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Grading the AL West's offseason: Did the worst division in 2024 get better this winter?

As a collective, the Astros, Rangers, Mariners, A's and Angels had a lot to improve on this offseason

jake mintz
Senior writer
·9-min read

By record, this was the worst division in baseball last season.

The American League West, which boasted both ALCS teams in 2023, finished with a combined record 43 games under .500 in 2024. All around, it was bad, bad, bad and worse.

Houston had its worst playoff performance in nearly a decade. Seattle, unable to capitalize on a sensational pitching staff, missed the playoffs by a game. Texas delivered an embarrassingly forgettable title defense. Oakland, well ... ditched Oakland. And Anaheim, in the first year of the post-Ohtani era, was less relevant than the ninth-place finisher on the Armenian version of “The Voice.”

Thankfully, each season brings new hope, and each offseason is a fresh opportunity to improve. So how have these teams done this winter? Generally, not well. Let’s take a look.

Read more: AL East grades | NL East grades | AL Central grades | NL Central grades | NL West grades

  • Signed 1B Christian Walker to a 3-year deal

  • Acquired IF Isaac Paredes, SP Hayden Wesneski and minor-league IF Cam Smith via trade from Chicago in exchange for OF Kyle Tucker

  • Traded RP Ryan Pressly to Chicago for minor-league P Juan Bello

  • Acquired OF Taylor Trammell from New York for cash

In 2024, for the first time since the Obama administration, the Houston Astros did not reach the ALCS. The end of that remarkable, seven-year run has clouded the club’s offseason, adding a dark, ominous shadow to a winter of questionable, unpopular transacting.

Most perplexing is the situation surrounding franchise cornerstone Alex Bregman. When the free-agent third baseman declined a six-year, $156 million offer from his longtime employer, the Astros pivoted. Over the span of a week, Houston appeared to solidify its corner infield spots, signing Christian Walker and acquiring Isaac Paredes in the Kyle Tucker trade. But Bregman has continued to linger on the market, reigniting hopes of a reunion.

There are not many other reasons for optimism. Gone via trade went the club’s best offensive player. The 28-year-old Tucker looked like an MVP candidate before a June injury derailed his 2024 season, and he’s set to demand a fortune in free agency next winter. So the Astros, not wanting to risk losing Tucker for bupkis, as they did with former stalwarts George Springer and Carlos Correa, dealt him away. And while the return was substantial — Smith is a highly touted prospect, Wesneski should munch innings this season, Paredes was an All-Star last season — the decision itself has created trepidation and displeasure among Astros fans. That angst has only intensified since then, with the club essentially salary-dumping Pressly while failing to upgrade a mediocre outfield.

Behind the scenes, the Astros organization has been falling off in slow motion for some time. Internal strife between owner Jim Crane and former GM James Click led to Click’s firing just days after the 2022 championship parade. In the wake of Click’s departure, Crane oversaw a number of regrettable free-agent signings before finding a replacement in new head honcho Dana Brown. Those expensive moves — namely José Abreu and Rafael Montero — restricted the appetite for a Tucker extension and have limited the likelihood of a Bregman deal.

With a new ballpark name, new faces and, potentially, the departure of a franchise icon, times most certainly seem to be changing in H-Town. This winter felt like a watershed moment for the most successful organization of the past decade, a turning point in the crumbling of a once-mighty empire.

I’m no sucker, though. I’m still picking this team to win the division.

  • Re-signed IF Jorge Polanco to a 1-year deal

  • Signed IF Donovan Solano to a 1-year deal

  • Acquired IF Austin Shenton from Tampa Bay for cash

In my opinion, this is the worst offseason of the offseason.

Seattle’s competitive window is tantalizingly open, yet the club has failed to make the most of that opportunity. Buoyed by a historically talented, mostly homegrown pitching staff, the 2024 Mariners finished just one game behind the Detroit Tigers for the last AL wild-card spot. The culprit behind their failure? A horribly frustrating offense that struck out more often than any other team in baseball.

To improve that unit, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and Co. have ... handed out low-risk, one-year deals to a pair of utility infielders. After eight productive seasons in Minnesota, Polanco fell off in 2024 while battling through injury; the M’s are betting on a bounce-back. Solano — a 37-year-old, low-slug, high-average DH type — shouldn’t dramatically move the needle, either. Dipoto, famous for his trigger-happy, trade-heavy approach to roster construction, has yet to make a significant deal this winter.

This passive approach shouldn’t be shocking to anyone, considering how Dipoto has publicly stated that his goal is to build a team that wins 54% of its games. It’s a problem that begins at the top, with Dipoto’s bosses. The Mariners’ frugal ownership group does not appear interested in improving the roster through free-agent signings. Dipoto can play only the hand he’s dealt. Seattle’s payroll is currently 16th in MLB — a respectable yet unremarkable place for a respectable yet unremarkable franchise.

