Houston Astros collapse leaves power vacuum in AL West

The American League West used to be the easiest division to predict. Just list the Houston Astros in first place, the Los Angeles Angels in fourth place, and the other three teams would alternate between second, third and fifth. Even though the Texas Rangers won the World Series last season, the Astros still won the division for the sixth time in seven years and reached the ALCS for the seventh straight season.

This year, a changing of the guard is underway. The division is the weakest in MLB, and only the 28-26 Seattle Mariners are above .500. Perhaps the only team in the division exceeding expectations is the Oakland Athletics, but the disaster of their move casts a pall over everything that happens on the field.

Houston’s stranglehold on the division appears to be over. Now all five clubs must fight for supremacy – or at least relevance – in a new era.

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners haven’t won the division since 2001, so they would love to fill the power void and plant their flag at the top of the standings. They’ve done that so far, but their two-game record above .500 indicates their lead is slim and they have a -7 point differential.

Their starting pitching was exceptional, as nominal ace Luis Castillo was the fifth-best starter after local pitchers Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo. However, their offense is the second worst in MLB at 3.6 runs per game. Star center fielder Julio Rodríguez has been in a bad way all season. He’s too talented for his bat to stay dormant any longer, but offseason acquisitions Mitch Garver and Jorge Polanco have been a failure so far.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers are the defending champions, but the banner hanging above Glove Life Field won’t get them out of their doldrums. Before defeating the Minnesota Twins yesterday, they had lost six in a row and 12 of their last 14. Corey Seager came out of an early season slump last week. With two home runs yesterday, he now has six in his last six games. The offense is clicking, with the notable exceptions of heralded rookies Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford.

The problem is the starting rotation – and who is out of it. They currently have five starters on the IL: Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Tyler Mahle and Max Scherzer. Those five pitchers account for $118.8 million of their $229.9 million payroll, or 51.7 percent of the total. It’s a great group on paper including two multiple Cy Young Award-winning pitchers, an All-Star and two proven veterans, but none of them are active at the moment. When – if – they get most of them healthy again, they’ll be ready to take on the division since Seattle won’t run away with this.

Houston Astros

This winter, there were warning signs that the Astros dynasty was coming to an end. They still have one of the best offenses in MLB despite the collapses of José Abreu and Alex Bregman, and Kyle Tucker is the AL MVP through the first third of the season. Their pitching staff, however, was unable to keep runners off base. Their WHIP of 1.39 and walk rate of 10.2% are both second-worst in MLB. This is the main reason they have a 24-29 record and dwindling playoff hopes.

Oakland Athletics

In a stunning surprise, the A’s are not in last place. They’ve lost 112 games in 2023, but this year they’re on pace to lose “only” 97. JJ Bleday and Brent Rooker have been revelations at the plate and Mason Miller has become baseball’s most dominant, amassing 45 strikeouts in 2023. 23 innings.

Normally, a 15-game improvement and gradual progression in the standings would be reason for hope for the fan base, but this is the franchise’s last hurray in Oakland. John Fisher has become the most reviled individual in baseball as he forces an abrupt move to Sacramento next year, then eventually to Las Vegas, although plans for a stadium remain murky. To protest their team’s loss, fans avoided the stadium.

Los Angeles Angels

Years from now, historians will reflect with wonder on how the Angels wasted the talents of two generations. Shohei Ohtani could have joined any of the 30 teams when he first migrated to the MLB in 2018, and he selected the Angels largely because of the opportunity to play with Mike Trout. In the six years they were together, the club finished in fourth place five times and third place once. Their best record was 80-82 and they never reached the playoffs.

Now Ohtani is with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Trout is back on the IL, and the Angels have fallen to the basement with a 20-33 record. Their future looks bleak as they go back to the drawing board to plan how to eventually get back to the playoffs. This time, they’ll have to do it without two of the greatest players in baseball history in their prime.