This is the final post in the Matt’s Bats 2013 Preview Series. If you missed any of the earlier posts, you can click on the links below to see my predictions for the NL East and Central Divisions and the AL East and Central Divisions.
5. Houston Astros
The newest team in the AL West has a redesigned logo for 2013. The Astros also have a redesigned roster, adding former Nationals OF Rick Ankiel and former Rays 1B Carlos Pena to the squad. They acquired Nationals third base coach Bo Porter to lead the team as manager. There is a train at Minute Maid Park that moves at every start of the game, and after every Astros homer run and Astros’ wins. I doubt the train will be moving a lot this year. The Astros don’t look good to me.
4. Seattle Mariners
The team in TOCBTB (The Other City By The Bay) added Kendrys Morales and Michael Morse to the roster and still has their ace Felix Hernandez. They traded other key players Jason Vargas and Mike Carp during the offseason. Those guys were really important for the Mariners. The Mariners have a very good team, but the AL West is a very tough Division.
3. Oakland Athletics
The A’s have a good lineup. They have a good starting rotation. They have a good bullpen. And they even have a good farm system. Nothing’s great about Oakland. They’re definitely solid and have very talented players like Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick, Coco Crisp and lots of former Nats up-and-comers who were traded to Oakland in the Gio Gonzalez deal. Again, they are in a competitive Divison loaded with superstar talent, but they have enough talent to compete for the AL Wild Card.
1. Texas Rangers/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
This is controversial, but after 162 games, I am predicting that the Texas Rangers and the L.A. Angels will end the season with the exact same record and compete in a head-to-head 1 playoff game for the AL West title. The rivalry between the Rangers and Angels is becoming like the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry in the AL East. The Angels keep buying players to compete with Texas, like Albert Pujols, and buy players from Texas, like Josh Hamilton, to weaken the Rangers. However, Texas never recruits from Anaheim, which makes no sense. If you owned a team, and your biggest rival bought your talent, wouldn’t you try to acquire their star talent from them? Yu Darvish is the star of the Texas team, while former Ranger Josh Hamilton and AL ROY Mike Trout are the stars of Anaheim. I think the playoff game will go to Anaheim, bringing good luck to southern California. It’s very possible that we see a Southern California World Series, with the Anaheim Angels playing the L.A. Dodgers. If that happens, I think the Dodgers would win.
Let me know if you agree or disagree with my predictions. You can leave a comment at the bottom of the page, or write to me on Twitter at @MattsBats. You can also email me at web[@]mattsbats.com.
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