  • Acquired IF Jake Burger from Miami via trade

  • Re-signed SP Nate Eovaldi to a 3-year deal

  • Signed DH Joc Pederson to a 2-year deal

  • Signed C Kyle Higashioka to a 2-year deal

  • Signed RP Chris Martin to a 1-year deal

  • Signed RP Hoby Milner to a 1-year deal

  • Signed RP Shawn Armstrong to a 1-year deal

  • Signed RP Jacob Webb to a 1-year deal

  • Acquired RP Robert Garcia from Washington for 1B Nathaniel Lowe

After unleashing the soggiest, least-inspiring World Series defense in recent memory, the Rangers have been encouragingly active this winter as they seek to bounce back.

Why was 2024 such a disaster? 1) Injuries and regression for key offensive pieces such as Josh Jung, Evan Carter, Adolis García and Jonah Heim. 2) The bullpen, besides Kirby Yates and his 1.17 ERA, was a boat made of tissue paper.

Texas has addressed the second point head-on, adding five relievers this winter to completely refurbish a group that finished 2024 with the fifth-worst ‘pen ERA in MLB. Adding Pederson and swapping Lowe for Burger should give the offense more depth if the injury bug comes back around. Rangers back-up catchers had just nine extra-base hits in 207 plate appearances last year, so Higashioka’s arrival should be an underrated boon. Keeping Eovaldi on a three-year deal is a risky move — 35-year-old hurlers rarely get such lengthy commitments for a reason — but he has been a durable and dependable presence atop Texas’ rotation.

Nothing the Rangers did this winter was earth-shattering or headline-grabbing, but the team is deeper and better built now than it was three months ago.

  • Signed SP Luis Severino to a 3-year deal

  • Acquired SP Jeffrey Springs and RP Jacob Lopez from Tampa Bay via trade

  • Signed RP Jose Leclerc to a 1-year deal

  • Signed RP T.J. McFarland to a 1-year deal

  • Signed IF Gio Urshela to a 1-year deal

  • Signed DH Brent Rooker to a 5-year extension

If ditching the city of Oakland weren’t brutal enough, the Athletics’ spending spree ahead of season one in Sacramento has been a jug of lime juice in an open wound.

Over the past three months, the famously frugal A’s have committed $70 million to free agents, given DH Brent Rooker a $60 million extension and acquired starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs and his not-insubstantial $10.5 million salary. For a club with a lengthy track-record of penny-pinching, this behavior is the equivalent of Preston Waters from “Blank Check.” But while the spending — which, by the way, is heavily motivated by the possibility of a union grievance — has grabbed headlines, it hasn’t transformed this club into an immediate contender.

Severino’s big deal is undeniably a big deal; it’s quite literally the largest in franchise history. But besides him — and Springs, if you’re a believer — none of these moves seriously moves the needle. Whether the A’s can be a cute, pesky wild-card contender in 2025 will depend on a) sustained success from 2024 breakouts such as Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday, b) improvements from young players at the bottom of the lineup such as Zack Gelof and Tyler Soderstrom, and c) better back-end pitching.

  • Signed SP Yusei Kikuchi to a 3-year deal

  • Acquired DH/OF Jorge Soler from Atlanta via trade

  • Signed C Travis d’Arnaud to a 2-year deal

  • Signed IF Kevin Newman to a 1-year deal

  • Signed SP Kyle Hendricks to a 1-year deal

  • Acquired IF Scott Kingery from Philadelphia via trade

It’s difficult to evaluate the Angels, an organization whose owner refuses to embark upon a much-needed rebuild. It is both commendable and irritating that Anaheim seems to think it can compete in 2025, but if that’s the mandate, then GM Perry Minasian did a capable job this winter.

Getting Kikuchi for just $63 million at the beginning of the offseason looks like a nice bargain in retrospect. And while the Japanese southpaw has been inconsistent during his six years in The Show, he seemed to unlock something during his two-month stint in Houston after he was dealt at last season’s deadline. The Hendricks signing makes less sense, considering how overmatched and over-the-hill he looked last season with the Cubs.

Some around the industry were surprised that the Braves opted to not pick up d’Arnaud’s option. The 35-year-old veteran still has a well-above-average bat for a backstop, not to mention a strong reputation as a leader and gamecaller. The Angels have high hopes for young catcher Logan O’Hoppe; having d’Arnaud around to guide and spell O’Hoppe should pay dividends long-term.

Soler will add pop to a lineup desperately in need of impact bats, but the 2025 Angels’ season will, as it always does, live and die with the health of Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon. If the future Hall of Famer and former all-world third baseman can stay healthy, this team has a chance. If they can’t, the Angels are cooked. The rest is just noise.