The calendar has flipped to February and the start of spring is just a matter of days away. While some notable free agents (including seven of MLBTR’s Top 50) remain unsigned, most clubs have already done the heavy lifting in terms of preparing their roster for the 2025 season. In the coming days, we’ll be taking a look around the league at which clubs have had the strongest offseason to this point. After the Mets, Cubs, and Dodgers have decisively won the polls covering the National League’s three divisions, the focus now shifts to the American League starting with the AL West.
The junior circuit’s west coast teams have been busy for the most part, perhaps reflecting the division’s tightly contested nature. A three-way race for the AL West came down to the final day of the 2023 season, and despite the Astros’ division title, the Rangers were the ones to be crowned World Series champions. In 2024, Houston’s long reign over the division started showing signs of cracks as they struggled out of the gate, won “just” 88 games (down by their standards) and were bounced from the playoffs in the AL Wild Card Series.
Which team has done the best job setting themselves up for 2024? Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record:
Houston Astros
The winds of change are blowing through Houston, and they’ll enter 2025 with a significantly reshaped roster. The most notable move this winter was to ship star outfielder Kyle Tucker to Chicago ahead of his final season under team control. Losing a player of Tucker’s caliber is always a brutal blow, but Houston did fairly well in the trade. They not only added a new top prospect in third baseman Cam Smith, but they also managed to bring in All-Star third baseman Isaac Paredes and bolster their rotation depth with right-hander Hayden Wesneski.
The additions of Paredes and Wesneski have patched holes left by the departures of Alex Bregman and Justin Verlander in free agency, though the club has apparently not completely closed the door on a reunion with Bregman. Meanwhile, the need at first base caused by Jose Abreu’s dramatic decline was filled by the addition of three-time Gold Glove winner Christian Walker. Solid as those moves have been, though, the Astros have subtracted more than they’ve added. Ryan Pressly, Yusei Kikuchi, and Jose Urquidy are no longer with the club, and the Astros’ replacement for Tucker as a left-handed outfield bat to this point appears to be a reunion with journeyman Ben Gamel.
Seattle Mariners
Seattle has had the quietest offseason in the division despite typically being one of the most active teams on the trade market. Rumors of a Luis Castillo deal have not come to fruition, and trade targets to bolster the club’s lackluster infield such as Nico Hoerner, Alec Bohm, and Triston Casas have all remained with their current teams. The Mariners’ lack of activity on the trade market has led them to make mostly ancillary moves. As ownership has scaled back the budget substantially, the Mariners have re-signed Jorge Polanco and added Donovan Solano for a combined $11.25MM. Their only other additions have been minor trades for players with minimal big league experience like Austin Shenton and Miles Mastrobuoni.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers’ front office has had a tall order placed in front of them this winter: navigate under the luxury tax while supplementing an offense that struggled last year and completely rebuilding a pitching staff that saw seven major pieces reach free agency. They’ve most succeeded in those goals. Robert Garcia, Chris Martin, Jacob Webb, Shawn Armstrong, and Hoby Milner were all brought in to help patch up one of the league’s weaker bullpens. The club parted with first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to bring Garcia into the fold, but his bat has been effectively swapped out for free agent pickup Joc Pederson and trade acquisition Jake Burger in trade.
Meanwhile, the club added some pop behind the plate by pairing Kyle Higashioka with Jonah Heim after Heim struggled through a down season offensively last year. The Rangers managed to keep Nathan Eovaldi on a three-year deal despite the soaring cost of starting pitching. Whether these additions will be enough to make up for the losses of Lowe, Kirby Yates, David Robertson, Jose Leclerc, Andrew Heaney and Max Scherzer remains to be seen.
Athletics
After shuttering the Coliseum and departing Oakland for a temporary stay in West Sacramento, the A’s have begun to spend more aggressively than they have in years. The club locked up breakout slugger Brent Rooker for the next five seasons on a $60MM extension and has been active both the trade and free agent markets. The A’s signed Luis Severino to a club-record three-year, $67MM deal while also agreeing to deals with third baseman Gio Urshela, former Rangers closer Jose Leclerc and lefty T.J. McFarland. On the trade market, they added southpaws Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez in a deal with the Rays that saw them surrender Joe Boyle, their Competitive Balance Round A pick, and two prospects.
