MLB West

 

Could the postseason be an all-West Coast phenomenon in 2025? Probably not in the AL, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility in the NL. 

 

 

 

American League:

 

Three teams are vying for supremacy, but I think one will falter.

 

1. Texas Rangers slipped a year after winning the World Series, but look for them to right the skateboard. They live and die by pitching and have exciting young arms–Rocker and (Jack) Leiter– knocking at the door. If everyone else is healthy and kids live up to their hype, who can match them plus Corbin, Eovaldi, deGrom, and (Jon) Gray? Texas had run production problems last year but Pederson, (Aroldis) Garcia, Seager, Higashioka, and Semien should snap back to form. Many analysts see OF Wyatt Langford as MLB’s top prospect.

 

2. Seattle Mariners might finally snag a Wild Card. Their problem, as always, is that the Mariners always look better on paper than on the field. There is no reason for a team with Arozarena, (Joely) Rodriguez, Crawford, Solano, and Polanco not to hit, though they are not big power guys. Robles either hits or goes down as a hyped mediocrity. Several pitchers are on the IL right now, which puts a burden on young pitchers like Vargas, (Bryce) Miller, and Woo to produce. If they do and Castillo adds more W’s than L’s behind his stats, the M’s should be alright, though they have a history of disappointment.

 

3. Houston Astros won the division last year, but they deleted such talent as Bregman and Tucker. They still have Altuve, Pena, and added Walker, but if Rogers can’t hit outside of Colorado’s thin air and Paredo (from Tampa) doesn’t either, the Astros will be challenged to score runs. Their pitching­­–Valdez, (Hunter) Brown, (Luis) Garcia, McCullers, and Blanco–is strong and Hader is one of the best closers in baseball. Pick the ‘Stros  to surprise one way or another, either by being better or worse than expected.

 

4. Sacramento Athletics: Another team displaced and, like Tampa, calling a minor league park home. Let’s see, a team 16^th in batting and 24^th in ERA competing to stay out of the basement with one 19^th in batting and 25^th in ERA. Go with the A’s but don’t get too excited. What do Andujar, Medina, Sears, Severino, Urshela, and Waldichuk have in common? They were all dumped by the Yankees. Springs from the fellow homeless Rays will help. It’s hard to see the A’s putting up a lot of runs, so don’t be shocked if they flip their weak batting and pitching rankings.

 

5.  Los Angeles Angels: Trout will be 35 this year. Even if he claws back from several years of injuries he is destined to go down as one of baseball’s best players never to play in a World Series game. Angels ‘pitching could improve if Kochanowicz (25) and Soriano (27) come into their own, but don’t expect miracles from Cubs castoff Hendricks or Kikuchi whose career ERA in 4.57. Besides Trout, the offense offers Moncada, who has been around long enough to call a bust, Ward, and catcher O’Hoppe. Ouch!

 

National League:

 

Two Wild Cards could come from the NL West. The only sure thing is that the Dodgers will win the division. I wouldn’t bet against them to repeat as World Series champs.

 

 

1. Los Angeles Dodgers: This is what a billion dollar investment looks like: Freeman, Muncy, Betts, Edman, Conforto, (Will) Smith, (Toescar) Hernandez, and Ohtani. If the Dodgers ever let Ohtani pitch again, they’re nuts! Here is a partial list of possible starting pitching: Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, May, Sasaki, Stone, Gonsolin, and Kershaw. They could trade for anything they need in a nanosecond. Only an earthquake that swallowed Dodgers Stadium could stop them from winning the Series again.

 

2. San Diego Padres: In a fair world the Padres would be a favorite to win the division. They have a fine pitching staff­–Cease, Darvish, King, Musgrove, Pivetta–and a terrific lineup of Bogaerts, Machado, Merrill, Sheets, and Tatis. Hayward has never lived up to his hype, though.

 

3. Arizona Diamondbacks: If the Holy Fathers slip, the Snakes could slither past them. The pitching is solid–Burnes, (Shelby) Miller, (Eduardo) Rodriguez, (Merrill) Kelly, and some youngsters in the pipes. Aside from Carroll you may not know the lineup but Marte, Gurriel, Perdomo, (Eugenio) Suarez, (Josh) Naylor, and the underrated Gilchuk are capable. Right now the pitching is okay but not dominant. Pick them for fourth if that doesn’t change.

 

4. San Francisco Giants: They play in my favorite MLB park and have a good team that suffers from being in MLB’s best division. Best case scenario is that one of their rookie hurlers (Roupp, Birdsong) catches fire and pushes Webb, Ray, converted reliever Hicks, and aging Verlander to surpass expectations. Ditto a potentially productive lineup of Adames, Chapman, Encarnacion, Flores, and Yastrzemski that’s good but probably not good enough to contend for a Wild Card.

 

5. Colorado Rockies: The future isn’t now. You’ve heard of Bryant, but probably not any other hitter. Likewise, you might know that Freeland is their ace. There are young arms waiting, assuming they don’t have to check into asylums from pitching in the Rockies’ mile-high gopher ball facility.

 

Rob Weir