Seattle Mariners and the rest of the AL west down the stretch
Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane.
Oakland Athletics
Coming into 2020, Oakland looked poised to roll into the playoffs again. The chances of doing better than each of the previous two seasons, which ended with losses in Wild Card games seemed good. With another year of experience, the Athletics looked just as good if not better this year. GM Billy Beane made a couple of inter-divisional moves at the deadline to improve the club. They acquired Tommy La Stella from the Angels, and Mike Minor from the Rangers.
Already leading the AL West by several games, the new players could take Oakland to the next level. A notoriously thrifty team, Oakland was able to reinforce this year’s team without locking themselves up in bad future debt, nor draining their farm system. Look for them to continue to play top-level baseball for the next few years.
Houston Astros
Although disgraced by scandal, and hurt by free agent directions, Houston began defense of their American League Championship with one of the best lineups in baseball. As they found out the hard way, there is a difference between a World Series competitor and the middling team they have been this year, it’s called pitching.
So far Houston has just enough to hold their own. Despite being down, they basically have a playoff spot locked up this year. In lieu of all this, the Astros made one minor deal last month, for a reliever.
The Astros are approaching a crossroads of sorts. With both their payroll and average age escalating, their competitive window seems to be closing.
With their General Manager James Click hired last minute, in the wake of the scandal, Houston did the wisest thing they could by standing pat. They will continue to compete this year with a World Series title as their goal. Next year’s direction will be determined by the views of whoever they bring on to run the team.
What were the odds when the 2020 60-game schedule was posted that three of the #Astros starters in a likely pivotal series against Oakland in Sept. would be Christian Javier, Chase De Jong and Luis Garcia? And for that matter, who's pitching Thursday? Brandon Bielak? Crazy!
— Eric Girard (@ericpgirard) September 9, 2020
How do you see the Seattle Mariners shaping up in the division over the final 20 games? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.