Los Angeles Angels
After narrowly avoiding the first 100-loss season in franchise history, the Angels were heavily active in the early stages of the offseason. They acquired slugger Jorge Soler in a trade with the Braves on day one of the offseason, surrendering only non-tender candidate Griffin Canning. They added Scott Kingery in a cash swap with the Phillies shortly thereafter. The early days of free agency brought deals for Yusei Kikuchi, Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Hendricks, and Kevin Newman.
Things have been mostly quiet in Anaheim since that flurry of moves back in November, and it will surely take a strong, healthy season from Mike Trout in addition to steps forward for multiple youngsters if the Angels are going to contend for the postseason in 2025.
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The AL West appears to have moved towards parity somewhat this winter. The Astros have sacrificed maximizing their immediate odds at continued dominance in the name of longer-term stability. The Mariners opted to keep their elite rotation together rather than risk breaking up the group to strengthen a mediocre lineup. The Rangers have been very active in reshaping their roster in hopes of recapturing the glory of 2023, while the fourth- and fifth-place A’s and Angels have been surprisingly aggressive in their efforts to separate themselves from the AL’s cellar dwellers.
Of the five AL West clubs, which one has had the strongest offseason so far? Have your say in the poll below:
With the frustrating offseason the Astros have had, I have to believe that they’re still the favorites. And that is a complete win. Maybe I’m in denial but I’ll take anything resembling a dub at this point after all the nonsense.
The Astros still look like the favorites to me, although it’s not as clear cut as it has been for most of the last decade.
The M’s could have leapfrogged them pretty easily, but they instead decided that having a mediocre offense again in 2025 was the way to go for some reason.
Yeah the AL west is dog sheet….
In comparison to what? The Astros mariners rangers could win the WS in a small sample and no one would blink. Definitely no shock if any of the 3 represented the AL… So not sure what youre on about
Call me a homer, I think the rangers are better than anyone in the central, equal to Baltimore and NYy in the east and equal to Houston and Seattle out west. Let’s play 162
AL west WAS dog sheet? We’ll find out again in a few months….
If DeGrom, Eovaldi, Jung, Seager, and Carter were healthy the entire season I could see them winning the West easily. But I think the odds of that happening are slim to none lol.
And yet two of the last three World Series have been won by AL west teams.
That was then. This is now….
Astros start as favorites simply because Mariners refuse to spend more than $160M on their payroll after promising fans that they’d spend when the moment came…
The Rangers should also be right in the mix after strengthening their lineup as long as they can be healthier as a team next year.
I love how the team with no city attached to them is winning the off-season.
Kind of like seeing who wins the race at fat camp. It’s probably the Astros, but it’s not a world series roster by a long shot.
As an Astros fan – I agree. **angrily chomps another Dome Dog**
Playoffs are a crapshoot. They should have at least one more ring and quite likely 2 more.
They should have one FEWER ring. Fixed it.
As a devoted Rangers fan, I can confidently say that North Texas considers the 2017 World Series unresolved. In 1913, cheaters were banned for life!!! So why were not the players and management involved in the 2017 scandal held to the same standard? They, too, should have faced lifetime bans. No one truly won the 2017 World Series!!! it remains more than just tainted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
awww Los Karen fan here to cry more.
As someone with a brain, Carlos Beltran was on the Rangers in 2016. So the Rangers had the cheater the season before. Only difference is the Astros won with him and the Rangers were dog poo. Love the Rangers “fans” who have no clue Beltran cheated on their team literally the season before he took his cheating to the Astros.
1919 was the black Sox
Thank you for the update!
The players accepted money to lose on purpose that is different. The players on the Astros were not suspended because every team was doing it and MLB couldn’t stop it. It’s like the sticky stuff with pitchers. Everyone was doing it but they couldn’t suspend everyone so they announced that from now on if you do it you’re suspended. That’s how it works. Also there is a good chance even if they didn’t cheat they would still win the world series. You’re probably just mad because you’re from at least somewhat close to Dallas, one of the worst cities in Texas.
