From an Astros’ runaway to more, predicting the unthinkable in a predictable season

The Astros will have a double-figure American League West lead by the end of May.

Or could it be even earlier? Or bigger?

Sure, everyone knows the Angels will be better this season.

The Athletics can’t be as bad, can they?

The Rangers always are in contention.

And the Mariners manage to make life interesting.

Still, enough with the false optimism that anyone is going to touch the Astros.

They are the Harlem Globetrotters, and the rest of the AL West will play the role of the Washington Generals. No one is going to touch the Astros. They won 101 games last season and ran away with the AL West, winning it by 21 games.

They might have a 21-game lead by the All-Star break this time.

Yes, they are that good.

They have two-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander around for an entire season, and not just September.

Former Pirates ace Gerritt Cole will be with the Astros all year.

Lance McCullers Jr. is just scratching the surface with the talent to win a Cy Young award. And that’s just the starting rotation. There wasn’t a single Astros player who had a career year last season. And considering Houston’s youth and talent, it has at least three players, if not four, who are capable of winning the MVP award.

Yes, did we mention the Astros are that good.

“There’s no guarantee of anything, we know that,” Astros veteran starter Justin Verlander says, “but starting right now, we’re the team to beat. Bottom line.

“You’re crazy if you think otherwise.” It’s not just that the Astros are the defending champions, but by adding veteran relievers Joe Smith and Hector Rendon, there’s not a flaw in sight.

And Houston manager A.J. Hinch is convinced that the Astros players are as hungry as ever, remembering that they managed to win 101 games despite a litany of injuries and struggles.

“That’s why we’re not going to take it for granted,” Hinch says. “We know it didn’t come easy last year. ... It wasn’t a magic carpet ride.”

This year, that carpet ride starts in April, and there will be no looking back, as the Astros will leave the AL West suffocating on their exhaust fumes and ensure the Division Series and, possibly, World Series begin in Houston.

— Bob Nightengale