The AL West of 2022 looks a lot different that last year's iteration. This season looks set to see newcomers step into the spotlight, both those making their major league debut and those arriving through free agency and trades.
Here's how we think the AL West will finish up -
Houston Astros
Los Angeles Angels
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Oakland Athletics
This one might be a little controversial. But let's start at the top and work our way down.
The Houston Astros are coming of their 4th straight postseason and 2nd World Series appearance in the last 4 years. They've lost Carlos Correa and Zach Greinke to free agency, but Justin Verlander returning from injury could very well appear as an excellent addition to an already very good team.
Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez will be looking to build on excellent 2021 campaigns, and they still have Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley as veterans within their line-up. Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia showed promise in their rotation and we predict that Houston will win the AL West with relative comfort, behind a rotation full of potential and a still very impressive offensive line-up.
The Los Angeles Angels will be hoping for one thing this season, and that's for two of the games biggest stars in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani to both remain healthy for a full season. Something which is yet to happened. If they can manage it this season, then watch out for the Angels to finish above .500 for the first time since they dropped Anaheim from their name.
DFA'ing Justin Upton frees up their outfield to give youngsters Jared Walsh, Jo Adell and Brandon Marsh the opportunity to get regular playing time alongside Mike Trout, and we think they'll thrive. Free agent signing Noah Syndergaard bolsters their rotation and Ryan Tepara gives them a quality set-up man for closer Raisel Iglesias.
Our prediction of them finishing 2nd in the AL West comes with a big caveat though, they've got to avoid injuries. But if they do, they could be a force within the division.
We loved what the Seattle Mariners were able to achieve last season, just narrowly missing out on the playoffs with 90 wins. They have one of the most exciting young cores of any organisation with Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic, and added to their line-up by trading for the outstanding Jesse Winker and Adam Frazier who batted over .300 last season.
Not only that, but they also signed the reigning Cy Young Award winner in Robbie Ray. The only reason why we have them finishing in 3rd place is because their rotation looks a little thin after Ray and Marco Gonzales. But this is a young and exciting team. They surprised us last season and we wouldn't bet against them doing the same again in 2022.
The Texas Rangers went on something of a spending spree this offseason. They spent $500m on Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, as well as signing Jon Gray as the new ace of their rotation. Seager and Semien greatly improve their line-up and Gray looks to be a prime candidate to put up excellent numbers as he moves away from Coors Field.
We applaud them for spending money and have undoubtably made their team better, but we think that they still need to work on the bottom half of their line-up, the back of their rotation and their bullpen before we're ready to call them contenders in the AL West. But the signs are certainly promising, especially if the spending spree continues before the deadline and into the next off-season.
It hurts to say this, but after an offseason of trading away their best players it can't come as much of a surprise that we think Oakland will finish bottom of the AL East. Just a year ago, they were in the playoff hunt and finished with 86 wins. But by trading away Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt, we can't see them finishing anywhere other than 5th.
By trading their star players, the A's got a mammoth haul of prospects and young players; Cristian Pache should immediately fit into centerfield on Opening Day. But it's still far too early to tell how good the players they received in return will be as many likely won't reach the Majors before 2024.
But Billy Beane knows what he's doing and we think that he likely made the right decision by trading their big names before they left as free agents. We don't think that they'll challenge in 2022, but if even a few of their new farmhands become quality Major Leaguers, then this will be a contending team in a few years time.
What do you think? Have we got it right, or horribly wrong again? Let us know who you think will win the AL West in the comments or on twitter.
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