CAN OHTANI AND THE ANGELS UNSEAT DEFENDING CHAMPS?
Once Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout for an epic finish to the World Baseball Classic, the former AL MVPs quickly returned to being teammates again for what could be their last chance together to lead the Los Angeles Angels to the playoffs.
For the A's, this might be their last season in Oakland.
A long postseason drought is over for the Seattle Mariners after their first playoff appearance since 2001 — and they feel like they can do it again. Three-time World Series champion manager Bruce Bochy and two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom have joined the Texas Rangers, who have had six losing seasons in a row.
In the AL West, they all still have to try to get by Dusty Baker and his reigning World Series champion Houston Astros.
HOW THEY PROJECT
1. Houston Astros: Jose Altuve is out until possibly June after getting hit by a pitch, but the Astros added former MVP 1B José Abreu in free agency to a lineup that otherwise remained mostly intact, including slugging DH Yordan Alvarez, 3B Alex Bregman and RF Kyle Tucker. All-Star lefty Framber Valdez is 28-12the past two seasons and Cristian Javier threw 111/3 scoreless innings in two postseason starts last year.
2. Seattle Mariners: Coming off their first playoff appearance in more than two decades, the
Mariners believe they have added pieces to close the gap in the division. They boast one of the strongest starting rotations in baseball and should benefit from having ace Luis Castillo for a full season following his midseason trade from Cincinnati last year. AL rookie of the year Julio Rodríguez is the face of the franchise and should be even better in his second season.
3. Texas Rangers: Bochy was coaxed out of a three-year retirement by one of his former pitchers, GM Chris Young, who then revamped the Rangers' starting rotation. Along with deGrom ($185 million over five years), whose final two seasons with the Mets were injury-plagued, former All-Star Nathan Eovaldi and lefty Andrew Heaney signed multiyear deals in free agency.
4. Los Angeles Angels: Twoway superstar Ohtani has made it clear he wants to play for a winner. The 2021 AL MVP, and runner-up for that award last year (15-9, 2.33ERA/.283batting average with 34homers, 95 RBIs), is going into his sixth and final season under contract with the Angels. They haven't even had a winning season since he arrived from Japan. Three-time MVP Trout, the U.S. captain at the WBC and signed with LA through 2030, has been to the playoffs only once in his 12seasons. The Angels were swept in the 2014ALDS, four years before Ohtani arrived, and their postseason drought since matches the longest in the majors.
5. A's