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2026 AL WEST PREVIEW
M's emerge as early favorites; will anyone challenge them?

By MLB.com staff
03/22/2026

Falling just short of making their first World Series in franchise history, Seattle looks like a team that is once again a contender for the Fall Classic after dropping Game 7 of the ALCS. The other contenders in the division appear to be the Rangers and Astros, both looking to return to the postseason after missing out last season; and in the case of the Rangers, since 2023 when they won the World Series over the Diamondbacks.

Seattle will head into the season without star outfielder Julio Rodriguez, who will miss the first few weeks with a cracked rib, suffered after being struck by a thrown ball from the outfield back on February 26th. The other two also head into the second with some injury issues, with the Rangers down lefties Cody Bradford and Jordan Montgomery, while starters Ronel Blanco and Brandon Walter will begin the year on the IL for the Astros.

In the next tier of teams, the Angels and Athletics appear to be fighting it out to stay out of the basement, but both franchises have some optimism heading into the year. Los Angeles got out from under the horrendous Anthony Rendon contract, and have a new manager in Kurt Suzuki. The A's signed young slugger Tyler Soderstrom and All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson to extensions that will keep them there at least through 2030.

1. SEATTLE MARINERS

ADDED: LHP Jose A. Ferrer, INF Brendan Donovan, LHP Josh Simpson, RHP Yosver Zulueta, OF Rob Refsnyder, RHP Cooper Criswell
LOST: 3B Eugenio Suarez, 2B Jorge Polanco, LHP Caleb Ferguson, INF Ben Williamson, RHP Gregory Santos, RHP Trent Thornton

Seattle will be without all-world center fielder Julio Rodriguez to begin the season, who suffered a cracked rib on February 26th on a thrown ball from the outfield. He's only expected to miss the first few weeks of the 2026 season, with Victor Robles being penciled in for center in his absence, and Randy Arozarena likely getting more reps in the outfield. The big-ticket move was getting Brendan Donovan from the Cardinals, with the versatile defender also potentially getting some at-bats in the outfield for the first several weeks' worth of games due to J-Rod's absence.

Jerry Dipoto and the Mariners' front office tried to put on the full-court press to re-sign Polanco, but when he spurned them for the Mets' $20 million AAV offer, their attention turned to the trade market for second base. They kicked the tires on Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks, but when that fell through, they pivoted to Donovan, finally getting something done in a three-team swap that included the Rays. That deal saw Ben Williamson, a light-hitting but versatile defender, head down to Florida.

Despite some late-season struggles, the Mariners re-signed trade acquisition Josh Naylor to a five-year deal to man first base, and they also still have Cal Raleigh behind the dish for another season. That said, the offense is likely to take a step back with the losses of Suarez and Polanco, and they didn't do much to address the lineup outside of adding lefty-killer Rob Refsnyder to the outfield cohort.

This will still be a pitching-heavy team, as they return all five starting pitchers and closer Andres Munoz on the back end, with trade acquisition Jose A. Ferrer, a former closer, giving them high-leverage innings in front of Munoz and fellow set-up arm Matt Brash. They also added Simpson and Zulueta via cash deals, and veterans in Criswell and Dane Dunning were brought in as depth.

2. TEXAS RANGERS

ADDED: OF Brandon Nimmo, C Danny Jansen, LHP MacKenzie Gore, RHP Jakob Junis, LHP Jordan Montgomery, RHP Alexis Diaz
LOST: OF Adolis Garcia, C Jonah Heim, RHP Jacob Webb, LHP Hoby Milner, 2B Marcus Semien, LHP Danny Coulombe, RHP Merrill Kelly, RHP Tyler Mahle, RHP Jon Gray

With the blockbuster addition of Gore to the rotation, Texas goes into the 2026 season as perhaps the one team in the division that on paper can go pitch-for-pitch with Seattle (perhaps Houston later in the season if Tatsuya Imai works out), but this is a team that will have to figure out where they're going to get their offense from in order to get back to the postseason.

Sure, they have Corey Seager, Wyatt Langford, and newcomer Brandon Nimmo, who hit twenty-nine, twenty-six, and thirty homeruns, respectively, but the rest of the lineup is another matter. Jake Burger and Joc Pederson will be back to split reps at DH and first base; and while they combined for thirty homeruns a season ago, they did so with an OPS+ of 87.

The only major free agent position player acquisition, Jansen, is a nice offensive upgrade behind the plate from Heim, who has since signed with Atlanta to serve as Drake Baldwin's backup while Sean Murphy goes on the IL to begin the season.

Their bullpen is iffy, however. The additions of Diaz away from the Dodgers and Junis, who has pitched well for multiple teams in his career, will help but they don't have a true stopper at the end of games. For now, that role will probably fall to the 39-year-old Chris Martin, but look for the Rangers to be closer-hunting at the deadline if they are in the race.

3. HOUSTON ASTROS

ADDED: RHP Mike Burrows, RHP Tatsuya Imai, OF Joey Loperfido, RHP Ryan Weiss
LOST: RHP Shawn Dubin, RHP Craig Kimbrel, INF Brendan Rodgers, LHP Framber Valdez, C/1B Victor Caratini, OF Chas McCormick, RHP Luis Garcia

It's Tatsu-mani-ya in Houston, as the top Japanese pitcher from this past class pitched extremely well in the spring, but now the real test begins. Thankfully, he's not going to be asked to shoulder the entire load initially, with Hunter Brown back after a third-place Cy Young finish, and other returnees such as Cristian Javier and Spencer Arrighetti along with the newcomer in Burrows. Lefty Brandon Walter, who will begin the 2026 season on the 60-day injured list, is slated to return in June.

