Projection: Where will the Los Angeles Angels finish in the AL West?

The Los Angeles Angels are just under a month away from Spring Training. Angels fans will get a first-hand look at the team and their chances of winning the AL West.

This offseason, the Los Angeles Angels are addressing the reason why there were 88 games in the loss column. Billy Eppler had a task list of things to work on. Certainly, the Angels have to establish health within the starting rotation, they also have to upgrade various positions around the diamond.

Basically, that’s what the Angels are doing. They’re adding some pieces that may or may not work. By adding players like Danny Espinosa, Cameron Maybin, and Martin Maldonado, the Angels will look like a defensive force. A force that could be problematic for the rest of the AL West.

This season is sort of a Schrodinger’s cat for the Angels. Until the players take the field and actually play, we won’t know if this defensive lineup will work. Will the platooning system between Maybin and Ben Revere prove better than last season?

It very well could, due to the fact that Maybin and Revere are better athletes than Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry. Still, the outcome has yet to be seen.

The biggest area of concern is the pitching staff. While the Angels have signed a few different pitchers, they’ve all been more bullpen relievers than starters. However, the Angels have a rotation that includes Garrett Richards, which is going to help the Angels this season.

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So, looking at the 25-man roster and seeing the offseason moves that Billy Eppler is making, where do the Angels finish in the AL West? While it may be difficult to knock the defending champion Texas Rangers off that mountain, the Angels have a stone in Mike Trout.

The Texas Rangers are having an interesting offseason as well. The Rangers signed Tyson Ross. They have also been rumored to acquire Mike Napoli. The Rangers lost Ian Desmond to the Colorado Rockies and Carlos Beltran to the Astros.

The Houston Astros may continue to be problematic for the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels struggled mightily against the Astros, winning six and losing 13 in 2016. The Astros made a splash this offseason by signing Carlos Beltran. However, the Astros lost Colby Rasmus to the Tampa Bay Rays.

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Ideally, the Astros will still be in the middle of the AL West. However, Seattle seems most likely to be a front runner in the AL West. Our ole buddy Jerry Dipoto has been moving and grooving for the Mariners. Seattle has been in the news signing Jarrod Dyson, Yovani Gallardo, and Drew Smyly. Seattle is likely to be the number one squad in the AL West this season.

Oakland has been busy this offseason as well, trying to improve on their hopes of moving up the ranks within the AL West. By signing guys like Santiago Casilla, Trevor Plouffe, and Rajai Davis. Oakland may very prove troublesome for the Angels and the AL West next season.

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So, Where does that leave the Los Angeles Angels? The Halos can easily slide into that number two spot, and fight for a Wild Card appearance. As a result of the moves made this past offseason by GM Billy Eppler. Spring Training gets underway next month, the Angels will look to be back into the winning circle of the AL West in 2017.