Will any team benefit more from the fact that there will be no fans in the stands all season than the Houston Astros? Not that they don't deserve the treatment they would've gotten in EVERY. SINGLE. stadium they visited this year. But they're essentially getting a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. I'm not saying fans will have forgotten by next season, but the reaction won't be nearly what it would've been. Fortunately, other teams haven't forgotten, either. So the Astros will still face plenty of hostility in 2020.
Houston's dominance of the AL West is reaching its ends, too. Garbage can or not, the Astros are still the best team in the division. But this might be the last year we can unquestionably say that. Because it's not just the A's anymore. The Angels may finally have enough to be relevant! They might even be able to send Mike Trout to the playoffs for the second time in his career (had the MLBPA agreed to the expanded postseason, that would've been virtually guaranteed).
The Rangers made a big push, too, in hopes of christening their new ballpark (which looks like either an airplane hangar or a warehouse depending on whether the roof is open or not) with a playoff berth. They're still only the fourth-best team in the division, though, so playing half their games against the three that are better than them (plus a handful with the Dodgers) isn't going to help matters.
Then there are our friends in Seattle. One thing the Mariners have going for them is the fact that they won't be the team that logs the most travel miles for a change. And, let's not forget, they started 13-2 last season before coming back to earth. But this season, 15 games is a quarter of the schedule. So if they can get out to another fast start, who knows what could happen?
1. Houston Astros: It wasn't all the garbage can (which actually makes the whole thing much worse)! The Astros' players have plenty of talent on their own, and they'll be out to show that they can win the legitimate way, too. And they know they have a target on their backs, both for the cheating and for the simple fact that they're the hunted. Combine that with the fact that they'll actually face some real competition in the AL West and we'll see an Astros team playing with a different purpose in 2020.
Yet, despite all the offseason turmoil, Houston remains the team to beat in the division. Even without Gerrit Cole, their rotation is far superior to their division rivals, and the delay only helped in that ace Justin Verlander, who wouldn't have been ready in April, is good to go. My biggest concern about the Astros, actually, is how they'll respond to Dusty Baker, who's a much different type of manager than A.J. Hinch. I doubt it'll be much of an issue, though. Dusty's a well-respected baseball man. He'll make the most of this talented team, get them to play the right way, and they'll legitimately win another division title.
Projected Lineup: George Springer-CF, Alex Bregman-3B, Jose Altuve-2B, Michael Brantley-LF, Yordan Alvarez-DH, Carlos Correa-SS, Yuli Gurriel-1B, Josh Reddick-RF, Martin Maldonado-C
Projected Rotation: Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers Jr., Jose Urquidy, Austin Pruitt
Closer: Roberto Osuna
Projected Record: 34-26
2. Los Angeles Angels: They missed out on Gerrit Cole, but it wasn't a completely lost winter for the Angels, who ended up with the biggest free agent offensive prize in Anthony Rendon. The lineup was never the problem, but the addition of Rendon makes it that much stronger. Most of all, it gives Trout some protection, which great as he once was, future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols hasn't provided in several years. BTW, Albert's just five home runs away from passing Willie Mays for fifth all-time. Sadly, he'll hit it in an empty stadium.
Pitching has long been the Angels' Achilles heel, though, and it looks like that will be the case again. Shohei Ohtani is back on the mound after being limited to DH duty last season, which will obviously help tremendously. But he'll only start once a week, so how much difference will 10 starts really make? Instead, Julio Teheran and Dylan Bundy could be the key. It was smart to bring in two veteran guys at the back end of the rotation. If they can give the Angels 7-8 quality starts each, that could be what gets them a wild card.
Projected Lineup: Tommy La Stella-2B, Mike Trout-CF, Anthony Rendon-3B, Shohei Ohtani-DH, Justin Upton-LF, Andrelton Simmons-SS, Albert Pujols-1B, Brian Goodwin-LF, Jason Castro-C
Projected Rotation: Shohei Ohtani, Andrew Heaney, Julio Teheran, Dylan Bundy, Matt Andriese, Felix Pena
Closer: Hansel Robles
Projected Record: 33-27 (Wild Card)
3. Oakland Athletics: Some experts are really high on Oakland. And with good reason. The A's have made back-to-back Wild Card Game appearances and won 97 games both times. They likely would've won a division title if not for Houston's three straight 100-win campaigns, but instead were one-and-done in the postseason. So their mission is simple. Finish ahead of the Astros and avoid the one-game vs. the Yankees or Rays scenario.
