AL West Power Rankings: Rangers aren't close to the best team in division right now

Following a three-game sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners, the Rangers dropped to 9-7 this season after starting the season as winners of 8 of their first 10 games.

While the standings might show them as the second-best team in the AL West. Their performance has shown them to be a lot worse off than that. The offense is one of the worst in the leagues and the pitching has seen better weeks then the one they experienced during the latest road trip.

With record as one factor and looking at recent performances, the Rangers are lucky to not be sitting in last place in the division.

American League West power rankings: week of April 14

Los Angeles Angels (9-6)

The surprise of the season thus far is the blistering start from the Los Angeles Angels. The team in Anaheim is sitting atop the AL West in the standing by half a game. Their offense has a .237 batting average and they led the league with 30 home runs this season. The team's pitching is still an unknown but their offensive production is sort of leading to them blowing out teams to where the pitching is able to lock in enough to get the win.

Seattle Mariners (8-8)

Seattle's pitching continues to be elite and the Rangers saw it first-hand this past weekend after being swept by the Mariners. Their starting rotation of Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo and Bryce Miller is perhaps the most dangerous rotation in MLB. If their offense starts rolling, which they outscored Texas 17-6 over the weekend, we better be on the lookout for a Seattle resurgence in 2025. Only time will tell if they can sustain the success but Seattle is the second-best AL West team right now.

Texas Rangers (9-7)

I know the record is the second-best in the AL West but there are a few statistical categories I want to point out. As a team, Texas is hitting .208, which if fourth-worst in the league. They also have a -19 run differential (bottom 5 in MLB) and their expected win-loss record is 6-10, which ties them for worst in the division with the A's. This is a crazy drop from a team that started the season 8-2 but everything has pretty much gone wrong for them and it is showing. They have the potential offensively and the pitching has shown up but the full picture is still missing. The likelihood of Texas ended third place or worst is unlikely but it's still less than ideal to see.

Houston Astros (7-8)

A few seasons ago the Rangers and Astros put on a display for the ages in the American League Championship Series as the two final AL teams. Now they are both on the opposite side of the standings as people thought would be. It turns out letting Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker walk was indeed as impactful as people were saying it would be. To make matters worse, one of their offseason acquisitions in Christian Walker is struggling to start the season. Like Texas, Houston likely won't remain in the bottom portion of the standings but it's still weird to see.

Athletics (6-10)

The A's, no longer from Oakland, are rightfully in this spot in the standings. They have a terrific young core but they still have a long way to go. With their impending move to Las Vegas, ownership has put up more money committing money to Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler, with Shea Langeliers, Mason Miller and rookie Jacob Wilson still under rookie deals. The A's are going to be good if they continue to make progress on their roster and stop developing young players just to trade them away.