Have LA Angels done enough this off-season to make playoffs?

Houston Astros 

The Houston Astros are in unfamiliar place as they are the defending World Champions for 2018.  With a talented core of young players you would think the Astros would be satisfied to stand pat, but they didn’t.  First of all they signed reliever Joe Smith to bolster their bullpen which needed a little tweaking.  However, the big deal was made last week when they acquired Gerrit Cole who is an Cy Young caliber pitcher from the Pittsburgh Pirates for a flurry of prospects.

The Astros already have Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel who have both won Cy Young Awards.  They also have young pitchers Lance McCullers and Brad Peacock as well as Charlie Morton.  That trio proved invaluable in the Astros World Series run.  On the offensive side the Astros are stacked as well with AL MVP Jose Altuve, potential AL MVP Carlos Correa, and George Springer anchor a line-up that was one of the AL’s best.

It will be tough to see the Angels leapfrogging the Astros and winning the AL West, which means the Angels will have to look at the Wild-Card race.