OK, Try to get your facts straight. Texas Rangers won the American League West in 2016 with the best record in the American League. Not exactly “POO” as you stated. So when commenting on one team’s fan ignorance, make sure you do not act/sound ignorant yourself. Now for Beltran cheating while with the Rangers is not a documented fact. You wish to be defensive of the Astros problems in 2017, do not throw out the “POO” of the Rangers in 2016.
Let us compound upon your continued ignorance and closet guilty feelings on the Beltran issue. Beltran was a trade deadline acquisition to the Rangers from the New York Yankees. Hardly a foundation of gross cheating while with the Rangers. Especially since the Rangers were well on their way to winning the West. In a court of law, your argument has been disputed without a shadow of a doubt. In the court of Baseball, you are just making weak justifications for your obviously biased ignorant take on a team you follow that made a very bad judgement call.
2 more?!?
The 2019 Astros were one of the best teams in history and in 2023 if they can win just one home game against the rangers that’s another. So, yeah, 2 more isn’t crazy at all.
Somehow, The “The Athletics”
Sacramento Baseball Club. Make them wear gray wool uniforms.
The “surprise team” that could see winning is the angels; they added a big bat in Soler and a good catcher in Travis D’nard. If they could keep Mike Trout healthy for a full season they could have a good year.
Day drinking again, Ben?
Hahaha! Perfect response!
D’nard sounds like a character from MXC
It was a hard decision between the A’s, Angels and Rangers for my vote. Pretty odd to say the Angels did better than any team ever.
Apparently Fisher got a new title with Manfred and owners. He’s the best.
Astros didn’t have a good offseason, their owner who’s way too hands on, doesn’t know the difference between rebuilding and contending, and they need to pick one.
Still, have to consider them division favorites as long as they get something from the outfield. I wouldn’t mind to see them get younger and more athletic and moving Valdez before the deadline could help.
This is super accurate. We’re making purgatory moves which is always a bad omen. I wish we’d trade Framber as well and fully leverage 2025 to see what the sum of our parts looks like. It’d hedge against needing the farm to take a major step forward to keep this window open and adjuat if it’s already closed. Bills always come due in sports but it feels like Crane mismanaged us into purgatory while handcuffing Brown at the same time.
Astros are pretty stuck with an aging declining roster. Outside of Yordan, Parades, Diaz and Brown, they have few impactful players under 30 and a bottom 3 farm system.
Given that it will take several years to reset the books (move on from big money to Altuve, Walker, Hader and Javier) and rebuild a baron system, I understand them trying to stretch out the Altuve and Yordan core as long as they can.
A very causal take
It certainly was.
Just look at all the World Series that Jack Z won with his top-ranked farm systems
I’m just saying that the Astros in 2026 and 2027 will be in a worse spot than 2025. They don’t have reinforcements on the way and their payroll situation does not get much better as the money saved by getting out of the money owed to McCullers and Abreu will go to the raises to Javier, Valdez (if they retain him) and a growing arbitration class. Pair that with Altuve being in his late 30s and the path to maintaining their current/previous level at their current payroll is incredibly difficult. This is further hurt by the trades from the top of the farm and signing of QO recipients the past two years which have left the farm thin without many near term prospects or particularly interesting long term prospects.
The Rangers are not in a much better position given the money owed to Seager, Semien and DeGrom. However, they have the benefit of having a much stronger recent wave of prospects and a more interesting upcoming wave.
The Mariners would have the brightest future if they spent like their Texas contemporaries. Alas, they refuse and are left hoping that their elite farm system pays dividends quick enough to sync with their rotation and while the Astros and Rangers have to navigate ongoing retools.
The Angels continue to have no clear direction or plan. The A’s are beginning to become active again and could be interesting in a few years.
I agree that depth in a system is very important (players like Bliss, Loperfido, etc aren’t ever top 100 types but can fill a role with some limited breakout potential). The problem is that the Astros don’t have many of those types either. They ended last year with 12 45 or better graded prospects of which only 4 are 50 or better via MLB.com. The Mariners, in comparison, had 15 and 9. Most other sites likewise have similar splits where M’s are top 5 and Astros are bottom 5. The Mariners lucking into the 3 pick will give them another big shot as well as the #6 international signing.
