2 AL West teams the Angels should fear, 1 team that is a fraud

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The AL West is an incredibly tough division that the Los Angeles Angels are stuck playing in. Outside of Oakland, there are four teams trying to win right now. That's something most divisions really can't say.

The AL West has the defending champion Astros, a team that despite getting swept, gave them a run at their money in the Mariners, a team with two of the top five players in the game in the Angels, and a team with arguably the best pitcher on the planet in the Rangers.

The Angels are lucky there are three Wild Card spots and they're also lucky division games are down starting this season. Two of the teams in this division the Angels should fear, while one I think they have the upper hand against.

The Houston Astros are still the class of MLB

The Astros are the defending champions and they're not going anywhere. Their core players are young, and they'll continue to be the Angels biggest threat for many years to come.

Houston did lose Justin Verlander, but still have arguably one of the best rotations in baseball. They're one of only a handful of teams that can afford to lose a pitcher of Verlander's caliber. Their starting staff is obviously weaker without him, but is still elite.

The weakest spot on the Astros last season was first base. They rectified that by adding Jose Abreu to an already loaded lineup. Abreu won the AL MVP in the shortened 2020 season and despite a down power year had an .824 OPS and a 133 OPS+. Abreu is going to hit sixth most likely for Houston, which is terrifying.

This is a team without many flaws and is one that should be considered the heavy favorite in the AL West. They're also a team the Angels must play better against.

The Seattle Mariners are young and improving

The Seattle Mariners have won 90 games in back-to-back seasons, and finally snapped their 20+ year-long playoff drought. Seattle defeated the Blue Jays in the Wild Card round before losing to the Astros in the ALDS. Despite not getting as far as they might've hoped, the Mariners had a lot to be proud of.

Instead of being satisfied with breaking the drought, the Mariners ended up improving this offseason. They traded for Teoscar Hernandez to be the big bat they desperately needed. They also added a very steady second baseman in Kolten Wong to take over at that position.

Seattle now has a lineup full of power to hit behind Julio Rodriguez, and that's pretty scary. This is to go along with what's without a doubt one of the best rotations in baseball.

Luis Castillo is a legitimate ace. Robbie Ray won the Cy Young in 2021. Logan Gilbert and George Kirby are both young pitchers coming off of excellent seasons with sky-high potential. Even Marco Gonzales is a really solid number five with Chris Flexen as a swingman.

The Mariners roster is not one to be messed with. The Angels are lucky Mike Trout is the owner of T-Mobile Park.

The Texas Rangers improved, but are not quite there yet

The Texas Rangers made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason signing Jacob deGrom to a five-year deal. deGrom when healthy is the best pitcher in baseball. The problem is, he hasn't been healthy at all in the last two seasons, making only 26 starts in that span.

If deGrom is healthy, the Rangers finally add the ace they have been searching for. The deal has a ton of risk but the potential for very high reward as well.

deGrom joins a Rangers rotation that has been completely overhauled over the last two seasons. Last offseason they brought in Martin Perez and Jon Gray. This past offseason they signed deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and Andrew Heaney. Texas even traded for Jake Odorizzi.

These are all big names, but the injury concerns are very real. deGrom's are well established. Eovaldi has made 30+ starts twice in his 11 seasons. Andrew Heaney has done it once in his nine seasons and was limited to 14 starts last season. deGrom, Eovaldi, and Odorizzi have all dealt with injuries this spring.

The rotation can be good, but it'll take a lot of luck.

Now onto the lineup. There's not much to complain about when it comes to their top four. Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Nathaniel Lowe are all very good players who can really hit. After them, there're some questions.

Jonah Heim I like defensively, but isn't anything special at the plate. Josh Jung can be good, hasn't done it yet. The rest of the lineup is weak.

Same can be said about the bullpen. The Angels stole arguably their best reliever last season in Matt Moore. Jose Leclerc is good, who else is going to pitch late in games? Will Smith? Brock Burke? Joe Barlow?

I think too much has to go right for this team to be on the level of teams like Houston, Seattle, and even the Angels.

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The Houston Astros are still the class of MLB

The Seattle Mariners are young and improving

The Texas Rangers improved, but are not quite there yet

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