from J.P. Crawford, Mitch Haniger and Mitch Garver to generate offense. That doesn’t, however, dampen manager Dan Wilson’s excitement.
“I feel very confident about running this thing back, and you know when you look at what we did down the stretch with this group, it gives you a lot of excitement, gives you a lot of hope for starting the season,” Wilson said. “Our hope is getting them prepared here in spring training for those 162 games.”
Will the move to Sacramento doom the A’s?
The Oakland A’s have become the Sacramento A’s while they await their planned move to Las Vegas. They also have some nice young pieces to build around, led by Silver Slugger winner Brent Rooker. Right fielder Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday will join him. Former New York Mets starter Luis Severino will anchor the rotation and star closer Mason Miller will shut the door late. But will playing in a minor league ballpark affect their performance? 2025 is the first of three seasons in California’s capital city.
Will Mike Trout finally lead a contender?
In Anaheim, the Angels hope to finally contend with Mike Trout still on board going into his 15th season in the majors. Trout is moving to the right field to try to stay healthy, but as we’ve seen, he can’t do it by himself. The Angels haven’t been over .500 since 2015. With catcher Logan O’Hoppe and infielders Zach Neto and Taylor Ward, maybe they’ll make a surprise run, says Trout.
“With the additions, and, you know, the younger guys that had a full year last year to go through the whole grind –– know what to expect, to come through and see where it goes –– I think the team chemistry, the bonding is a big part of it,” Trout said.
The team also signed veteran pitchers Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks to shore up the rotation.
We’re on to the American League in our Spring Training preview reports. The AL West is up for grabs with three of the five teams having a legitimate shot at a deep playoff run. In fact, 4 of the last 6 American League teams in the World Series have come from the West. The Houston Astros won it all in 2022, the Texas Rangers in 2023.
And those are the two teams we’ll start with. First the Rangers who just hope their deadly lineup stays healthy. Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia will welcome the additions of Joc Pederson and Jake Burger, who both hit 20 homers last year. The starting rotation will benefit from a healthy Jacob DeGrom to go with Kumar Rocker and Nathan Eovaldi. The bullpen might be the only weakness for Texas.
“we’re gonna be looking at The teams we’re playing, the pockets uh that they have that, you know, we might want to get the matchups we want. So now by no means are we getting locked in on any roles right now, right, I think we’re gonna stay flexible with that.”
The Astros are in a bit of a transitional phase but they’ve still made the playoffs 8 years running. Gone are stalwarts like Kyle Tucker, Justin Verlander, Ryan Pressly and Alex Bregman. But the cupboard isn’t bare by any stretch. The team signed slugging first baseman Christian Walker from the Dbacks to replace some of the pop.
The starting rotation is largely intact with Framber Valdez leading the way. The bullpen is also locked down with Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu.
PItching will once again be what the Seattle Mariners lean on. Their starting five all clock in with mid-3 ERA’s and playing at TMobile Park plays to that strength. The issue has always been, can the team find some hitting to compliment superstars Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh? The answer over the last couple years has been no. The M’s ranked 29th in baseball in hitting last season and will count on bounce back seasons from JP Crawford, Jorge Polanco, Mitch Haniger and Mitch Garver to generate offense.
“I feel very confident about running this thing back and and you know when you look at what we did down the stretch with this group. It gives you a lot of excitement, gives you a lot of hope for starting the season and you know our hope is getting them prepared here in spring training for those 162 games.”
The Oakland A’s are now the Sacramento A’s while they await their planned move to Las Vegas and they have some nice young pieces to build with led by silver slugger Brent Rooker. Right fielder Lawrence Butler was a nice surprise last year and JJ Bleday finally met expectations. Former Mets starter Luis Severino will anchor the rotation and star closer Mason Miller will shut the door late. But will playing in a minor league ballpark affect their performance? It’s the first of three seasons in California’s capital.
A six-hour drive south will get you to Anaheim where the Angels hope to finally contend with Mike Trout still on board after 14 years in the majors. He’s moving to right field to try and stay healthy and as we’ve seen, he can’t do it by himself. The Angels haven’t been over .500 since 2015. With Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto and Taylor Ward maybe they’ll make a surprise run but signing older starting pitchers, like Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks doesn’t really scream “contender.” But don’t tell Trout.
“With the additions and you know the younger guys that had a full year last year to go through the whole grind, know what to expect, to come through and see where it goes. I think the team chemistry; the bonding is a big part of it.”
All that team chemistry will be built during spring training. Games begin in full this weekend. Thursday we’ll transition to the AL Central where there are some up and coming teams hoping to make some noise.
For Straight Arrow News, I’m Chris Francis.
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