I’d rather be an Astro fan with an ownership that cares and is willing to pay the luxury tax. However, the M’s are in as good of a spot as a mid spending club can honestly hope for without ever bottoming out completely.
Bottom 5 farm, but yet they still keep coming up with young players coming up and sticking at the big league level, they need to grade farm rankings with actual player development as an aspect. Lots of top 100 guys don’t pan out, counting top 100 guys doesn’t make a farm system.
Definatley The Athletics won the offseason. Can’t wait for them to be in the playoffs this year. Finally get out of Jokeland and can flourish.
they have a really good young team when everyone is connecting. Law-dawg and rooker looked like stars this last year.
Shea and JJ were on mlb.coms all underrated team
The mariners ownership is right up there with the pirates and the marlins ownership groups!
@hllywdjff
M’s need to move to Tokyo or Seoul. Seattle isn’t a good place for baseball.
If this team had an ownership group that spent money to make this team a championship contender, there would be 40000 people at the ballpark almost every night
@hllywdjff
Excuses. Tampa barely has minimum wage for a budget and is constantly putting out competitive teams. Seattle on the other hand… not so much…
They had 2.5m fans last year. That’s basically 3/4 of capacity average per game. Why hatin’ on Seattle?
@bob9988 2
Because it’s not a good baseball city. Should move.
What makes a good baseball city?
It is a good baseball city. Loyal fans.
Seattle is a great place for baseball. It’s ownership that stinks
Phillies aren’t even in the AL West but somehow still had the worst off-season in the AL West.
Very proud of my a’s for actually spending money. I know they had to, but its nice to see them pick up some quality pieces.
I started following baseball in the mid 80s. They were a buzzing franchise for a good stretch. As a NYY fan, I had a Bash Bros. (McGwire/Canseco) poster on my bedroom wall. Some really good players also passed through. Then Billy Beane did his moneyball thing around the Big Three in Hudson, Mulder, and Zito. Fisher completely nuked the A’s fanbase.
They were basically forced to spend money this winter. They received $70 million in revenue sharing, and teams who receive that money are expected to have a payroll of 150% of that amount or else face having a grievance filed against them by the Players Association. That meant the A’s had to have a payroll of at least $105 million this year, and they’re right about there.
How old are you? 8?
If it were phrased which AL West team improved their team the most from last year, I’d say A’s but which team won by doing what it needed to do for this year as well as long term success? Astros
Agree. They avoided dealing with Tucker’s impending free agency and got a better return than a QO draft pick in 2026. They got a current and potentially future replacement for a declining Bregman. Walker fills the gaping hole at first. They have injured starters that should be returning, so not making bad deals counts as successful in my book. Still the favorites in the AL West.
The A’s made the biggest moves to improve their W-L. It will be tight race down to the final week of the season.
The division that needs a “none of the above” option.
Dodgers
Oakland sure wanted that revenue sharing money!
MLB forced them to be watchable on TV. Fisher must be reeling from his lighter pockets.
Dodgers.
7 weirdos who think Donovan Solano is a difference maker, lol
No more impactful player on the ALWest then Julio Rodriguez. He carries a team with his play and personality.
AL West goes as Julio goes!
He is the epitome of unfulfilled potential. He does have a good attitude on the filed, I must admit, but he has a long way to go to be a real impactful player.
al west is unique
all 5 tms lost the offseason
I like what Houston has done both for 2025 and the future. Walker and Paredes are solid additions to the lineup and I’m really high on Cam Smith, who I think will be a power bat for years to come.
They’ve done enough to be favorites this year and looked to extend their run.
The Seattle Mariners. The Mariners should easily win the AL West and have a pitching staff that even the Dodgers and Mets won’t want to face.
That lineup is formidable, but their offense has a lot of question marks.
It’s hard to hit in T-Mobile Park. Only 3 players have hit with a .750 OPS or above: Luke Raley, Justin Turner, and Victor Robles.
Hard to hit in T-Mobile? Tell that to Nelson Cruz. 1/2 his HR’s as a Mariner came at T-Mobile
Kind of unfair to say b/c he played many more games a T-Mobile than he did on the road.
