By
Hailee Miguel on Thursday, September 11
th 2014
The season is winding down and the playoff race is heating up as teams are fighting to play in October. When it comes to the AL West, three teams could potentially make the postseason this year in what has been an exciting season for the best division in baseball.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the first team to 90 wins and have been running away with this division ever since sweeping the Oakland A’s in August. The Halos are hot and are riding a nine game lead; might as well crown the Angels now.
However, looking at the remainder of their schedule, they face only AL West opponents to close out the season with one series against the Astros, two against the Seattle Mariners, one against the Texas Rangers, and one against the A’s. They are on a roll, but the Mariners and Astros have both been playing good baseball lately and could give them a hard time, but regardless the Angels look to be your 2014 AL West Champions.
The Wild Card race is quite intriguing. As it stands now, the A’s own the first Wild Card spot which would give them homefield advantage for the one game elimination. Oakland is no where near a lock for the postseason with only a one game lead in the Wild Card standings. The Detroit Tigers are right behind the A’s as they hold the second spot with the Mariners only a half game out.
One of the biggest questions in baseball right now is, what on earth has happened to the A’s? At one point, not too long ago, they were the best team in all of baseball and had a nice lead in the division, but ever since the July 31st trade deadline, this team hasn’t been the same. They’ve struggled with every aspect of the game, offensively, defensively, and at the plate, not to mention some injuries have kept some of their better contributors off the field. In their last 29 games, the A’s are 9-20 while seeing their chances at a three-peat quickly diminish.
The road to the postseason won’t be an easy one for the A’s as they battle for the Wild Card. After wrapping up a series with the White Sox, the A’s will face the Mariners, have two series with the Rangers, host the Philadelphia Phillies, and Angels. With the way this team is struggling, they could certainly miss the postseason altogether.
A surprise team in the American League this year is the Mariners who have played extremely well. Behind solid pitching and timely hitting the M’s have found themselves only a half game out of the Wild Card. Seattle hopes to make the postseason for the first time since 2001 when they lost in the ALCS.
Seattle will have a crucial series this weekend as they host the A’s, and could overtake them in the Wild Card. After the series with Oakland, they will face the Angels, Astros, Blue Jays, and then host the Angels to close out the season.
As the season winds down, the AL West playoff race will continue to be entertaining with three teams vying for postseason play. The inter-divisional matchups will be intense with a lot on the line. This division continues to prove why they are the best in baseball, and it should be a fun last few weeks of regular season baseball for AL West teams.