American League West Preview and Predictions

The American League West has some big time players in the division. It’s always a wide open division going into the season but that changes quickly as most teams in this division have no consistency.

The two teams that have shown consistency are the Athletics and Astros. They’re the the ones to watch in this conference. The Athletics are the defending American League West champions but have lost a couple key players from last year’s team.

The A’s will be without Marcus Semien and closer Liam Hendricks after falling apart in the ALDS against their rivals in the Astros. The A’s stayed low budget this season but will enter the 2021 season with a very solid pitching staff that includes Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea, Jesus Luzardo, and Frankie Montas. The fifth slot will be open for Mike Fiers or they’ll look at prospect A.J. Puk if he’s able to stay healthy.

It’s the same old story with the Athletics. They’ll be at the top of this division when the year concludes.The lineup is pretty special from top to bottom with Matt Chapman back and expected to start the season at third base after an injury kept him out for the rest of the season last year. They’ve added Elvis Andrus at shortstop and Mitch Moreland as the designated hitter – both former Texas Rangers players during their solid seasons.

In the bullpen, the Athletics replaced Hendricks with Trevor Rosenthal and added Sergio Romo to be the set up man. The Astros will be the one team that should be fighting for the top spot in the division against the Athletics. The Astros finished a season without cheating last year and even with a poor season they were able to make the playoffs and then do some damage in the playoffs.

Houston watched star center fielder George Springer move onto Toronto and will now have Myles Straw starting in the outfield as a replacement. The rest of the lineup is old news. It’s the same lineup and they’ve got basically the same rotation. Framber Valdez might miss his first couple of starts due to a finger injury but the rotation stands as Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, Christian Javier, and Jose Urquidy.

The bullpen looks strong with Ryan Pressly expected to get closing duties for this team. However, some believe the Astros will struggle when fans are allowed back into ballparks due to their cheating scandal. Visiting fans won’t forget and that could hurt the Astros this season.

Justin Verlander has officially moved to the 60-day injured list but this rotation could be strong. Now we say this every year. The Angels are the sleeper of 2021. Why? Because they have Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon in the middle of their lineup.

The lineup can produce at the top of the order but had trouble with the other half of their lineup. The pitching rotation has always struggled to stay healthy and there’s really no excitement around the Angels pitching staff.

Los Angeles added Jose Iglesias at short stop and Dexter Fowler in right field but still have Albert Pujols and Justin Upton in their lineup. They are mostly two former all-stars that just don’t have it anymore. Fowler should help near the bottom of the order.

But that rotation of the Angels is nothing special beyond Dylan Bundy who was pretty sharp last season. Andrew Heaney, Jose Quintana, Griffin Canning, Shohei Ohtani and Alex Cobb won’t get the job done against some AL powerhouse offenses.

The Mariners have had plenty of issues inside their organization. They’re a team that is filled with talent but no consistency. They’ve put together a lineup of players the average fan has never heard of and have a rotation that really doesn’t scare you including Chris Flexen from the KBO last season.

At closer, the Mariners will use Rafael Montero, who was a starting pitching prospect that never made it in his career. You’re looking at another bottom of the standings year for the Mariners with Kyle Lewis and Jarred Kelenic having to be the next big players for this team.

Lastly, the Texas Rangers really have limited talent on this team but did add David Dahl and Nate Lowe into their lineup this season along with Khris Davis. They’ve made some interesting signings but they will have to go above and beyond to help this team become a contender.

The starting rotation is led by Kyle Gibson and finishes with a lefty named Taylor Hearn. Jordan Lyles really struggled last season and is the number two pitcher in Texas’ rotation. That’s a problem.

Prediction

Currently, the Astros are favorites to win the division at +125 MLB odds, but this is the same team that lost Justin Verlander for the year and doesn’t have George Springer anymore in center field.

The Athletics truly look like the team to beat in this division. That’s the MLB pick I’d go with.

MLB Pick: Athletics +155 to win AL West via BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)

Athletics(+155)

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