AL West Preview

The AL West is one of the more competitive divisions in baseball, but it could be decided by one of the worst teams in baseball history. The Houston Astros make their American League debut this year, fully stocked with a roster full of dudes you've never heard of before. You can pencil the top 3 teams (A's, Rangers, and Angels) in for at least 12 wins from the expansion-level Astros, but if one of these teams can really make hay and take 17 or 18 games from Houston, that could go a long way towards deciding the division winner.

Oakland A's 

The Oakland Athletics surprised the baseball world by beating out the powerhouse Rangers for the AL West title on the final day of the season in 2012. The A's look to sustain the magic coming into the '13 season, but one can't help but think the team's in for some regression, especially from a pitching staff that looks to feature several second-year starters, mixed in with an oft-injured ace (Brett Anderson), and a 39 year old coming off a steroid suspension. The teams three major acquisitions were inconsistent but solid when healthy former Diamondback Chris Young, brittle but talented infielder Jed Lowrie, and underrated catcher John Jaso. The losses of glove-first shortstop Cliff Pennington, platoon first baseman Chris Carter, and pitcher Brandon McCarthy aren't huge losses, but Carter's bat may be missed if projected first baseman Brandon Moss regresses to his pre-2012 form and McCarthy would have added depth to the staff.

Saying the Athletics will not make the playoffs would be a foolish statement. Although I believe the Angels and Rangers have more talented rosters, many said the same last season and the A's still took the division. I expect some regression from outfielder Josh Reddick after his breakout 2012, but I think Yoenis Cespedes' continued progression should pick up some of the slack. The pitching staff is the key to whether the club experiences another postseason run or falls out of it before the trade deadline. Young starters Jarrod Parker, AJ Griffin, and Tommy Milone all look like possible regression candidates, but if Brett Anderson can make 30 starts (no safe assumption) the staff has potential to be excellent. 

Texas Rangers 

Can AJ Pierzynski and Lance Berkman make up for the losses of Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli? That's the big question facing the Rangers coming into the season, and the easy answer is no way, but the overall lineup depth may allow the Rangers to make up for losing two of it's heaviest hitters. One of the underrated ways the Rangers may have improved this offseason was by sending former "face of the team" Michael Young to the Phillies. Manger Ron Washington felt the need to insert Young into the lineup nearly every day despite the former-All Star's below replacement level play. Lance Berkman would have to return to his 2011 form if the team hopes to continue it's 90-plus winning ways, but that seems like wishful thinking after the 36 year old only played in 34 games for the Cardinals last season.

The Rangers' look like they'll be in the hunt for a playoff berth this season again, but they do not have the powerhouse squad of the past few years. If Yu Darvish can improve off his impressive rookie season, the Rangers should have a solid pitching staff, but the back end is still a bit of a question mark. With Colby Lewis and Neftali Feliz hoping (praying) for a second half return, the Rangers will likely look to patch the hole with converted reliever Alexi Ogando and top prospect Martin Perez. The Rangers will need some good breaks to beat out the Angels and A's for the division, but a wild card berth is a decent proposition.

Los Angeles Angels 

For the second offseason in a row the LA Angels have been among the biggest spenders in free agency. Last year's signings of Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson weren't enough to get the team into the playoffs, but the team hopes that acquiring controversial slugger Josh Hamilton will yield better results this year. Losing rental player Zack Greinke to their cross-town rivals will certainly hurt the pitching staff (as will the loss of Dan Haren, albeit to a far lesser degree), but the team hopes to plug the holes with solid, but unspectacular bottom of the staff options Jason Vargas and Joe Blanton. If Tommy Hanson, whom the team acquired from the Atlanta Braves, can re-capture a sniff of his early-career form, the Angels will have a quality staff that should be good enough to take the division.

The Angels talent is the class of the AL West for sure, but the same could be said of the team coming into last year. A full season from wunderkind Mike Trout and the Albert Pujols from the last 3/4 of 2012 should be enough to propel the team into the playoffs (and that's without even bringing up sluggers Hamilton and Mark Trumbo.) The bullpen could be an issue over the long haul, with the team counting on Ryan Madson coming off Tommy John surgery and possible regression candidate Ernesto Frieri, but Angels GM Jerry Dipoto certainly wouldn't be shy about going out and making an upgrade if need be.

Seattle Mariners 

The Mariners' attempted overhaul of the team probably did not go as they envisioned, but the team is certainly...well...different. The team made two big trades to bring in the bats of Kendrys Morales and Mike Morse, but sent away quality contributors Jason Vargas and John Jaso to make the deals. The Mariners certainly look like they'll hit more dingers this season, but I don't think that'll necessarily translate into wins. The other big move for the team was the recently completed contract extension to ace Felix Hernandez. The huge extension given to King Felix may look like a huge chunk of change for a non-contender to pay, but I think it'll be worth it, if only so Mariners fans have something to feel good about in the future. 

The Seattle Mariners will have a tough row to hoe if they hope to make it through the top heavy AL West and secure a playoff berth. The only way I see that happening is for an awful lot to break right for the team. They would need prodigious output from one or both of their top pitching prospects Taijuan Walker and Danny Hultzen, which is a bit farfetched. They would also need former prospects Dustin Ackley, Jesus Montero, and Justin Smoak to all break out, which is as close to impossible as the Mariners going back to their old trident logo.

Houston Astros 

The Houston Astros are about as bare-bones as an MLB squad comes nowadays, but I think the team's recent selling-off has been a good thing. The Astros certainly won't be contenders anytime in the near future, and while the trading away of anyone not nailed down may result in a box office hit, the Astros regime seems to be moving in the right direction. The big league squad doesn't have many big name players to speak of, besides last year's All-Star Jose Altuve and way past his prime Carlos Pena, but stockpiling prospects will hopefully pay dividends down the road. 

The best case scenario for the Astros this season is to not lose 100 games. That's a pretty low bar, but the team has failed to even achieve that since 2010. Prospect seasoning is the name of the game for the 'stros this year and hopefully the team's losses do not poison the well for some of the team's young talent. The future is uncertain for the Astros, but with a solid farm system and knowledgeable GM Jeff Luhnow, Astros fans can be cautiously optimistic about their future.