So his HR percentage was much less in T-Mobile than he was on the road.
How about naming an active player, or have they talked him onto playing?
T-Mobile has been a fairly decent park for HR since the fences were moved in prior to 2013, and of course Cruz came after that. It just really sucks for other types of hits (per Statcast) thanks to the smaller outfield area, batter’s eye issues, weather effects etc.
*Rotation (Not lineup)
The poll isn’t about who has the best team, but who won the offseason. Definitely not the Mariners
The Mariners offense is terrible
That pitching staff don’t look quite so good when they are on the road for half their games.
l the national pundits articles and quotes spelling out how frustrating and embarrassing the M’s front office & Stanton ownership group has been. So incompetent & a bunch of gaslighting, deceitful, liars! It would be so bad & fans wouldn’t be close to a revolt IF Dipoto would stop putting his foot in his mouth and be transparent. Instead, Dipoto says how good the team is & how they went into the offseason knowing they weren’t going to do much. What a MORON! Does he actually think fans are so stupid?! The M’s had openings at every infield position except SS. Not to mention a 6th depth starter, bullpen so the starters wouldn’t have to see their leads evaporate the last 2-3 innings thanks to the rag-tag waiver wire bullpen arms Dipoto cherishes. M’s have Munoz, Brash won’t be back until May. Santos seems like he’s made of glass & is not reliable until he shows he can pitch without hurting something. It’s maddening! Lack of offseason moves have nothing to do with $$- M’s have the top ranked farm so trades for Bohm, Arraez, any of the Orioles hitters, Casas, Etc were in reach. The Yankees picked up the best closer for nothing. Seattle hasn’t signed a high leverage arm to date but they did sign Dipoto’s favorite players, aging players who are injury prone & hoping they can come back & be effective. M’s are paying over $30MM for two Mitches, who neither are everyday players!!! No excuses, Dipoto is a bum and after a decade of failure his time is up! He can be the president of player development, but he has proven he is NOT a MLB GM. He failed in Anaheim & see them back a decade, and so far has squandered the M’s best chances at a championship since 2022. Missing the playoffs by 1-game 3 of the last 4 seasons is UNACCEPTABLE! Dipoto can’t even improve the team by 1-game each offseason. Dipoto thinks the M’s will magically be a playoff team because Dan Wilson & Edgar are now managing so all the players are now going to have healthy, career years, despite the players they’re counting on all being past their primes. Dipoto/Stanton era has been insulting to fans. All they care about is being a .500 team so fans will keep buying tickets & filling Ownerships pockets with $$$. It’s BILLIONAIRES vs. HARDWORKING FAMILIES. Guess who wins?! Just watch the news for 2-minutes and our whole country is BILLIONAIRES vs HARDWORKING FAMILIES….until citizens and fans step up and hold BILLIONAIRES accountable, nothing will change and why should they? Billionaires are making more $$ than ever before while hardworking families are struggling more so than ever before. Makes sense right?! Negative, which is why SIGNS & SHIRTS need to flood M’s games about how ashamed and embarrassed they are from the incompetence and purposefully deceitful gaslighting tactics Dipoto has been trying to blow it fans A$$’s. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Call & E-mail the M’s customer service team and express your opinions. NOTHING WILL CHANGE UNTIL US FANS PUT ON THE PRESSURE & MAKE IT NONSTOP AND OVERWHELMING. The media and national media are helping quite a bit. Read Bowden’s quote on what he thinks of Dipoto and what they did this offseason, it includes throwing up. MLB media pundits have rated M’s offseason an “F”, and said they had the worst offseason of any other MLB team due to where they are, what they have, and how they are completely wasting their best opportunity to compete for a playoff & pennant than at any time in franchise history. Why would any current Mariner want to stay or resign?! I sure as hell wouldn’t. Dipoto is not liked by players or fans or media & have tarnished the M’s perception around the league with other GM’s and players. But…per Dipoto the M’s have a great team and nothing was needed this offseason. I guess that is what one would say after they know they failed hardcore & knows their job is on the line. Why he still had a job is beyond me. Fans= FIGHT BACK! Call, email, make shirts, and a billboard is being funded to hang close to ballpark to let all fans, players, coaches, and management know what fans think of them & how the Dipoto/Stanton era has been a failure & the most frustrating and embarrassing period in the M’s franchise. What a waste of a great starting rotation. I would be PISSED OFF if I was a SP & see Dipoto did nothing to improve the leagues top #5 worst offense & bullpen. Embarrassing!
