Houston Astros: A Snapshot of the 2017 AL West competition

A look at the Houston Astros’ divisional foes in 2017.

As 2016 comes to an end, Houston sports fans are working to get to the holidays. They will watch a mediocre Texans team spin its wheels and a Rockets team that is much improved and definitely a treat to watch. However, there will no doubt be a buzz around the city about the Houston Astros. The new year could see the Houston Astros making a run for not just an AL West crown, but a world championship.

The recent plethora of additions to the Astros roster has bolstered the fan base and has given many baseball experts reason to believe that the ball club from Houston will be a legitimate title contender in 2017. But let us not just sit and drool at the new toys we have recently acquired. We should keep an eye on our closest enemies with whom the Astros will match up against 76 times next season.

The Houston Astros need to win the AL West this year, they must beat the Rangers!

Seattle Mariners (+1000 to win AL Pennant)

Key Additions: SS Jean Segura, C Carlos Ruiz, IF Danny Valencia, RP Marc Rzepczynski, OF Mitch Haniger

Key Departures: SS Ketel Marte, SP Taijuan Walker

The M’s and their GM Jerry DiPoto have had another busy offseason. The biggest splash was sending Marte and Walker to Arizona in exchange for Segura, Haniger, and LHP Zac Curtis.

What happened in 2016.

It will be interesting to see how this trade plays out, as Walker looks to be a potential ace, and Haniger, who was Arizona’s Minor League POY in 2016 could blossom into a major contributor this season. Dipoto on Haniger “There’s not much left for him to do in the Minor Leagues. You can’t have a better year than he just experienced.” Segura, who will bat leadoff, will be an enormous offensive upgrade from Marte. Defensively, they should be a wash.

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The lineup will still feature one of the best power 3-4-5 trios in the big leagues with Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz, and Kyle Seager. They also added Ruiz and Valencia, which gives them some good offensive depth.

Their pitching staff as a whole last season was a bit above average. Losing Walker will hurt, and Seattle could turn to LHP Ariel Miranda to step up in the rotation this year. He was acquired last year from Baltimore in exchange for Wade Miley and pitched well for the Mariners. Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma will once again be asked to lead this pitching staff.

What about 2017?

If the Mariners intend to contend this year, and not fade off in September, they will need to address their starting pitching. Either getting another front-end starter or another middle-rotation piece to add depth to their very shallow pool of starters.

Oakland Athletics (+5000 to win AL Pennant)

Key Additions: OF Matt Joyce

Key Departures: OF Josh Reddick (Mid-season trade), IF Danny Valencia

Billy Beane‘s crew could be in for another long season. They will likely be sellers at the trade deadline. They lost one of their best players in Reddick to free agency, and a solid player in Valencia as well. There is much speculation that SP Sonny Gray could be on the trade block if he can return to his 2015 form.

What happened in 2016.

The Oakland offense ranked dead last in the AL in runs scored per game (4.03 R/G). Losing Reddick and Valencia will not help an already anemic offense. Joyce was brought in, but has only excelled as a platoon player thus far in his career due to his inability to hit LHP (.185 career BA vs. LHP).

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Oakland projects to have rookie 2B Joey Wendle leadoff this year, and will have their leading home run hitter, Khris Davis likely in the cleanup role. It is impressive that Davis hit 42 long balls last season spending half of his games hitting in the spacious O.co Coliseum. Third baseman Ryon Healy broke into the majors last year. In the 72 games of his rookie campaign, hit .308 with 12 home runs, and will look to build off of that solid effort in 2017.

Starting pitching for the A’s in 2016 was a train wreck. Their team stats do not present many crazy outliers but keep in mind that Rich Hill‘s 9-3, 2.25 ERA effort hid the poor performances of Gray (5-11, 5.69) and Daniel Mengden (2-9, 6.50). Sean Manaea had a good season and looked to be a player that will be a piece of their rotation for the future. Oakland will likely count heavily on two rookie RHP’s Jharel Cotton and Frankie Montas to eat up some starts this year.

The bullpen is a solid crew, featuring the names of John Axford, Ryan Madson, and Sean Doolittle. Doolittle was lost to injury last year, and Madson took over the closer role. Doolittle will likely earn that spot back this year.

What about 2017?

The A’s are in another rebuilding year but could hang around if their young offense, mixed in with some role playing veterans can produce more at the plate than last year.  The real hurdle for this club, which could knock them from contention early is their lack of starting pitching.  Gray’s off year was a disaster for this staff, and he must return to form.  Last season Oakland had a total of 14 different starting pitchers, so more consistency would be nice to see.

Los Angeles Angels (+5500 to win AL Pennant)

Key Additions: OF Cameron Maybin, P Jesse Chavez, SS Danny Espinosa

Key Departures: Unsigned FA’s SP C.J. Wilson, SP Jered Weaver, C Geovany Soto

What happened in 2016.

The Angels are picked dead last in the AL West by the oddsmakers. However, their payroll is four times that of Oakland. You can attribute a good chunk of that to the 36-year-old slugger Albert Pujols who is set to make $26 million this year. He still has five years left on his $240 million contract, ouch.

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The Angels were once in the business of trying to buy a World Championship, and they are still paying for that failed plan. They now look to be stuck between trying to compete and rebuilding but haven’t quite made a decision on the route they want to take. If the Angels are at the bottom of the division as projected, look for them to try to shop Mike Trout. Trout would no doubt command several top prospects from a farm system. But, he might be untradeable because of his overall value.

