The Houston Astros’ dominance of the AL West continued in 2023 with their third straight division title. Their sixth division title in seven years.
However the Astros did not dominate in the postseason as the Texas Rangers, who had the same record as the Astros, won it all on dark night in Arizona.
The Mariners missed out on the Wild Card round by one game, the Los Angeles Angels were praying to the angels to keep Shohei Ohtani, and the Oakland Athletics continued to run a pyramid scheme.
Team Previews
Houston Astros 2023 record: 90-72
The Astros made their way back to the American League Championship Series, but were beaten in seven games by their divisional foes and eventual World Series champions, the Texas Rangers.
Key Departures
The Astros will be without two pieces from their 2023 bullpen in 2024. Héctor Neris signed a one-year $9 million contract with the Chicago Cubs, with a 2025 club option.
Neris is coming off his best season of his career, with 71 appearances out of the pen, 246 ERA+ in 2023.
Ryne Stanek is currently unsigned following his down year in 2023, and the Astros have added back-end of the bullpen help to seemingly replace Stanek.
Stanek appeared in 55 games last year with a 4.09 ERA through 50.2 innings.
A mainstay in the Astros’ lineup will also be wearing different colors this season, Martín Maldonado joins the Chicago White Sox.
Maldonado hit 15 home runs in the 2023 campaign.
Key Additions
The aforementioned back-end of the bullpen comes in the form a 6’3 man with about a foot of lucious flowing locks coming out from beneath his hat.
Josh Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract in January, which is the largest closer contract in MLB history.
Hader spent 2023 in San Diego with 33 saves in 61 appearances, and a 1.28 ERA.
The Astros quickly replaced the Maldonado with a younger Victor Caratini.
Caratini spent 2023 in Milwaukee with a .259 batting average and .327 on-base percentage.
Prognosis
Fangraphs slates the Astros as division winners once again with 90.7 wins. I believe this is more correct than not, 87 win floor and a 100 win ceiling. This team will produce, the questions come with the age of some of the top players.
Texas Rangers 2023 record: 90-72
The Rangers finished second in the division last year after losing the regular season series 9-4 to the Astros. However, the Rangers got the last laugh by winning the World Series.
Key Departures
The Rangers will be without two stellar bullpen pitchers from their World Series roster in 2024 with Will Smith and Aroldis Chapman electing free agency.
Smith had 22 saves in 2023 with a 1.064 WHIP in his lone season in Texas.
Chapman was traded prior to the deadline in 2023. In his partial season in Texas he had a 3.72 ERA through 29 innings.
The Rangers are losing starting pitching help too with Martín Pérez leaving for Pittsburgh.
Pérez finished 2023 with a 4.45 ERA through 141.2 innings pitched.
Mitch Garver signed a two-year contract, $24 million.
Garver had a .270 and a .370 on-base percentage with Texas in 2023.
Key Additions
The Rangers add a lot of pitching help with the additions of David Robertson, Kirby Yates, Tyler Mahle.
Robertson split his 2023 season between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins. In 2023, he finished with a 3.03 ERA.
Yates had World Series aspirations last season with the Atlanta Braves where he had a 3.28 ERA through 60.1 seasons.
Mahle only appeared in 5 games last season for Minnesota with a 3.16 ERA through 25.2 innings.
Prognosis
Fangraphs projects a third place finish for the Rangers with 81.4 wins. I agree with finishing third, however, I would expect a win total closer to 85.
Seattle Mariners 2023 record: 88-74
The Mariners just missed out on the playoffs by one game in 2023. Still winning 88 games should give them the confidence to make another jump in the 2024 season.
Key Departures
The Mariners are lost three big bats in trades and free agency over the offseason as Eugenio Suárez, Teoscar Hernandez, and Jarred Kelenic all leave Seattle.
Suárez played all 162 games in 2023 finishing with 22 home runs, 96 RBIs but a league leading 214 strikeouts. Suárez will play for the Arizona Diamondbacks this year after a trade.
Hernández played his lone season in Seattle last year with a .258 batting average and 26 home runs. Hernández heads to the Los Angeles Dodgers with a one-year $23.5 million deal.
Jarred Kelenic seemed to be set for a breakout year as he exploded early in Seattle, however, he came back down to Earth with a .253 batting average and only 11 home runs. Kelenic was traded to the Atlanta Braves in December.
Key Additions
Gregory Santos, Jorge Polanco, Luke Raley, Mitch Haniger
The Mariners added a lot of hitters this offseason with Jorge Polanco, Luke Raley and Mitch Haniger.
Polanco comes to Seattle on a club-option trade from the Twins. Polanco played only 80 games in 2023 with a .255 batting average.
The Mariners traded for Raley in January from the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2023, Raley hit 19 home runs and had a .824 OPS.
Mitch Haniger tried to escape Seattle in 2023 after signing a three-year deal with the San Francisco Giants, but the Mariners just could not say goodbye and traded for him this offseason.
Haniger had his worst season of his career in 2023, hitting .209.
The Mariners also added Gregory Santos, who had a 3.39 ERA out of the White Sox bullpen in 2023.
Prognosis
Fangraphs projects a second place finish for the revamped Mariners with 85.3 wins. I agree with a second place finish, but look out for it to be a lot closer of a divisional race this year between Seattle and Houston.
Los Angeles Angels 2023 record:73-89
The Angels wasted another year of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani with another losing season. The Angels have not made the playoffs since 2014 despite having, and then subsequently losing, one-of-a-kind talent.
Key Departures
The Angels lost a pitcher and a hitter, that’s one player, Shohei Ohtani. A generational talent that the Angels could never build a team around, just like the couldn’t for Mike Trout.
Ohtani has won two MVPs, a Rookie of the Year, finished fourth in the Cy Young voting in 2022 and a two-time silver slugger.
In 2023, Ohtani hit a league-leading 44 home runs, 95 RBIs and a .412 on-base percentage. All of this while pitching to the tune of a 3.14 ERA through 132 innings.
Key Additions
While the Angels have not done much in the offseason other than lose the greatest talent baseball has seen, they did add a few pitchers.
Zach Plesac signed a one-year $1 million with the Angels, he appeared in five games last season with a 7.59 ERA. (He is getting mentioned because we went to the same high school.)
Luis García also signed a one-year deal worth $4.25 million, he had a 4.07 ERA in San Diego last season.
Prognosis
Fangraphs slates the Angels for a fourth place finish with 77 wins. I think that the Angels will have trouble getting to 77 wins, lucky for them they won’t finish dead last in the division because their good friends, and fellow bottom dwellers the Oakland A’s exist.
Oakland Athletics 2023 record: 50-112
Wow. That was one of the seasons of all time.
Key Departures
Tony Kemp signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds in February.
Kemp spent four years in Oakland. In 2023, he hit .209 with 15 stolen bases.
Key Additions
Alex Wood signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract in January.
In 2023, Wood had a 4.33 ERA over 97.2 innings for the Giants.
The A’s traded for Ross Stripling in the offseason.
Stripling is coming off of a rough year in San Francisco with a 5.36 ERA in 89 innings.
The A’s also traded for Abraham Toro in November.
Toro only played nine games last year for the Milwaukee Brewers. In his career, he is .211 hitter.
Prognosis
Fangraphs has the A’s with a last place finish in the AL West with 70.3 wins. I agree with placement, but its Oakland and there chance to not lose 100 games is closer to slim to none.
For a more in depth analysis of these teams and this division tune in to “The Chatting Average” with Adam Busack and myself at 11 a.m. on Friday. Tune in at 88.1 FM in Columbia or here on kcou.fm by clicking the “play FM stream” button at the top of this page.