2019 MLB season: Which is the best team in the AL?

With the 2019 MLB season winding down, the Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and Minnesota Twins have all had dominant seasons. Which is the best?

As we approach the end of the 2019 MLB season, the current wild card standings show the Tampa Bay Rays holding on to a slim, one-game lead over the Oakland Athletics and Cleveland Indians.

The Rays seemingly have an infinite depth of players, who they can conveniently bring up and contribute on an everyday basis. Their bullpen is the asset that allows them to deal with a plethora of starting pitching injuries and mishaps.

The A’s have a similarly deep bullpen as well as the power it takes to get to an opponent’s starter. The flaw that both pf these clubs cannot cover for is that they have a lack of experience and even though bullpen depth plays very well in postseason series, a lack of rotation depth can be a death sentence.

A far more experienced team resides in Cleveland, yet their injury woes have seriously hamstrung them. Jose Ramirez is likely done for the year and Danny Salazar and Corey Kluber‘s returns have taken significant detours.

Overall, these three teams would all be a tough matchup in a series, yet just do not have the depth or fortune it takes to conquer a club such as the Houston Astros or New York Yankees.