Mid-Season Grades AL West
Seattle Mariners – Half Season Grade B
Current Record 52 – 46
Last 10 Games 5 – 5
Last Season 88 – 74 (Finished 3rd in AL West did not make the playoffs)
The Mariners will be looking to keep up their pace to stay atop of a very close AL West where 3 teams are currently looking to push for the one guaranteed playoff spot. The trouble with the AL West this season is that its looking like the wild card spots will be a hard reach for whoever does not win the division. Catcher Cal Raleigh is having a typical Cal Raleigh season where he hits plenty of home runs but doesn’t hit for average and he doesn’t get on base a lot. However, most teams would take 20 home runs from their catcher at the halfway stage even if his average is only .216. The pitching overall has been solid Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, Bryce Miller and George Kirby are a very good top of a rotation. They will have to worry about the resurgent Houston Astros but will be happy with their start.
Houston Astros – Half Season Grade C+
Current Record 50 – 46
Last 10 Games 6 – 4
Last Season 90 – 72 (Lost to Texas Rangers 3 – 4 in ALCS)
The Astros started the season woefully and at one point it was looking like 2024 was going to be somewhat of a rebuilding season. Jose Abreu got sent to the minors for the first time in his career and eventually got released leaving the Astros to eat nearly $40 million dollars still left on his deal. The rumour mill is linking the Astros to New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso who is looking increasingly unlikely to sign a new deal with the Mets. If they can pull off this trade the Astros must surely be a force to be reckoned with come the second half of the season. The start of the season was a disaster with injuries to several notable starting pitchers. At one point they were sitting at 13 – 24 and questions were being asked. When you have the quality of Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez in your lineup there was always a chance they would pull back to a normal Astros level and they have. If you get to the playoffs, it’s a straight knockout fight and no one will want to face the Astros.
Video Taken From MLB's YouTube Channel
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Texas Rangers – Half Season Grade C-
Current Record 46 -50
Last 10 Games 7 – 3
Last Season – 90 – 72 (Finished 2nd in the AL West Won the World Series)
Last season’s surprise first time World Series winners have not had the best start to 2024 which in a way can be forgiven after last seasons overachievements. Jacob DeGrom is still injured and doesn’t look like he will be back anytime soon, but it can be argued that even with him and veteran starter Max Scherzer on the staff the best pitcher the Rangers have had in the last few years is Nathan Eovaldi who again continues to be a great pitcher and is having another under 3 ERA season. They do have home run hitters in Corey Seager (18), Adolis Garcia (17) and Marcus Semien (13) but this is not the Texas Rangers of 2023 and a team under .500 is not going to reach the playoffs. The Rangers will have to have a much better second half of 2024 to have a chance to make a wild card slot.
Los Angeles Angels – Half Season Grade D
Current Record 41 – 55
Last 10 Games 5-5
Last Season 73 – 89 (4th in the AL West did not make the playoffs)
This was always going to be a strange season for the Angels the first season without Shohei Ohtani one of the top five players in the game. Being an Angels fan is strange, for many years they have had two of the best players in the game with Ohtani and Mike Trout yet the team is so poorly constructed around them that they never even sniff making the playoffs. This season Mike Trout had a great start to the season with 10 home runs and 14 RBI’s in only 29 games, but he went down with a torn meniscus at the end of April and has been out since. The rest of the roster are mostly just a middling to poor baseball team and this will most likely be another season toiling away as a below .500 team. A plus is starting pitcher Tyler Anderson in the middle of a 3-year deal has become a 2-time all-star this year and is having a great season pitching to a 2.97 ERA in 19 games. It’s great to see Ohtani now playing with better players and one day it would be great to see Trout do the same. This may be a long shot however and he has never even hinted about being unhappy or wanting a trade away. Another predictable year for the Angels.
Oakland Athletics – Half Season Grade D
Current Record 37 – 61
Last 10 Games 5 – 5
Last Season 50 – 112 (Finished bottom of the AL West)
The Athletics fanbase have had a rough couple of years with owner John Fisher tanking the team in his quest to get the franchise moved over to Las Vegas and now MLB have given him his wish with this being the last year in Oakland before a temporary move to West Sacramento for 3 years while the new ballpark is being completed in Vegas. This seems like a nothing year but the one big standout in an otherwise lacklustre half year has been the emergence of high velocity closer Mason Miller. Miller is a regular 100mph plus pitcher and in 33 games is pitching to a 2.27 ERA. Originally a starter the move to the bullpen has been a massive success. Before the trade deadline there is no doubt the A’s will be receiving plenty of phone calls in relation to Miller. The question is what they can get back for Miller if they trade him. It could be a chance to build up the farm system for the move to Las Vegas, but they do have him under control for 5 more years after 2024 and don’t have to be in a rush to do anything. Enjoy the A’s in Oakland while you can it will be sad to see them in another part of the US after this season.
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Stats Taken from MLB.com
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Video Taken From MLB's YouTube Channel