Threat assessments for Mariners' AL West rivals before start of 2025 season

The Seattle Mariners didn't do nearly enough this offseason to get fans excited about what many believe will be yet another disappointing year. However, the silver lining is that it doesn't seem like any of the other teams in the American League West fared much better.

The Houston Astros, who have won the division seven of the past eight years, finally seem vulnerable, giving the other four teams a real shot to seize the crown. In order for Seattle to claim the top spot for the first time in 24 years, who are the teams they should be most worried about?

Ahead, we rank them according to how serious of a threat they are to the Mariners' 2025 aspirations.

No. 4: Los Angeles Angels

Notable acquisitions: Yusei Kikuchi, Jorge Soler, Kyle Hendricks, Yoán Moncada, Travis d'Arnaud, Kenley Jansen

Mariners fans may think they have it rough, but they're a well-oiled machine compared to the Angels. The Angels have struggled to play relevant baseball outside of having two of the best players in modern history. Yet even with the combined efforts of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, they've been even further than the Mariners from sustaining as recurring playoff contenders.

To make matters worse, the Angels actually have made an effort to spend money on big-name free agents, yet consistently to no avail. With Anthony Rendon back on the 60-day IL, more of the same is already a theme again in 2025.

The Angels were still more active than Seattle this winter, making moves to pick up flawed development projects like Ryan Noda and Moncada, but it seems to be little too late for a roster with so many holes and so little to lean on. Given Trout's recent struggles to stay healthy and their lack of starting pitching depth, FanGraphs' projection of the Angels winning just 76 games seems like a very friendly estimate since they've reached that total just once in the past four years.

No. 3: Athletics

Notable acquisitions: Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, José Leclerc, Gio Urshela, Luis Urías

Outside of relocating the team from their historic home in Oakland, the Athletics were surprisingly proactive this offseason, setting a new franchise record with their $67 million deal with Severino. There seems to be a clear skew in favor of acquiring pitching, as Severino, Springs, and Leclerc serve as recognizable new faces heading into the new season.

However, in yet another move to signal a potential shift towards being bigger spenders, the A's have also taken care of their own with two key extensions. Brent Rooker got one. So did homegrown outfielder Lawrence Butler, who got a contract just slightly smaller than the Eric Chavez deal from 2004.

Despite their new crop of arms, offense remains a potential weakness for the A's. The team's .694 OPS in 2024 was just barely better than the Mariners' own mark of .687, and the A's did little to strengthen their lineup during the winter. Adding Urías and Urshela doesn't move the needle, so they'll have to rely on the existing talents of guys like Rooker, Lawrence and JJ Bleday for the bulk of their offensive production.

Some believe the A's have a chance of being a dark horse Wild Card candidate, but that seems more optimistic than realistic.

No. 2: Houston Astros

Notable acquisitions: Christian Walker, Isaac Paredes, Brendan Rodgers

Because of a talented core group consisting of Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, and Kyle Tucker, the Astros didn't have to do much to maintain their success in years past. Now that the last two names have moved on, one may have expected the Astros to work overtime backfilling the vacant spots.

However, Walker ended up being the Astros' only significant free-agent addition. Paredes was one of the main pieces in the Tucker trade, and Rodgers signed a minor league contract. These moves do little to make the Astros appear as imposing as Mariners fans are accustomed to.

There is nonetheless a sizable big gap between expectations for the Astros and the teams in the bottom half of the division. What they have may not be sufficient to start a new streak of consecutive ALCS appearances, but they'll still be a relatively tough opponent and should have better pitcher injury luck than they did in 2024.

No. 1: Texas Rangers

Notable acquisitions: Joc Pederson, Kyle Higashioka, Jake Burger, Chris Martin, Robert Garcia, Luke Jackson, Jacob Webb

The Rangers were the most active team in the AL West during the offseason, signing several free agents and even completing new deals with quite a few former Mariners in Sam Haggerty, JT Chargois, and Matt Festa. They spent the most money on re-signing Nathan Eovaldi after he declined his player option and inked a new three-year, $75 million deal. They also traded away a handful of prospects to acquire Burger from the Marlins.

Texas drastically underperformed expectations after a playoff run in 2023 that culminated in the organization's first ever World Series. Steps back from stars like Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Adolis García are likely to blame for the team's regular season results, but projection systems still favor them as the most-likely squad to win the division in 2025.

The Rangers have a rare combination of veteran pitching talent — including a fully heallthy Jacob deGrom after he missed most of 2023 and 2024 because of Tommy John surgery — and top-tier prospects like Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, and otherwise don't have any major holes in the roster. They may have lost a few impactful faces but the absence of players like Nathaniel Lowe and Kirby Yates shouldn't cause too much concern.