2022 Baseball Preview, Part III

Today was supposed to be Opening Day.  But, alas, it's not.  I know we only have to wait an extra week, but still.  The lockout was just so stupid and so unnecessarily long!  The season's getting so close we can taste it, though, so it's time to get excited.

Speaking of exciting, the AL West may be just that this season.  For the first time in a while, Houston shouldn't run away with the division title.  In fact, everybody but Oakland can realistically picture themselves being in the mix at the end of the season.  After all, the Astros have been to five straight ALCS and three of the last five World Series, the Angels have the two best players in the game, the Rangers spent half a billion dollars on two guys, and the Mariners, who won 91 games last season, are desperate to end the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports.

The extra wild card will be huge for the AL West teams, too.  Most people think the AL East could get four playoff teams this season.  But the AL West teams will certainly have something to say about it.  The question is which one?  And will they all win enough games with cannibalizing each other?

There are also a lot of question marks regarding every AL West team, though.  They've all got tremendous potential and could be really good.  Or, they could tremendously underachieve in the way the Mariners and Angels have become famous for.  In which case, congratulations Astros on winning the division once again!

1. Seattle Mariners: It's been 21 years since the Mariners last made the playoffs and they're clearly getting frustrated.  Especially after last season, when they had more wins than the World Series champions.  So, what did they do this offseason?  They went out and got better.  They're all in on 2022, and they proved it with that big trade with the Reds, giving them two huge bats to add to the lineup.  That lineup will only get stronger when Kyle Lewis returns from his injury and if/when they get a full-time DH.

Not only that, they signed reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, who suddenly makes their rotation that much stronger.  They haven't had a bona fide ace since Felix Hernandez was in his King Felix heyday.  Is that enough to get them over the top?  It just might be!  Although, it's also entirely possible that the Mariners do what they usually do and follow up a 90-win season with a 90-loss one.  Hopefully I'm wrong, though.  Hopefully they're buyers at the deadline.  If they are, then seeing them back in the playoffs for the first time in two decades is a real possibility.
Projected Lineup: Adam Frazier-2B, Jarred Kelenic-LF, Eugenio Suarez-3B, Jesse Winker-DH, Ty France-1B, Mitch Haniger-RF, J.P. Crawford-SS, Julio Rodriguez-CF, Tom Murphy-C
Projected Rotation: Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzalez, Chris Flexen, Logan Gilbert, Matt Brash
Closer: Ken Giles
Projected Record: 90-72

2. Los Angeles Angels: I love it how the Angels felt the need to announce that Ohtani would be both the starting pitcher and DH on Opening Day!  Well, seeing as they made up a rule just for him (which is actually the same as the NCAA rule), I'd freakin' hope so!  He's literally the only guy who'll be affected by this new rule, which will probably give him an extra at-bat or two per start.  Over the course of 30 starts, that could be 60 more at-bats this season.  Imagine what he could do with 60 more at-bats!

What's mind-boggling about the Angles is how they manage to suck year after year despite having both Ohtani and Mike Trout.  Of course, the two of them haven't been on the field together much, but still.  They're too good on paper to be so mediocre.  One of the reasons for that is because they keep forgetting that they need to have the pitching to go along with their hitting.  This year they finally did something about that by signing Noah Syndergaard, who'll make a great starter 1A provided he stays healthy.  That's a big if.  Which always seems to be the biggest concern for the Angels.  If everyone can stay healthy, can they finally play to their potential?
Projected Lineup: Shohei Ohtani-DH, Mike Trout-CF, Anthony Rendon-3B, Jared Walsh-1B, Justin Upton-LF, Max Stassi-C, Taylor Ward-RF, Matt Duffy-2B, David Fletcher-SS
Projected Rotation: Shohei Ohtani, Noah Syndergaard, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, Michael Lorenzen, Reid Detmers
Closer: Raisel Iglesias
Projected Record: 88-74

3. Houston Astros: This has been the Astros' division to lose for the last several years.  Partially because they were good, partially because the other four teams were not.  (Kinda like the Patriots in the AFC East for all those years.)  That may change this season, however.  Houston still has plenty of weapons, but not nearly as many as they used to.  Plus, with the Mariners, Angels and Rangers all getting better, they'll actually have to fight for it this season.

