[Highlander]

American League West

First up in the AL West is the Seattle Mariners franchise. They will be represented by the team that set the record for most wins in a 162-game season, the 2001 Mariners. They went an incredible 116-46, but then lost in the ALCS to the Yankees. The offense is terrific, with 1B John Olerud (.301, .401 OBP, 21 HR, 95 RBI), 2B Bret Boone (.331, 118 R, 37 HR, league leading 141 RBI), OF Mike Cameron (25 HR, 110 RBI, 34 SB), HOF, MVP, ROY OF Ichiro Suzuki (league leading .350, 127 R, league leading 56 SB) and DH Edgar Martinez (.306/.423/.543, 23 HR, 116 RBI). The pitching is also really good with Freddy Garcia (18-6, league leading 3.05), Jamie Moyer (20-6, 3.43), Joel Pineiro (6-2, 2.03, 75.1 IP with 11 starts) and a solid bullpen led by Arthur Rhodes (8-0, 1.72, 3 Saves, 83 Ks in 68 IP) and closer Kaz Sasaki (0-4, 3.24, 45 Saves).

Next it is the Houston Astros franchise. They are represented by the 2019 Astros. They went 107-55 and lost the World Series somehow to the upstart Nationals. Despite the World Series loss, this team is loaded everywhere. On offense they have 1B Yuri Gurriel (.298, 31 HR, 104 RBI), 2B Jose Altuve (.298, 31 HR), 3B Alex Bregman (.296/.423/.592, 122 R, 41 HR, 112 RBI), OF Michael Brantley (.311, 22 HR, 90 RBI), OF George Springer (.292/.383/.591, 39 HR, 96 RBI) and ROY DH Yordan Alvarez (.313/.412/.655, 27 HR in just 313 AB). The pitching is a bit top heavy with the top two guys, but they are two of the best seasons ever with Cy Young winner Justin Verlander (21-6, 2.58, 300 Ks in 223 IP) and Gerrit Cole (20-5, league leading 2.50, 326 Ks in 212.1 IP). They also have closer Roberto Osuna (4-3, 2.63, 38 Saves).

The Texas Rangers are the next franchise and they have a dark horse in this competition with the 2011 Rangers. That team went 96-66 and lost the World Series to the Cardinals. They went a very long way in that previous tournament I mentioned earlier and a lot of that was how much OOTP seems to love their offense. They have guys like 2B Ian Kinsler (121 R, 32 HR, 77 RBI, 30 SB), HOF 3B Adrian Beltre (.296, 32 HR, 105 RBI), OF Josh Hamilton (.298, 25 HR, 94 RBI), OF Nelson Cruz (29 HR, 87 RBI), DH Michael Young (.338, 41 doubles, 106 RBI) and a guy that does really well in Mike Napoli (.320/.414/.631, 30 HR in just 369 AB). The pitching is not as strong, but somehow did pretty well last time. They have CJ Wilson (16-7, 2.94, 206 Ks), Matt Harrison (14-9, 3.39), Alexei Ogando (13-8, 3.51) and a bullpen led by Darren Oliver (5-5, 2.29, 2 Saves) and Neftali Feliz (2-3, 2.74, 32 Saves).

The Athletics are the one franchise in this division that went “old school” and they went WAY back. They will be represented by the 1913 Philadelphia Athletics. This team went 96-57 and beat the Giants in the World Series. Their offense is tough with the famous $100,000 infield, consisting of 1B Stuffy McInnis (.324, 90 RBI, 16 SB), HOF 2B Eddie Collins (.345, .441 OBP, league leading 125 R, 55 SB), and HOF 3B Frank “Home Run” Baker (.337, .413 OBP, 116 R, league leading 12 HR, league leading 117 RBI, 34 SB). They also have OF Eddie Murphy (.391 OBP, 105 R, 21 SB), OF Rube Oldring (101 R, 40 SB) and OF Amos Strunk (.305, 12 triples in 292 AB) among others. The reason they could make it this far, though, was they (like the 09 Pirates) have enough pitching depth to survive in the later eras. They do more than survive in many cases with guys like HOF Eddie Plank (18-10, 2.60, 4 Saves), Carroll Brown (17-11, 2.94, 1 Save), Bob Shawkey (6-5, 2.34 in 15 starts) and HOF Charles “Chief” Bender (21-10, 2.21, league leading 13 Saves).

And we come to the final team in the division and the league representing the Los Angeles Angels franchise. That team will be the 2014 Angels (kind of anticlimactic, I know!). They went 98-64 and lost the ALDS to the Royals. Their offense features the great duo of 1B Albert Pujols (28 HR, 105 RBI) and OF Mike Trout (.939 OPS, league leading 115 R, 36 HR, league leading 111 RBI, 16 SB) and a scrappy supporting cast. On the mound, they have some strong arms in Jered Weaver (18-9, 3.59), Garrett Richards (13-4, 2.61), Matt Shoemaker (16-4, 3.04) and wildcard Cory Rasmus (3-2, 2.57 in just 6 starts). The bullpen is really good with Huston Street (1-2, 1.71, 17 Saves) and Joe Smith (7-2, 1.81, 15 Saves) leading the way.

As with all the divisions, it will be tough to predict this one. I can see any of the Astros, Mariners or A’s making it through, but I also know that Rangers team might be tough. I don’t see the Angels doing much. Their offense is pretty punchless after Pujols and Trout. Enough speculating….let’s get this started!