Overall the Halo’s offense was average. They only hit 156 home runs, but that is largely in part to playing half of their season in the pitcher-friendly Angels Stadium. They hit for a team average of .260 and nearly all their other stats were around league average. Their lineup projects to be decent 1-6, but the bottom third could be putrid. Trout and Pujols, along with Kole Calhoun, C.J. Cron, and Yunel Escobar will be asked to carry this offense.

LA’s pitching as a whole last year was below average. They had the highest FIP in the AL at 4.62. They also had the second lowest Quality Start percentage in the AL at 40%, second to only Minnesota.

What about 2017?

The Angels lost their ace Garrett Richards and another promising starter Andrew Heaney early last season. This contributed to a lot of their pitching struggles. Richards is set to be back, but Heaney will miss 2017 recovering from a Tommy John surgery. So for this season, LA will look to have Richards as their opening day starter. He would be followed by Matt Shoemaker, Tyler Skaggs, and Ricky Nolasco. Then likely recently acquired Chavez to round out the staff.

There will likely need to change at closer this year for the Halo’s. Their save percentage was terrible at a mere 58% in 2016. Veteran closer Huston Street, had a terrible season last year while he was dealing with a knee injury. He will compete with Andrew Bailey and Cam Bedrosian for the job in the spring.

Los Angeles will need the backend of their rotation to step up and provide better starts this year. Their offense is possibly the worst in the division and will need to be kept in games by the pitching staff. Trout has a full no-trade clause in his contract. But look for this to be his last year in Anaheim, as he would likely waive it to play for a contender.

Houston Astros: (+500 to win AL Pennant)

Key Additions: DH Carlos Beltran, OF Josh Reddick, OF Nori Aoki, C Brian McCann, SP Charlie Morton

Key Departures: C Jason Castro, 3B Luis Valbuena, SP Doug Fister, OF Colby Rasmus

What happened in 2016.

The Astros have been one of the busiest teams this offseason, signing some noted veterans to their lineup that was the youngest in the league last year. The Astro lineup will now feature George Springer, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Yulieski Gurriel, and the fore-mentioned arrivals. This has Houston slotted to have one of the best all-around lineups in baseball.

The consensus is that for this club to achieve the expectation of competing for a world series, the pitching staff will need to improve. Dallas Keuchel took a significant step back from last season. Lance McCullers was injury ridden for the bookends of the season, and Collin McHugh, Mike Fiers, and a combination of other starters could not provide enough consistency to get the club into the playoffs.

What about 2017?

Adding Morton to the staff, in replacement of Fister, was a move made in hopes that Morton can continue to get a lot of ground balls.  In Minute Maid Park, this is a necessity, especially with the CF fence moving in this year, RIP Tal’s Hill.

Consistency was a major issue in the bullpen as well.  Houston rotated through three closers, Luke Gregerson, Will Harris, and Ken Giles.  Giles ended the season relatively well, and is expected to assume the role he was acquired to handle.

If the Astros are to make a serious contention for a world championship, they will likely need to acquire a front end-starter.  This will come at a high price, but luckily for the Astros, multiple years of 100+ loss seasons has stocked the farm system well.

STILL ON THE MARKET….

Edwin Encarnacion was rumored to be close to signing with the Houston Astros. That rumor fizzled and he is now being talked about in the Texas Ranger circle. This would be an expensive signing for a player on the downside of the age pendulum, but there is a hole at first base since Prince Fielder‘s retirement and Moreland’s departure. As of now Jurickson Profar is slotted to play first. If Texas wants to match Houston’s lineup, this would be a huge acquisition.

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• Houston Astros: A Lineup Change to Spark Offense
• Astros prospect Hunter Brown throws 6 shutout innings in debut
• Always faithful Astros World Series champion Josh Reddick defends the title
• Michael Conforto declines Astros’ 2-year, $30 million offer

Chris Carter is now a free agent. He hit 41 home runs for Milwaukee last year, and for any team looking for some pop, and strikeouts, he could be had for relatively cheap. And wouldn’t the Rangers like to have another ex-Astro on their roster?  It’s possible.

Ivan Nova is one of the best free agent pitchers on the market, which will likely end up with him being over paid.  But with pitching being a weak point in this division, Nova could be a prospect of Seattle.  Jason Hammel and Tyson Ross are even better options, but will likely come with a higher price tag.  Will Texas or Houston make a play for one of those players?  Houston has said to be done with all major signings, but not much has been said at all from the Rangers camp.

AND THE AL WEST WINNER IS……

At this time, it is safe to assume that Oakland and Los Angeles will not be in contention for the division.  They have to many holes, and the rest of the division has been making moves to improve. Since none of the remaining three teams have a stellar pitching staff, I think the teams must be ranked by offensive expectations.  So here are your 2017 AL West standings predictions:

1.  Houston Astros     96-66
2. Texas Rangers        91-71
3. Seattle Mariners    86-76
4. Oakland Athletics   69-93
5. Los Angeles Angels  65-97

Next: What to expect from Jose Altuve in 2017.

****Stats from Baseball-Reference.com, Salary information per Spotrac and Odds information from oddshark.com***