Astros' AL West competition on the rise after rival's surprise Christmas extension

The Houston Astros had already found themselves in dangerous territory following the 2025 season. Their second half collapse exposed some growing flaws with their roster and allowed the Mariners to steal the division title away. The Rangers might have worse payroll issues than Houston does, but they are still a threat given the amount of talent they have. If having two legitimate contenders to deal with wasn't enough, some news from Christmas Day was a reminder that that number may be growing to three teams.

Thanks to their own actions, the Athletics have been a punchline across MLB for a while now. They hadn't invested in their roster unless they are literally forced to (case in point: Luis Severino's deal) and their relocation to Vegas has been a dumpster fire of hurt feelings and shady dealings. Picking as high as they have for a long time combined with a lot of fire sale trades, they do have talent on their roster or that will be in the majors pretty quickly, but their own ineptitude kept that from mattering too much.

However, after extending Tyler Soderstrom on a very reasonable contract on Christmas Day as well as, potentially, their trade for Jeff McNeil, the A's look like an up-and-coming team that could give the Astros even more fits in the AL West.

Athletics seem to have figured things out at the worst possible time for the Astros

Now, if you are skeptical about the A's chances, that is understandable. Despite having a really fun, young team that had Nick Kurtz in the middle of his ROY warpath, this is still the same team that traded away Mason Miller just last season. Do not underestimate the Athletics' ability to mess up a good thing, but there are signs that they are figuring something out.

Not only did they lock up Soderstrom after a strong season on both sides of the ball, they added a veteran in McNeil that should be able to provide some guidance to the A's young hitters. With Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Shea Langeliers, Lawrence Butler, and Brent Rooker among others, the Athletics' offense is legitimately scary.

Unfortunately, the timing for the Astros couldn't be worse. Houston did trade for Mike Burrows to address their rotation, but their finances are not going to allow them to do much else unless they find someone willing to take on some of their less-than-ideal contracts. With the A's joining the ranks of AL West teams on the rise, that the Astros are seemingly on the downslope at the same time points to some real difficulties for them in 2026 and beyond.