Fade The Athletics In 2024
The AL West MLB Odds Have Plenty of Value Before The Season Begins
The AL West was a three-team race last season. The Astros and Texas Rangers tied the regular season at 90-72, while the Mariners went 88-74.
The three-team race was super exciting throughout last year’s season. It took until Game 162 for the Astros to win the division. However, interestingly enough, the Astros went just 39-42 at home and won 51 games on the road last year.
They just got by the Rangers via tiebreaker and beat the Mariners by only two games. The Rangers were the opposite of the Astros, winning 50 games at home but struggling on the road.
Finally, the Mariners had a winning record home and away, but it still wasn’t enough.
Despite 88 wins last season, the Mariners missed the MLB playoffs. With 90 wins, the Rangers got a Wild Card spot and won the World Series.
Should we expect another three-team race in this year’s AL West MLB standings? Let’s talk about the AL West MLB odds for win totals below.
AL West Regular Season Win Total Odds
Houston Astros: Over 92.5 (-115) / Under 92.5 (-115)
Texas Rangers: Over 88.5 (-125) / Under 88.5 (-105)
Seattle Mariners: Over 87.5 (-115) / Under 87.5 (-115)
Los Angeles Angels: Over 71.5 (-115) / Under 71.5 (-115)
Oakland Athletics: Over 57.5 (-125) / Under 57.5 (-105)
AL West Regular Season Win Total Preview
Houston Astros (92.5)
The Astros didn’t lose much from last year’s team. Ultimately, they gained a closer in Josh Hader and are rolling with what they had last year regarding the positional lineup.
It makes sense for the Astros to stand pat. They won enough games to win last year’s division and will be just as competitive this year.
We’d like to imagine the Houston Astros performing better at home his season. That should help them get more than 92 wins in the regular season.
However, it all depends on Yordan Alvarez’s health. With a healthy Alvarez, the Astros will have a legitimate MVP threat.
Meanwhile, the starting rotation still looks good, with every pitcher no older than 30 years of age. Eventually, Lance McCullers Jr., Luis Garica, and Justin Verlander will return from injury. That will only help Houston down the stretch.
Therefore, we’ve got them going Over 93.5 wins this season. The home wins will make the difference.
Texas Rangers (88.5)
The Texas Rangers won the World Series and aren’t even expected to win 90+ games this year?
Corey Seager has been one of the most consistent hitters in baseball throughout his career. Meanwhile, it sounds like Wyatt Langford could actually start for the Rangers this season despite being drafted just last year out of Florida.
Evan Carter and Josh Jung developed immensely, and the starting rotation could have so much depth by the second half of the season.
Right now, Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle, and Max Scherzer are all on the shelf until the second half of the season. But when those three come back, the Rangers will be looking incredible.
The rotation already has Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, and Dane Dunning in it! After looking at the AL West MLB odds, we’ll gladly take the Over for the Rangers this season.
Seattle Mariners (87.5)
The Seattle Mariners had their chances over the last couple of seasons. But that fun is probably over now.
Seattle’s win total was 86.5 last season, and they won 88 games to win the Over. However, this year, it’s going Under.
The Mariners no longer have Teoscar Hernandez and will be batting Jorge Polanco in the three-spot. The lineup doesn’t have much pop other than Julio Rodriguez. Cal Raleigh would need to continue his development, and Mitch Garver would have to stay healthy in addition to being in the middle of the lineup.
We don’t see the Mariners having much success this season due to the offense.
Don’t get us wrong—the starting pitching has the potential to be elite, which will keep them in games. But the offense would need to provide some kind of spark.
Los Angeles Angels (71.5)
The Angels watched Shohei Ohtani leave crosstown to the Los Angeles Dodgers. That was a massive blow to the team and its fans.
Now they’re stuck with Mike Trout and, ultimately, a bunch of mediocre players. Trout has no protection behind him, either. Anthony Rendon is expected to bat behind Trout, and he told the media that baseball wasn’t a top priority.
If anything, Los Angeles Angels‘ rotation does have potential. Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning, Patrick Sandoval, and Chase Silseth all have legitimate potential to be top-tier pitchers in the league. But for whatever reason, the Angels always struggle to develop pitching, and there’s a lack of consistency with these starters on the Angels because of it.
If Trout gets injured, as he does almost every season, the Angels will really struggle to put up solid MLB stats. Take the Under 71.5 here.
Oakland Athletics (57.5)
Name us one player on the Athletics.
Oh, you can’t?
Oakland has some fun pieces in its lineup. However, none of its players has more than three seasons of MLB service time in the starting lineup.
They’ll also roll with Alex Wood as the No. 3 starter, and Joe Boyle and Ross Stripling will probably get that final rotation spot.
It’s not ideal. The Athletics will be worse than last year when they only won 50 games. This team got younger and had minimal veteran presence in the field. The win total odds are intriguing in the AL West to say the least.
With that, we’ll gladly take the Under for the lowest win total MLB lines on the board after looking at the AL West MLB odds.
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