The American League West is going to be an interesting division in 2023, the top 4 teams in this division could all make some noise in the Wild Card race this season. Not to mention the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, they’ll seek back to back titles.
Houston Astros (106-56)
The Astros were easily the best team in the American League last year. And it showed when Postseason play came around, they swept the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees en route to their 3rd AL Pennant in 4 years. They come out on top in the World Series.
Postseason Finish: Won WS vs PHI (4-2)
The Seattle Mariners broke their drought. At its peak was the longest postseason drought in North American sports at more than 20 years. (Now belongs to the New York Jets of the NFL). The Mariners were just a few games out of the playoffs in 2021, but after a Rookie of the Year in Julio Rodriguez, and great trade deadline acquisition of Luis Castillo, the Mariners future is very bright and they’ll look to make the Postseason again in 2023.
Playoff Finish: Lost ALDS to HOU (3-0)
Los Angeles Angels (73-89)
The Angels had yet another lacklustre season. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani are only getting older, Arte Moreno said he was selling the team then didn’t sell. The Angels likely won’t be able to retain Ohtani, and in a stacked American League, it’ll be hard for them to compete in 2023.
Texas Rangers: (68-94)
The Rangers weren’t very good last year but it was mainly because of their pitching staff, the first step toward contention was last year after signing Seager and Semien, they added some nice pieces and they’ll look to be in the Playoff race in 2023.
Oakland Athletics: (60-102)
The A’s are simply not a good team. They traded away a core including Marcus Semien, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Frankie Montas, Sean Murphy, Sean Manaea, and Chris Bassitt. They completely reset and are looking to accumulate good prospects and rebuild over the next couple years.
Recapping the Off-Season
Houston Astros:
Notable Additions:
1B Jose Abreu
Notable Departures:
INF Aledmys Diaz
OF Trey Mancini
C Christian Vazquez
RHP Justin Verlander
RHP Jake Odorizzi
1B Yuli Gurriel
The Astros didn’t really have a great offseason, the loss of Justin Verlander may loom large for them this season. Though prospect Hunter Brown has been dubbed ‘The Next Verlander’. The Astros will still be one of the best teams in baseball next year, but the loss of depth could look a lot worse for them in 2023.
Seattle Mariners:
Notable Additions:
OF Teoscar Hernandez
INF Kolten Wong
OF AJ Pollock
INF Tommy La Stella
Notable Departures:
INF/OF Adam Frazier
OF Jesse Winker
INF Abraham Toro
1B Carlos Santana
OF Mitch Haniger
OF Kyle Lewis
RHP Erik Swanson
The Mariners had a solid off-season, highlighted by the trade with Toronto for Teoscar Hernandez, that definitely adds some depth to Seattle’s lineup. Their rotation is already good as is. I think they could give Houston a run for their money this year in the division.
Los Angeles Angels
Notable Additions:
INF Gio Urshela
LHP Tyler Anderson
INF Brandon Drury
OF Hunter Renfroe
LHP Matt Moore
Notable Departures:
RHP Noah Syndergaard
RHP Mike Lorenzen
The Angels off-season was fairly solid, I don’t think this puts them in a place to contend but maybe enough to convince Shohei Ohtani from leaving in free agency, unless they make a push for the Postseason this year.
Texas Rangers:
Notable Additions:
RHP Jacob DeGrom
RHP Nathan Eovaldi
LHP Andrew Heaney
LHP Martín Perez
OF Robbie Grossman
Notable Departures:
RHP Matt Bush
LHP Matt Moore
The Rangers had a very good off-season, I think they’ll make some noise in the wild card race especially with how improved their starting rotation is. Their offence isn’t bad and it probably could’ve used improvement but the rotation was a much larger priority. Revamping their starting rotation was their top priority, and they accomplished that this offseason.
Oakland Athletics
Notable Additions:
INF Aledmys Diaz
1B Jesus Aguilar
RHP Shintaro Fujinami
RHP Trevor May
OF Esteury Ruiz
Notable Departures:
C Sean Murphy
INF Elvis Andrus
LHP Cole Irvin
The A’s had a typical A’s off-season, selling off quality pieces and signing middle of the road free agents, Fujinami was a interesting signing and I wonder how he’ll pan out for them. They’ll be a bad team again next season, as they try to develop young pieces like Ruiz and Pitchers Kyle Muller and Ken Waldichuk.
2023 Projections (Via Pecota/Baseball Prospectus)
Houston Astros: 94-68
Los Angeles Angels: 86-76
Seattle Mariners: 83-79
Texas Rangers: 78-84
Oakland Athletics: 64-98
BS Reports 
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