American League West Division Preview 2017
Opening Day was full of surprises on Sunday and yet still most teams from around baseball have yet to play, including teams in the American League West, AL Central and the National League East.
So while teams in the American League West, the AL Central and the NL East have yet to play, other teams have already gotten down to business and the results were surprising.
In the AL East the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Yankees, in the NL Central the reigning World Champion Chicago Cubs lost to their bitter rivals the St. Louis Cardinals and in the NL West, no matter how hard Madison Bumgarner tried to do it all by himself, the team lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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So on Monday many teams begin the long and arduous 162-game season.
In the AL West those teams include the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics.
The consensus among experts from around the league is that the Rangers or the Astros will end up atop the division come October.
They also that it’s possible the one on the losing end could potentially grab a Wild Card Spot.
After all, the Rangers won the most games in the American League in 2016.
The Mariners, who improved their team over the offseason, could be one of those teams that no one expects or sees coming and then takes the division.
A victory for Seattle would end the longest playoff drought in Major League Baseball today and ensure that “King” Felix Hernandez doesn’t end up the only pitcher in the Hall of Fame that never went to the postseason.
The Angels and A’s, who finished fourth and fifth respectively in the American League Western Division last season, are pretty much expected to be just as bad as they were in 2016.
However, that is not always the case. Either of the teams could be a surprise as well, however unlikely it may seem. This is baseball, the game where anything can happen.