Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the Trade Deadline behind us, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.
The dust has settled after a reasonably busy Trade Deadline, and while the Yankees weren’t
the most active of teams, the AL West saw its fair share of moves, as well as a move that didn’t happen. As it stands, the Houston Astros are, regrettably, once again the class of the division, boasting the frontrunner for the American League MVP. At the bottom of the division is perhaps the most dysfunctional organization in the sport, and that is a high — or low — bar to meet.
First Place: Houston Astros (58-56)
Top Position Player: Yordan Alvarez (5.7 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Peter Lambert (1.9 fWAR)
Enter the agony for the Yankee fan. New York came into play Monday five wins better than their hated rival, but if the season started today the ‘Stros would have a slightly easier path in the AL playoff picture. Triple Crown leader Yordan Alvarez is in the driver’s seat for the league’s top individual honor with 35 homers and a .330/.443/.648 triple slash, and while Father Time seems to have finally come for Jose Altuve, strong seasons from Jeremy Peña, Christian Walker, and Isaac Paredes have delivered a top-10 scoring lineup in baseball.
The pitching has been the soft underbelly of the team, with Hunter Brown being fine if not exceptional while dealing with injury, and nobody else in the rotation particularly standing out. Three of the four most valuable pitchers on the roster are relievers, and while the bullpen does play up more in a postseason run, an intimidating rotation goes a long way as well.
The Astros dealt one of those middling-at-best starters, Spencer Arrighetti, to the Blue Jays over the weekend, receiving Daulton Varsho in return to boost the defense in the outfield.
Second Place (tie): Texas Rangers (55-58)
Top Position Player: Ezequiel Duran (3.1 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Jacob deGrom (2.7 fWAR)
Sometimes, it’s the moves you don’t make. Jacob deGrom invoked his no-trade clause at a time when the Rangers were in discussion with the Atlanta Braves for the former Cy Young winner, who has paired well with MacKenzie Gore atop the Rangers’ rotation. Nathan Eovaldi is becoming something of an ageless wonder, being worth a win and a half, and Jacob Latz has been immensely valuable as their best bullpen piece. None ultimately moved at the deadline, and the Rangers’ lone trade was sending now-long-ago Baby Bomber Josh Smith to the Blue Jays as part of a trade for southpaw Adam Macko.
Both the Rangers and Mariners, who we’ll talk about more in a second, are sort of the ur-example of how middling the American League has been. Both teams have been disappointments, with the Rangers a -36 run differential. It seemed like Texas was trying to retool, if not rebuild, by shedding Marcus Semien’s salary over the winter — and Brandon Nimmo has been better than Semien this year — and trying to deal away deGrom. Yet one hot weekend against the division leader could put the Rangers right back atop the table again.
Second Place (tie): Seattle Mariners (55-58)
Top Position Player: Randy Arozarena (3.3 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Bryan Woo (2.9 fWAR)
A lot of that second paragraph above obviously applies to the Mariners as well. I think they’re a better team overall than the Rangers, a +3 run differential ain’t much but their pitching rotation has at least performed better. Bryan Woo was my Cy Young pick at the start of the year and while he’s having a three-win season, paired with solid campaigns from George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, you feel like there’s another gear that the M’s just haven’t gotten to yet.
Part of this also comes from how bad the offense has been, scoring a paltry 4.02 runs a game. Randy Arozarena has been excellent, with a 144 wRC+ and not being traded over the weekend, which should signal that Seattle thinks it can still wrangle a playoff run out of a team that almost went to its first World Series last year. They brought in Orioles outfielder and former division foe Taylor Ward to help out in right and from the pitching staff, only shed erstwhile ace Luis Castillo’s contract onto the White Sox. Cal Raleigh’s catastrophic collapse is probably the single biggest individual story surrounding the club, but Julio Rodríguez becoming one of the more frustrating superstar-level talents around the game has to be an element in the Mariners’ potential doom as well.
Fourth Place: The Athletics (45-67)
Top Position Player: Nick Kurtz (2.9 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: J.T. Ginn (1.2 fWAR)
And we enter the dregs category. Ahead of the season, the Athletics boasted what should have been an impressive offense with a very questionable pitching staff. Nick Kurtz has followed up his Rookie of the Year campaign with an excellent sophomore outing, a 143 wRC+ that has secured his spot as one of the more dangerous sluggers in MLB (though he’s been banged up of late with a thumb injury). That’s come as his key supporting stars — Zack Gelof, Brent Rooker, and stellar catcher Shea Langeliers — have all seen significant time on the IL. The Langeliers injury came at a particularly challenging time, as the team was fielding trade offers for the backstop before he underwent season-ending knee surgery last week.
This is a very challenging roster to deal with, projected by FanGraphs to finish with 95 losses. There was little to actually move at the deadline, and only reserve outfielder Colby Thomas went anywhere (to Philadelphia for righty Seth Johnson). The organization and ownership deserve the struggle that the A’s will go through over the next couple of seasons as the ballpark in Las Vegas is built, but whatever fans remain do not.
Last Place: Los Angeles Angels (D0es it matter)
Top Position Player: Mike Trout (2.8 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Reid Detmers (3.0 fWAR)
It’s an indictment about how bad the As are that the Angels are only two games worse. The Angels boasted a trio of the best trade pieces this deadline — pitchers José Soriano and Reid Detmers, alongside shortstop Zack Neto. They did send Soriano to the Blue Jays for a decent enough return, but either significantly overestimated the value of the other two relative to market price, or the team only has one phone line and couldn’t have multiple conversations at once. I believe both options are equally likely. Interim GM John Mozeliak did at least bid adieu to former top prospect Jo Adell, Ryan Zeferjahn, Logan O’Hoppe, Chase Silseth, Kirby Yates, and Brent Suter.
Mike Trout, if nothing else, will likely have his best season since 2022, with the future Hall of Famer posting a 136 wRC+ and while he’s been on the IL once already this year, if he can remain on the field he remains one of the few things to enjoy about this organization. Speaking of fanbases that deserve better….
