A look at the AL West Power Rankings after the Texas Rangers signed Jacob deGrom.
How much has power shifted in the AL West? The reigning World Series Champions already look well-equipped to repeat but they appear to have lost Justin Verlander in free agency while another team has added Jacob deGrom.
The AL West power rankings may look a little different right now with a whole lot of offseason left for changes. We shouldn’t expect some of these teams to slow down.
We’ve already seen a lot of movement within the division outside of deGrom. Jose Abreu has come into the AL West. So have Teoscar Hernandez, Tyler Anderson, and a few other notable players.
The division includes four teams ready to continue to add and one waving the biggest of white flags. What do the AL West power rankings look like following the deGrom deal?
5) AL West Power Rankings: Oakland Athletics
Nobody expects the Oakland Athletics to make major additions. They’re a club ready to subtract more from the roster. Sean Murphy, specifically, is likely to get traded in favor of minor league players the Athletics will only hope can contribute in the big leagues someday.
The Athletics will probably get lost in the dust this year in the AL West and the rest of Major League Baseball. Among the 30 teams, they should be a favorite to finish dead last. They’re resetting the budget and the roster.
The deGrom signing had little effect on the Athletics being behind everyone else in the AL West power rankings. We can pin the Athletics to the number five spot in the AL West Power Rankings permanently this year. There isn’t much, other than completely changing the direction of the franchise, to change this.