Much like the Patriots, you know the run has to end sometime.  And they've continued their trend of losing at least one big-name free agent a year.  First it was Cole, then Springer.  Now it's Greinke and Correa.  Of course, they still have Altuve and Bregman, as well as Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker.  So it's not like they'll be hurting offensively.  And their young pitching really came up big during the playoffs last season.  Plus, they'll be getting future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander back, which is a huge addition.  Don't forget who their manager is, either.  Dusty Baker just has a way of getting the most out of his team.
Projected Lineup: Jose Altuve-2B, Alex Bregman-3B, Michael Brantley-LF, Yordan Alvarez-DH, Kyle Tucker-RF, Yuli Gurriel-1B, Aledmys Diaz-SS, Chas McCormick-CF, Martin Maldonado-C
Projected Rotation: Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander, Jake Odorizzi, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy
Closer: Ryan Pressly
Projected Record: 86-76

4. Texas Rangers: How do you completely rebuild your infield overnight?  Plop down $500 million on two of the most sought-after free agents on the open market.  Seager and Semien alone will make the Rangers' lineup significantly deeper than last year.  They also traded for Mitch Garver to be their starting catcher, so that's three more quality hitters than they had last season.  The problem is they need a few more.  So, while Texas should be much improved, they still have a long way to go.

For as good as their offense could be, their pitching staff is a disaster.  Which could make for a lot of 10-8 losses in Texas.  They made a run at Clayton Kershaw (who was never going to leave the Dodgers, despite what a lot of people might want to believe), but, alas, he shockingly decided to stay in LA!  So that leaves it up to Jon Gray and Martin Perez if the Rangers will have any chance of contending in 2022.  The good news is Seager will be around for a while, so they should be good at some point during his tenure.  The bad news is it probably won't be this year.
Projected Lineup: Marcus Semien-2B, Kole Calhoun-RF, Corey Seager-SS, Mitch Garver-C, Willie Calhoun-DH, Adolis Garcia-CF, Nate Lowe-1B, Brad Miller-LF, Andy Ibanez-3B
Projected Rotation: Jon Gray, Martin Perez, Taylor Hearn, Dane Dunning, Spencer Howard
Closer: Joe Barlow
Projected Record: 76-86

5. Oakland Athletics: While they obviously can't confirm or deny anything, it sure looks like the A's are preparing themselves to make a move to Las Vegas.  Why else would they sell off their entire team and set themselves up for what sure looks like it'll be a 100-loss season?  Matt Olson.  Gone.  Matt Chapman.  Gone.  Chris Bassitt.  Gone.  And it seems likely that Sean Manaea and/or Frankie Montas will be gone before the season's over.  Maybe Stephen Piscotty, too.

So, no, I don't have high expectations for Oakland.  Which probably means they'll win 100 games.  That's usually what happens when I could them out.  Does that seem likely, however?  No!  What does seem likely is that they're staring a 100-loss season in the face.  It's almost certain that the A's will be one of the six teams in the inaugural MLB Draft lottery.  Which may actually be what they're aiming for.  Strip it down, then build it back up in time for their arrival on the Strip.  It's the only thing that makes sense.
Projected Lineup: Cristian Pache-CF, Elvis Andrus-SS, Stephen Piscotty-RF, Stephen Vogt-DH, Eric Thames-1B, Chad Pinder-LF, Sheldon Neuse-3B, Tony Kemp-2B, Sean Murphy-C
Projected Rotation: Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Cole Irvin, Brent Honeywell Jr., Daulton Jefferies
Closer: Lou Trivino
Projected Record: 58-104