Others, such as Lance McCullers, Jr., are slated to pitch out of the bullpen, but is carrying a massive price tag and the Astros are banking him getting some kind of trade value back out of the pen, or in the rotation in case of injury. The depth in front of closer Josh Hader is solid, with returnees Bryan Abreu, Bryan King, Steven Okert, and Bennett Sousa all giving quality, high-leverage innings in 2025. Others who could contribute are Ronel Blanco (also on the 60-day IL) and Rule 5 pick Roddery Munoz, who has pitched for the Reds and Cardinals in recent seasons.

There's questions throughout the lineup, however. The Astros have injury question marks with both Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes, and they inexplicably traded away one of their top lefty outfield options in Jesus Sanchez for a worse offensive player in Joey Loperfido. It was a salary dump for sure, but that leaves Pedro Leon and perhaps Michael Conforto, if he ends up on the roster, to split reps in right field.

Houston still has some good talent in their lineup, but it's aging and getting expensive. GM Dana Brown tried to shop players like McCullers, Javier, and first baseman Christian Walker to anyone who would listen, but couldn't find any takers. They could find themselves in the wildcard race, but they don't have the offense to keep up with the other two teams above them despite lineup questions of their own.

4. LOS ANGELES ANGELS

ADDED: 1B/DH Rhys Hoskins, RHP Lucas Giolito, OF/DH Jesse Winker, SS Vaughn Grissom, RHP Grayson Rodriguez, INF Yoan Moncada, RHP Jordan Romano, LHP Drew Pomeranz, RHP Alek Manoah
LOST: OF Taylor Ward, LHP Andrew Chafin, INF Luis Rengifo, RHP Jose Urena, RHP Luis A. Garcia, LHP Tyler Anderson, RHP Kyle Hendricks

The biggest news of the offseason for the Halos was being able to re-structure Anthony Rendon's final year of his mega $240 million deal that he signed prior to the 2020 season back in December. Instead, he'll get the $38 million he was owed this year in deferred payments of nearly $10 million over the next four seasons. While he hasn't said anything about retirement, all indications are that he plans to remain in the organization, even under a minor league deal unless a team comes to him with a major league offer.

With the additions of Giolito, Rodriguez, and Manoah, the Angels' rotation has the look of a viable rotation that could help carry a team through the season. It's unlikely that Giolito, who was signed about a week into the spring, will be ready for Opening Day, but if he's slotted in the fourth or fifth spot, manager Kurt Suzuki noted that he 'would be ready for a full workload' at the time his turn came. The biggest problem could potentially be the health of Rodriguez and how Reid Detmers assimilates back into the rotation after serving as a reliever and part-time closer last season.

Speaking of Suzuki, talk about a pressure cooker of a first season. Basically came out of nowhere, got the skipper's role, but it was just for a one-year deal. The team that Perry Minasian (who also could be on the hot seat) and his staff have put around him isn't bad, but it's a rung below the Mariners/Rangers/Astros triumvirate.

They do have some solid young players to build around, with shortstop Zach Neto and first baseman Nolan Schanuel being the headliners. He's on the injured list with an ankle sprain, so he won't start Opening Day, but he's not expected to miss more than a few weeks. Still, the strength of the offense will be in the outfield, with Jorge Soler, Mike Trout, and Jo Adell all with 30-plus homerun ability, which they'll need with Taylor Ward and his 46 homeruns now gone to Baltimore. Veterans Jesse Winker and Rhys Hoskins were also brought in on team-friendly deals, as they will likely rotate at first base and DH with Schanuel, dependent on matchups.

5. ATHLETICS

ADDED: RHP Mark Leiter, RHP Scott Barlow, RHP Aaron Civale, INF Jeff McNeil, RHP Jon Gray
LOST: LHP Sean Newcomb, 3B Gio Urshela, OF JJ Bleday, RHP Jose Leclerc, INF Max Schuemann, RHP Mitch Spence, INF Andy Ibanez, RHP Scott McGough

It was a tough pick between the Angels and the Athletics for the cellar, but the pitching is likely to be better down south for the Angels than it is up north in Sacramento for the A's. This isn't to say that their rotation isn't good, it's actually pretty solid. Jeffrey Springs and Luis Severino are above-average starters that were clearly hurt by the very hitter-friendly environment in Sac-Town.

Veterans Aaron Civale and Jon Gray were brought in, and both appear to be locks to make the team somewhere in the final three spots in the rotation. That leaves youngsters like Brady Basso, JT Ginn, and Jacob Lopez to battle for the fifth spot, with Lopez likely coming out on top due to his experience from last season.

Gray was an interesting case since he pitched out of the bullpen after coming off the injured list for the Rangers last season, and despite a 1.61 ERA in twenty-one innings, only received minor league offers. His current deal with the A's will pay him $3 million if he makes the roster, which as noted above seems almost assured as he's pitched well this spring.

But the biggest developments were the extensions handed out to Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson. Those are in addition to the one that Brent Rooker received last year, giving the lineup three solid cornerstones going forward. The last cornerstone would figure to be Nick Kurtz, but there haven't been any indications that the A's front office and Kurtz's camp have begun any discussions.