Give that man a harrumph!
Wall of Text alert!
Tl/dr
For heaven’s sake use paragraphs.
Who would vote for Seattle?! Are they in denial or just being funny. As a Mariners fans I am loving all the national pundits articles and quotes spelling out how frustrating and embarrassing the M’s front office & Stanton ownership group has been. So incompetent & a bunch of gaslighting, deceitful, liars! It would be so bad & fans wouldn’t be close to a revolt IF Dipoto would stop putting his foot in his mouth and be transparent. Instead, Dipoto says how good the team is & how they went into the offseason knowing they weren’t going to do much. What a MORON! Does he actually think fans are so stupid?! The M’s had openings at every infield position except SS. Not to mention a 6th depth starter, bullpen so the starters wouldn’t have to see their leads evaporate the last 2-3 innings thanks to the rag-tag waiver wire bullpen arms Dipoto cherishes. M’s have Munoz, Brash won’t be back until May. Santos seems like he’s made of glass & is not reliable until he shows he can pitch without hurting something. It’s maddening! Lack of offseason moves have nothing to do with $$- M’s have the top ranked farm so trades for Bohm, Arraez, any of the Orioles hitters, Casas, Etc were in reach. The Yankees picked up the best closer for nothing. Seattle hasn’t signed a high leverage arm to date but they did sign Dipoto’s favorite players, aging players who are injury prone & hoping they can come back & be effective. M’s are paying over $30MM for two Mitches, who neither are everyday players!!! No excuses, Dipoto is a bum and after a decade of failure his time is up! He can be the president of player development, but he has proven he is NOT a MLB GM. He failed in Anaheim & see them back a decade, and so far has squandered the M’s best chances at a championship since 2022. Missing the playoffs by 1-game 3 of the last 4 seasons is UNACCEPTABLE! Dipoto can’t even improve the team by 1-game each offseason. Dipoto thinks the M’s will magically be a playoff team because Dan Wilson & Edgar are now managing so all the players are now going to have healthy, career years, despite the players they’re counting on all being past their primes. Dipoto/Stanton era has been insulting to fans. All they care about is being a .500 team so fans will keep buying tickets & filling Ownerships pockets with $$$. It’s BILLIONAIRES vs. HARDWORKING FAMILIES. Guess who wins?! Just watch the news for 2-minutes and our whole country is BILLIONAIRES vs HARDWORKING FAMILIES….until citizens and fans step up and hold BILLIONAIRES accountable, nothing will change and why should they? Billionaires are making more $$ than ever before while hardworking families are struggling more so than ever before. Makes sense right?! Negative, which is why SIGNS & SHIRTS need to flood M’s games about how ashamed and embarrassed they are from the incompetence and purposefully deceitful gaslighting tactics Dipoto has been trying to blow it fans A$$’s. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Call & E-mail the M’s customer service team and express your opinions. NOTHING WILL CHANGE UNTIL US FANS PUT ON THE PRESSURE & MAKE IT NONSTOP AND OVERWHELMING. The media and national media are helping quite a bit. Read Bowden’s quote on what he thinks of Dipoto and what they did this offseason, it includes throwing up. MLB media pundits have rated M’s offseason an “F”, and said they had the worst offseason of any other MLB team due to where they are, what they have, and how they are completely wasting their best opportunity to compete for a playoff & pennant than at any time in franchise history. Why would any current Mariner want to stay or resign?! I sure as hell wouldn’t. Dipoto is not liked by players or fans or media & have tarnished the M’s perception around the league with other GM’s and players. But…per Dipoto the M’s have a great team and nothing was needed this offseason. I guess that is what one would say after they know they failed hardcore & knows their job is on the line. Why he still had a job is beyond me. Fans= FIGHT BACK! Call, email, make shirts, and a billboard is being funded to hang close to ballpark to let all fans, players, coaches, and management know what fans think of them & how the Dipoto/Stanton era has been a failure & the most frustrating and embarrassing period in the M’s franchise. What a waste of a great starting rotation. I would be PISSED OFF if I was a SP & see Dipoto did nothing to improve the leagues top #5 worst offense & bullpen. Embarrassing!