Problem is, the Angels are significantly better this year, so this will be a three-way race. That doesn't mean Oakland can't win it, though. The A's have three All*Stars in the infield, including shortstop Marcus Semien, who finished third in MVP voting last year. And their starting rotation, while unheralded, is strong. Sean Manaea returns from Tommy John surgery, and don't be surprised if either Jesus Luzardo or A.J. Puk is the AL Rookie of the Year. The rotation is headed by Mike Fiers, who was the whistleblower about what went on in Houston, so it'll be interesting to see what happens when he faces the Astros.
Projected Lineup: Marcus Semien-SS, Ramon Laureano-CF, Matt Chapman-3B, Matt Olson-1B, Khris Davis-DH, Stephen Piscotty-RF, Mark Canha-LF, Sean Murphy-C, Franklin Barreto-2B
Projected Rotation: Mike Fiers, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo, A.J. Puk
Closer: Liam Hendriks
Projected Record: 31-29
4. Texas Rangers: If the Rangers were in the AL Central, we'd be talking about them as a potential playoff team. Problem is they're in the AL West, so that's a long shot. There's definitely a chance that the Rangers will be disrupters. But to think they'll finish ahead of two in the Astros/Angels/A's group is asking a lot. We also have no idea how their new park is going to play. They're going from playing on grass in the oppressive Dallas summer heat to playing on turf under a retractable roof that will probably be closed most of the time. We'll see how much of a difference that makes.
Discount Texas at your own risk, though. Because you know Joey Gallo's going to hit a bunch of home runs, and the rest of the offense has to potential to do that, too. Most importantly, though, the Rangers enhanced their pitching staff big time with the trade for Corey Kluber. Yes, 2019 was an injury-plagued lost season, but this is a guy who went 20-7 two years ago and had 18 wins each of the two seasons before that. If they got that Corey Kluber, it was a steal. More importantly, he consistently throws 200 innings. And for a team whose glaring weakness is the bullpen, getting as many innings as possible out of the rotation is a very good idea.
Projected Lineup: Shin-Soo Choo-DH, Rougned Odor-2B, Elvis Andrus-SS, Joey Gallo-RF, Danny Santana-CF, Todd Frazier-3B, Ronald Guzman-1B, Robinson Chirinos-C, Willie Calhoun-LF
Projected Rotation: Corey Kluber, Mike Minor, Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles
Closer: Jose Leclerc
Projected Record: 28-32
5. Seattle Mariners: Now that the Nationals have been there, the Mariners have the distinction as the only team in the Majors to have never played in the World Series. They also have the longest playoff drought in baseball, having not reached the postseason since 2001. Don't expect either of those to change this season. Because the Mariners, after several years of trying to be good, are not anymore. And, with three good teams in the division, there's really no logical landing place for them other than the cellar.
Even worse, now that Felix Hernandez is gone, the Mariners don't even have a franchise player (I guess it's maybe Kyle Seager). So, this really is a new era in Seattle. And, other than one or two guys, nobody in the lineup really scares you, and the rotation doesn't either. They aren't nearly as bad as the Orioles or Tigers, so it would be unfair to put them in that category, but, even though it's only 60 games, this will still be a long season in Seattle. The good thing is there were probably going to be a lot of empty seats at Mariners games anyway, so they might not even notice the difference.
Projected Lineup: Mallex Smith-CF, Dee Gordon-2B, Kyle Seager-3B, Daniel Vogelbach-DH, Evan White-1B, J.P. Crawford-SS, Jake Fraley-LF, Tom Murphy-C, Kyle Lewis-RF
Projected Rotation: Marco Gonzalez, Taijuan Walker, Yusei Kikuchi, Kendall Graveman, Justus Sheffield
Closer: Matt Magill
Projected Record: 26-34
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