Astros, American League West Round Up Pre-Lockout

Hopefully, this downtime, caused by the Major League Baseball owners’ lockout, has given you a chance to recover from the whiplash caused by the start of 2021-2022 free agency period.

Teams were not messing around with the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire back on Dec. 2. No other division in MLB was more involved than the American League West.

The Houston Astros have perennially been the representative from the AL West in the postseason. They’ve won the AL West four of the last five seasons. They’ve also been to three World Series in as many seasons, winning one.

The Astros run isn’t over yet either. Even if Carlos Correa opts to sign with a new team, the Astros have a lot of star power, young talent and quality role players to continue to this run for a few more seasons.

However, the rest of the AL West is starting to seemingly get desperate. Either opting for break it all down with no chance to compete like the Oakland Athletics, fast track rebuild to take advantage of a blossoming core of players like the Seattle Mariners or Texas Rangers, or to simply make a blind swing at some high-risk, high-reward free agents like the Los Angels Angels.

So, let’s take a look at the Astros’ AL West rivals’ free agent moves so far this season, evaluate those moves and how it could potentially impact the division.

Oakland Athletics

New Additions

• Brent Honeywell (via trade with Tampa Bay Rays)

After a few unsuccessful attempts to capture the American League Pennant, the Athletics have decided once again to begin a retooling of their organization.

It appears the Athletics are poised to start unloading various some key players to stock up on young assets. Aside from tendering their arbitration eligible players, the Athletics haven’t signed any free agents so far this offseason.

The Athletics did make a small trade for a once touted prospect, Brent Honeywell, from the Tampa Bay Rays, who if you haven’t noticed have a stockpile of young arms.

Honeywell has been battling injuries and really hasn’t found his footing in the organizational depth chart. This is simply a low risk move for both teams.

For the moment, the A’s still have some talent on the team anchored by the likes of Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, Frankie Montas and Chris Bassitt. However, over a dozen A’s players became free agents at the end of the season that included half of the starting lineup and nearly all of the key bullpen arms.

That doesn’t bode well for a team who has finished the last four seasons with a winning record. While they don’t seem to be a 100-loss team at this point, the AL West bar has been moved, making the Oakland Athletics a candidate for the bottom of the division.

Los Angeles Angels

New Additions

• Aaron Loup – LHP
• Raisel Iglesias – RHP
• Noah Syndergaard – RHP
• Michael Lorenzen – RHP
• Tyler Wade (via trade with New York Yankees) – UTL

On paper, the Angels should be battling for the division each and every season. However, they have failed to make a playoff appearance since 2014. A mix of bad pitching and injuries to their top players, the universe never seems to line up for the Angels.

While the Angels certainly made some splashes early in the offseason, they still have a ways to go to compete with the Astros, or even the Mariners.

First the Angels had to keep the heart-and-soul of their bullpen, extending a four-year contract worth $58 million to Raisel Iglesias. That is a lot money for a reliever of any caliber, but the Angels can’t afford to step backwards on any front with so much committed to Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and soon to be Shohei Ohtani.

They also signed Aaron Loup, a 33-year-old, left-handed reliever. Loup was really solid for the Mets last season, sporting a 0.95 ERA through 56.2 innings. They have have the back end of the bullpen settled, at least.

The Angels have been wildly inconsistent with their starting pitching for some time. They took a risk on signing free agent starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who returned from Tommy John Surgery towards the end of last season.

They also brought in Michael Lorenzan, who also came back from a Tommy John Surgery of his own last season. Lorenzan has been featured primarily in a relief role and hasn’t been a regular starter since 2015. The Angels seem to be intent on stretching Lorenzan out as a starting pitcher.

Texas Rangers

New Additions

• Kole Calhoun – OF
• Jon Gray – RHP
• Marcus Semien – 2B
• Corey Seager – SS

You certainly cannot fault the Rangers for going full-send on the free agent market this offseason season. They are coming off a 102-loss season, making it the fifth consecutive losing season for the other baseball team in Texas.

The Rangers went out and added two of the top free agents in the 2021-2022 offseason, Marcus Semien and Corey Seager. If Carlos Correa opts to re-sign with the Astros, there’s little doubt that this new Rangers duo will be the best middle infield in the division.

The most interesting about these moves is the amount of money committed by the team. Star shortstop Corey Seager commanded a ten-year, $325 million contract. This blockbuster deal came after the Rangers had signed Marcus Semien to a seven-year, $175 million contract.

The Rangers also added veteran right fielder, Kole Calhoun, who Astros fans may remember from his time with the Los Angeles Angels. Jon Gray, former Colorado Rockies starting pitcher, inked a deal with the Rangers, as well.

For those who forgot their calculators, that is a grand total of $561 million in contract commitments. Yes, you read that right. The Rangers spent over a half-billion dollars during this free agency period.

The Rangers don’t appear to be done yet. They reportedly met with Japanese outfielder Seiya Suzuki and are high on him, according to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News.

While spending a little over a half-billion dollars in free agency certainly won’t make them take a step back, they have a lot of ground to catch the Los Angeles Angels, much less the Seattle Mariners or Houston Astros in the AL West. The Rangers have a still-developing core of young players and a lot of holes in the rotation and bullpen.