We finish off our American League previews in the West; a division with teams on either end of the spectrum. The top three spots in the division will likely come down to Texas, Houston, and Seattle and may very well be decided by which team can stay the healthiest over 162 games. While health is obviously a factor for every team, the Athletics and Angels battle for fourth may come down to who's pitching staff performs the best over the course of the season. Even on the teams expected to be at the bottom of the division, there’s still intriguing talent worth buying in fantasy baseball and we’ve noted a few of those names to keep your eye on heading into 2025.

Division Dynasty Preview - Prospects Live
Prospects LiveKyle Sonntag

*These notes are current up to the recording date of the podcast episode (January 25/25)

Athletics

Lineup (per Roster Resource)

C - Shea Langeliers

1B - Tyler Soderstrom

2B - Zack Gelof

3B - Gio Urshela

SS - Jacob Wilson

LF - Seth Brown / Miguel Andujar

CF - JJ Bleday

RF - Lawrence Butler

DH - Brent Rooker

Rotation (per Roster Resource)

SP1 - Luis Severino

SP2 - Jeffrey Springs

SP3 - JP Sears

SP4 - Joey Estes

SP5 - Mitch Spence

Bullpen (per Roster Resource)

CL - Mason Miller

SU - Jose Leclerc

SU - Tyler Ferguson

Projected IL (per Roster Resource)

Luis Medina

Ken Waldichuk

Top 5 prospects (per Prospects Live Top 500)

1. Nick Kurtz

2. Colby Thomas

3. Jacob Wilson

4. Denzel Clarke

5. Henry Bolte

Off-season additions/subtractions

Subtractions

Joe Boyle (?)

Additions

Luis Severino

Jeffrey Springs

Gio Urshela

Jose Leclerc

Quick thoughts

Taylor: 

If you squint there is an interesting team here. They need pitching and have a couple holes in the lineup but there is some exciting talent with more on the way. New ballpark will be interesting

Kyle: 

  • Slowly becoming more exciting
  • Plenty more young talent on the way
  • Pitching will hold them back without improved development

MLB Dynasty buy

Taylor: Osvaldo Bido

  • Was a big time pickup for me (and probably several others) down the stretch last year
  • In the month of August: 5 GS 1.55 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 25.7% K rate, 8.3% walk rate, 3 W, 4 QS
    • Included starts against the Dodgers and @CIN
  • Things fell apart in September when he pitched through a wrist injury and struggled to grip the ball before finishing the year on IL
  • Has good stuff
  • Very good slider (131 Stuff+, 104 TjStuff+)
  • Above average 4 seam fastball and sinker by stuff+
  • Above average velo on FB (averages 95)
  • Had 4 pitches with positive run value last year
    • 4 Seam
    • Slider
    • Change
    • Cutter
  • Extreme flyball pitcher but has two straight seasons of limiting hard contact, giving up very few barrels and a low average EV
  • Above average whiffs and K rates at MLB and had elite ones in AAA indicating the potential for more Ks
  • Not currently listed on Roster Resource in the rotation but could easily win a job from JP Sears, Joey Estes or Mitch Spence
  • Have had to drop him a few places this offseason and hoping this suppresses his value enough for me to eventually pick him back up again 

Kyle: Tyler Soderstrom

  • Projection systems all tab him for .232 or .233 AVG, ~.300 OBP, 24-27 HR
  • Preferably have some built in ratio safety already but .240 AVG with .310 OBP is is doable
  • Good buy at current price: drafted 285 and 279 in startups, ranked 275 in top 1000
  • Prefer him over names ahead of him like Schanuel and Nate Lowe

MiLB Dynasty buy

Taylor: Denzel Clarke

  • Made an adjustment mid last season
    • Opened his stance, altered his load, and lowered his hands
  • From June 12th on: 302 PA: 317/387/524
  • 9 HR and 30 SB
  • Just a 23.5% K-rate
  • Hasn’t had a K-rate under 29% since Complex in 2021
  • Continued the K-rate gains in AFL (23.7%)
  • OPS over 1.000 with 2 HR and 9 SB in 19G
  • Did have a 50% ground ball rate last year but has never had a GB rate over 39% before
  • Has double plus raw power and double plus speed
  • Hasn’t played in AAA yet but reports are he has really strong EVs

Kyle: Mason Barnett

  • Fantrax roster% up from 5% to 13% since I recommended him in season, but still available in many of my deeper leagues
  • Traded from KC in Lucas Erceg deal
  • 4.91 ERA before the trade, 2.61 ERA after but peripherals before the trade indicated he was doing much better than the ERA would have you believe
  • Command and K-rate improved after the trade: K-BB% rose from 18.3% to 23.4%
  • A’s brought in Sevy and Springs but still plenty of opportunity in the big league rotation, could debut in 2025