The Oakland Athletics hosted a clinic last season on how to collapse down the stretch.
The A’s looked like the best team in Major League Baseball in 2014 until Billy Beane’s trade deadline maneuvering proved too cute. That’s when the Los Angeles Angels came roaring back to snag the American League West title by a wide margin.
Will the Angels, who won 98 games before sputtering in the playoffs, repeat as division champs? Will Oakland’s offseason shakeup pay dividends? Can the Seattle Mariners take the next step?
Let’s examine the AL West.
Los Angeles Angels
Strengths: The Angels should continue to be one of the AL’s strongest offensive teams.
Yes, they traded away Howie Kendrick, Josh Hamilton’s future remains a mystery and Albert Pujols is another year older. But Kole Calhoun looks like a potential impact player atop the order, C.J. Cron is an intriguing slugger if he can improve his plate discipline and it’s not like Pujols is a scrub despite no longer being among MLB’s elite.
Speaking of elite, that Mike Trout guy is pretty good, too.
Weaknesses: The Angels’ rotation has questions.
Jered Weaver is trending in the wrong direction, C.J. Wilson stunk last season, Matt Shoemaker needs to prove he’s the real deal, Hector Santiago is good, not great, and Andrew Heaney is only 23. A returning Garrett Richards should help substantially, but it’s foolish to assume anything when you’re talking about major knee surgery.
Projected finish: first place, 89-73
Seattle Mariners
Strengths: The Mariners’ rotation could be really, really good.
Felix Hernandez obviously is a stud, Hisashi Iwakuma is a solid second starter, and both Taijuan Walker and James Paxton have the potential to turn the pitching staff into an extremely formidable unit.
Weaknesses: Nelson Cruz should add some pop, but let’s not forget the Mariners’ offensive woes of 2014.
While Cruz is exactly what Seattle needed, there’s still reason to believe the Mariners could struggle to score runs in 2015, especially if they don’t receive meaningful offensive contributions from players outside the trio of Cruz, Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager.
Projected finish: second place, 87-75
Oakland Athletics
Strengths: The Athletics’ roster doesn’t blow anyone away — does it ever? — but Oakland has enough usable pieces for Bob Melvin to work some magic. They should have a respectable, albeit less dynamic, offense in 2015.
Weaknesses: Oakland’s rotation would look sweet if both A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker were healthy. They’re two big question marks coming off Tommy John surgery, though, and Sonny Gray can’t pitch every day.
The current rotation is much different than the one the A’s rolled out down the stretch last season, which featured the likes of Jon Lester, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. But maybe that’s a good thing considering the team’s collapse.
Projected finish: 80-82, third place
Houston Astros
Strengths: The Astros are trending in the right direction in nearly every facet.
George Springer, Jose Altuve and Jon Singleton are good offensive building blocks who already have debuted. Shortstop prospect Carlos Correa is lurking, and pitcher Mark Appel (No. 1 overall pick in 2013) could make his way to Houston in 2015.
The Astros should hit plenty of long balls this season, with Evan Gattis and Colby Rasmus joining a lineup that already includes slugger Chris Carter.
Houston’s bullpen could be a difference-maker. The Astros added Luke Gregerson, Pat Neshek and Joe Thatcher over the offseason.
Weaknesses: The Astros have several players known to swing for the fences. That’s great, but they also tend to strike out a lot.
The rotation also has questions beyond Dallas Keuchel, who had a breakout 2014.
Projected finish: 77-85, fourth place
Texas Rangers
Strength: Several players, including Prince Fielder, Shin-Soo Choo and Adrian Beltre, have enough of a track record offensively to suggest the Rangers could be OK at the plate if everything goes according to plan.
Weaknesses: The Rangers’ rotation is a mess thanks to injuries, and no injury is bigger than ace Yu Darvish going down for the entire 2015 season. Texas just needs to hope Darvish returns to form in 2016.
Projected finish: 70-92, fifth place
Overall thoughts
The Mariners have become a very popular pick in the AL West, and the increased expectations are totally justifiable. The Angels won 98 games in 2014, though, and their midseason additions of Huston Street and Joe Smith helped turn a major weakness (bullpen) into a potential area of strength.
This should be a tight race, especially if the A’s hang around. But expect the Halos to play into October, at which point Mike Scioscia’s boys probably will crash and burn if history is any indication.
Thumbnail photo via Rick Scuteri/USA TODAY Sports Images
