A look at what American League West teams did in the offseason

The Astros overcame a dreadful start to win the division again, but they were a quick postseason exit. They’ve since added first baseman Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes. This is a situation, though, where the departures are the bigger story: The Astros traded Kyle Tucker, one year from free agency, to the Cubs in a deal that included Paredes. They bid farewell to franchise icons Justin Verlander (Giants) and Alex Bregman, who signed with the Red Sox on Wednesday evening.

Yet Houston has remained competitive recently even after not re-signing big-name players like Gerrit Cole, Carlos Correa and George Springer. That could be the case again in 2025, especially in a division where their peers — namely the Mariners and Rangers — failed to drastically improve.

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners have had a few good seasons recently, yet keeping with their depressing history, they have only one postseason appearance — in which they were swept — to show for it. Seattle’s refusal to augment its stellar rotation with a price free-agent bat or two is holding it back. The Mariners, who won 86 games last season, bring back that same rotation unless they opt to trade Luis Castillo for offense. But their lineup remains unimpressive, needing further reinforcements to be taken seriously as a postseason threat. Their offseason additions include Donavan Solano and re-signing Jorge Polanco; those aren’t moving the needle.

Seattle should be within striking distance of the division crown. A resurgent Julio Rodriguez season, a couple of surprises in the lineup and the rotation staying healthy would go a long way toward this group maximizing its ability. But the ceiling seems to be good, not great. The Mariners missed an opportunity to potentially change their fortunes this winter, and that’s a shame.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers’ title-defense campaign was a 78-win dud. While it had limited spending, Texas seemingly improved. Jake Burger adds legitimate power to the lineup, replacing Nathaniel Lowe (traded to Washington) at first base. Beloved 2021 Brave Joc Pederson also will supply some pop as a designated hitter. Catcher Kyle Higashioka will lessen Jonah Heim’s workload. Veteran starter Nathan Eovaldi tested free agency and returned, a nice win. There are several new relievers here, including former Brave Jacob Webb.

Most important, the Rangers’ core is healthy. Will it stay that way? There’s still a lot of star power here, from Corey Seager to Marcus Semien to Jacob deGrom (who’s healthy to begin the spring). Future Hall of Famer Bruce Bochy is back in the dugout, too.

Texas is a candidate to rebound from its uninspiring 2024. Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projections have the Rangers around 90 wins, which is best in the AL West.

A’s

Setting aside the off-field circus that has the A’s based in a minor-league park in Sacramento — all while waiting to head to Las Vegas — this was a productive offseason. The A’s should improve on their 69 wins from 2024.

To add payroll, the A’s acquired starter Jeffrey Springs from Tampa Bay and signed Luis Severino to upgrade their rotation. Severino received a three-year, $67 million deal, making him the most expensive free-agent signee in A’s history. Sacramento — that’s where they’re playing, even if the organization doesn’t want to acknowledge it in its name — also signed former Braves utilityman Gio Urshela. They extended slugger Brent Rooker, who’s become the franchise’s face.

The A’s, for all the off-field theatrics, are in a better place roster-wise. Maybe they’ll have a postseason contender by the time they’re in Nevada, but that’s a ways off. For now, they’re a middling-to-bad team — though that’s still an improvement over where they’ve been.

Los Angeles Angels

The Angels are turning to the Braves to help them build a positive environment that properly nurtures their young talent. General manager Perry Minasian, formerly Alex Anthopoulos’ top assistant, added Jorge Soler for needed power in the lineup. He signed catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who should be instrumental in helping budding backstop Logan O’Hoppe and the team’s pitchers. The Angels also added ex-Braves catching coach Sal Fasano to Ron Washington’s staff.

While they reportedly sniffed around on some bigger additions like Pete Alonso, the Angels resisted splashy spending for the second consecutive winter. There’s more young talent here than they get credit for, among them shortstop Zach Neto, O’Hoppe, first baseman Nolan Schanuel, starter Jose Soriano and reliever Ben Joyce.

The best realistic case for the Angels puts them in the middle of the pack. They’ll need Mike Trout to stay healthy to get there, too. This rebuild continues, and its duration will be determined by how the youngsters develop. If some of these players take steps forward in 2025, perhaps the Angels get aggressive next winter and begin pushing for the postseason in earnest.