Paragraphs would help. So would less caffeine or possibly a xanax.
The billboard is a good idea. Just be factual, not emotional, and express displeasure with this ownership group. Lots of lifelong fans that are really frustrated no doubt.
Jorge Polanco pushed the Mariners over the top!
That’s awesome, lol
Arte wins again!
And that wicked witch, Glenda.
John Stanton’s NetWorth FTW!!
Nothing more exciting in sports than cost-savings moves w/o reinvesting profits back into the team!
Go M’s profit margin! gonna be a big year!
Who needs a world series title when you can have all the joy of watching a billionaire incrementally increase their net worth.
Definitely takes the sting out of missing the playoffs by one game every year.
Texas Rangers.
I’ll come check back here in October. BYE
Some seem to think the question is who’s the favorite when it’s who had the best off-season. Oakland did. The poopier they are, the easier it is, if they try at all
The A’s won’t win it, but I’d love to see maybe a 78-84 record from them. That, to me, would be a major win.
@letitbelo I’m an Astros fan, but there’s a part of me that wants to see this team do well. They got some players for sure, and I think them being nomads probably makes it a tighter knit group. Who knows, stranger things have happened.
Sacramento A’s getting more votes than the Mariners. Hahaha
Angels are winning that division. I believe in Arte!
Lol. I’m not quite sure they’ve done enough to make up 20+ more wins to lock up the division. Arte thanks you though!
Whatever you are smoking, put it down.
Or pass it ovah hereeee!
Literally laughed out loud.
You believe in Arte. I believe in Joe Hendry “Clap clap”
Nobody won. Nobody did anything As an Angles fan. We signed a bottom rotation arm. And in typical Perry fashion. A guy who strikes out a lot. And can’t play any defense retread pitcher trying to hold on and a bunch of middle infielders that can’t hit. All we need is for them to sign 4 middle relievers and it is a carbon copy of the that three off seasons
Yusei Kikuchi is definitely not a “bottom of the rotation arm”. Astros fixed him and I wish they had kept him.
I think the A’s did the most, but I don’t think it will be enough. Their starting point had them behind going in. Progress! Not sure with the moves that were made by the others, that they are actually better considering what was lost.
I want the A’s to be a joke, but it kind of isn’t. That’s sad
LOL at the 300+ people who voted for the Mariners
800 people voted for the Angels? There are far too many trolls on this site.
Compared to the >0 people who voted for the M’s?
OK, I really should allow some margin of error for the easy mistake of *ACCIDENTALLY* selecting the Mariners. So…
Compared to the >0.5% (± 0.5%) of people who voted for the M’s?
How did the A’s win the poll? Did Fisher send a bunch of bots to rig the poll?
Extremely low expectations + mediocre results = Yay!
Whomever wins the offseason doesn’t normally win the real season. Those offseason maneuvering just changes part of the team.
Being said, I think the As did the most in the ALW.
Wasn’t around yesterday for this one, but here’s my two cents.
The Astros did fine. Walker and Parades are very good additions, but the subtraction of Tucker hurts A LOT.
M’s have done terribly. Ooof.
The A’s made some good moves to bolster the team highlighted by the Severino signing and Springs trade. Some other notable moves were made as well.
The Angels did pretty well, too! Kikuchi is a damn good signing. D’Arnaud brings experience, and Soler gives them pop. There were some other ok moves, too, but those were pretty noteworthy.
Rangers completely rebuilt the bullpen, but there’s not a guy there that I peg as a closer. Still an A for quantity! I like the Burger trade and Pederson deal for more pop after dealing Lowe, and obviously bringing back Eovaldi is key to their rotation. Kyle is a good catcher as well.
So I think I give it to the Rangers, with the Angels behind them overall.
None moved the long term needle. I prefer Nate Lowe to Burger.
The healthy team will win the division. Simple as that. Every team this year has weaknesses
LFGM!!