A 2024 MLB playoff rooting guide for Los Angeles Angels fans

Rooting against: Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers

These go without saying.

The Astros and Dodgers are boogeymen for seemingly every MLB team, but especially the Angels. Their dreaded division rivals, the Astros, have made the playoffs eight straight times. Their intra-city rivals, the Dodgers, have made 12 straight. These historic runs of greatness have come heavily at the Angels' expense. This season, the Angels went 4-9 against the Astros. Shohei Ohtani reminds Angels fans just how inept their owner is, while he excels in Dodger-blue.

Are Angels fans rooting against Shohei Ohtani? Not exactly, although there certainly is a faction that enjoys booing the game's biggest superstar for his supposed betrayal. They certainly are hoping for the worst for his new team, but not him.

A short playoff run for Houston could potentially help the Angels in the long-term. If soon-to-be free agent, Alex Bregman, under-performs, the long-time Astros third baseman might not receive as much financial commitment from Houston as he would on the open market. The same goes for Yusei Kikuchi, another impending unrestricted free agent. While Kikuchi's first nine starts in Houston led to nine victories, he only has 1.2 innings of postseason experience in his career. The Astros measure their success heavily based on postseason performance.

The Astros do not possess the pipeline they once did. In fact, some sites believe even the Angels have better MiLB talent than them. If the Astros falter either against the Tigers or in the ALDS, and lose both Bregman and Kikuchi, the Angels could MAYBE start closing the gap in the AL West.

Speaking of Detroit...