Where do the Mariners stack up against rivals in the A.L. West after the first month?

3rd Place in the A.L. West: Oakland Athletics (13-17), 3.5 games back

We all know how back Oakland A's fans have it. This is the franchise's last year in the city of Oakland before they make their move to Sacramento in 2025. They will leave the confines of the Oakland Coliseum for a AAA team in California's State Capital. They will play in Sacramento for a few seasons before the team heads out to their new home on the Las Vegas Strip.

The A's are in a weird, purgatory period this year. Nobody believe that this team will make the Postseason, but they have been "Sneaky-alright" this year. 13-17 is a bad record no matter how you spin it. But with everything swirling around the team, the terrible expectations of the team, 13-17 is not that bad.

Their closer Mason Miller has reached "Appointment Television" status. He has touched 104 MPH with his fastball, and has been striking out some of the leagues best players. Last week in New York, Miller came in and faced Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. He struck them all out swinging. Miller is now destined for the All-Star Game, should he stay healthy.

This is going to sound like I am picking on the A's, but they will come back down to Earth. Currently, they only have one player who is regularly in the lineup with an on base percentage above .300, and that is Lawrence Butler's .318. Tyler Nevin and Esteury Ruiz have an OBP over .300, but they do not have enough ABs to qualify. They also rank 29th out of 30 in runs scored with just 84.

The pitching rotation outside of Paul Blackburn has been bad. Blackburn and the bullpen has actually ben really good. The rest of the staff? Yikes. The A's rank 18th in team ERA (4.13). They have also given up 19 home runs so far, the most in all of baseball. I believe that they will fall from 18th down to 25th or worse in terms of ERA. I still expect that this team will finish last in the A.L. West.