Actual baseball is looming, which means the offseason is nearing an end. Now, we can take a look and proudly declare who won or lost the offseason before actual baseball does it’s thing and makes us realize how foolish we were. For teams that appear to be attempting to contend, we’ll be looking at whether the moves they made should help them do so. For rebuilding teams, we’ll be looking at whether they are getting enough for the players they are trading away. And then there are the teams that don’t seem to know what they’re doing or otherwise don’t fit into either of those categories, but don’t worry, we’ll address them, too. Today we’re covering the AL West, but, in case you missed it: here’s the NL West.

Texas Rangers

When you look up the Rangers’ official transaction page and scroll through their offseason, it’s easy to miss the signings and trades with all the “minor league contract” and “spring training invite” action. The Rangers are having a pretty quiet offseason. Can we can cover the major moves in one paragraph? Yes, we can.

First, there was the swap with the Mariners that brought reliever Tom Wilhelmsen and outfielder James Jones (plus a PTBNL) to Texas and sent reliever Anthony Bass and outfielder Leonys Martin to Seattle. Next, they signed a journeyman outfielder with pretty extreme platoon splits in Justin Ruggiano to a one-year, $1.6 million deal (plus incentives). Then they signed reliever Tony Barnette, coming off a 1.29 ERA season with 8.0 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 in 62 innings, albeit in Japan. Finally, they re-signed Colby Lewis to a one-year, $6 million deal, more for depth and potential to eat innings in case of injury, as his 2015 season consisted of a 4.66 ERA but he did pitch over 200 innings.

That’s pretty much the definition of “pretty quiet offseason.” Then again, the Cole Hamels midseason trade last year, while it doesn’t count as part of this offseason, certainly can’t be ignored, even if it doesn’t specifically count towards their offseason, except insofar as they already resolved a need. With a full season from Hamels and ace Yu Darvish working towards an early season return, they could have a pretty powerful one-two punch pretty soon. After that, though, they have Derek Holland, Martin Perez and Lewis to round things out, with Chi Chi Gonzalez and Nick Martinez for further depth. There are some question marks here, especially in terms of health, with Holland, Perez and Darvish, so it’s quite likely that the Rangers will see more innings out of Lewis than they like.

On the offensive side of the equation, it’s pretty much the same as last year, except for the addition of Ruggiano. There are still rumors of Dexter Fowler in left, which would certainly improve the outlook for that position, after a pretty miserable year there last season. While the Rangers aren’t paying much to put Josh Hamilton on the field, that doesn’t really matter if his body won’t cooperate. They could upgrade at catcher, but Robinson Chirinos provides value at what the Rangers are paying him, so that’s not likely.

All in all, the Rangers haven’t done much and the projections put them in the lower-middle of the pack for next year. Granted, all of the division is lumped pretty closely, but they haven’t really done much to improve, and that could come back to bite them. Plus, like I said, we can’t give them credit for the Hamels trade this offseason.

Grade: C

Houston Astros

Unlike the other team in Texas, the Astros didn’t fail to make offseason news this year. They were in the headlines from the start when Colby Rasmus became the first player ever to accept the qualifying offer and will, therefore, be the Astros’ most expensive player next year. While the cost in terms of dollars committed is high (and almost certainly an overpay), the Astros don’t have much in the way of money committed right now with so many young, cost-controlled players and they avoid having to make a multi-year commitment to Rasmus. With Carlos Gomez around for another year in center and George Springer in right, the starting outfield is set.

The next couple moves weren’t quite as newsworthy, when they send shortstop Jonathan Villar to the Brewers for a lower level prospect in RHP Cy Sneed. This move seems more about opening up the position for Rookie of the Year Carlos Correa and making sure they have the roster space to protect younger players as the need arises. Then there was Jed Lowrie to the Athletics for a relief prospect, which I already wrote about and I believe graded out fine.

Then the Astros decided to address the main cause of their early exit from the playoffs and jumped into the market for MLB-ready relievers. They re-signed Tony Sipp to a three-year $18 million contract, a fairly hefty contract for a reliever, but not unreasonable for a lefty with no significant platoon splits who had a couple of great seasons for Houston (averaging a 2.66 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 2.7 BB/9). Before they even signed Sipp, things got really crazy with the package they sent the Phillies for Ken Giles.

To get Giles, the Astros parted ways with upper level pitching prospects Mark Appel (former no. 1 pick), Vince Velasquez and Brett Oberholtzer, as well as lower-level pitching prospects Thomas Eshelman and Harold Arauz. The Astros also received 17-year-old infielder Jonathan Arauz in the deal. In the Astros defense, in Giles’ two seasons with Philadelphia, he has pitched 115 innings to the tune of 11.7 K/9, 2.8 BB/9. He throws hard, with his average at about 97 mph and he’s under team control for five more seasons. While the haul they gave up for Giles was certainly huge, one thing to consider is that pitchers Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh, Lance McCullers Jr. and Mike Fiers are all under team control through at least 2018, so it’s not like (barring injury) the Astros are in dire need of pitching right this minute, and obtaining a pitcher like Giles with that much team control is going to sting, that’s just what the market is these days. All in all, while costly, it’s not necessarily a bad move move on the Astros part.

The last big move was bringing Doug Fister in on a one-year $7 million deal (plus up to $5 million with incentives). With all those young pitchers, as well as Scott Feldman, already slotted in, this is more of a depth move that allows for the possibility of a bounce back season from Fister, who is just a season removed from getting Cy Young votes.

The only area of particular concern for the Astros is first base. With Chris Carter gone, it’s looking like Jon Singleton could be playing first everyday, which isn’t ideal, but with the contract he’s signed to and the fact that they’re waiting on prospect AJ Reed, and you can see why they aren’t doing much there.

The Astros have avoided taking on any long term contracts this offseason and, despite what they gave up to get their closer, they’ve still got plenty of prospects left in the tank. The bullpen was certainly an area of concern for the Astros and they dealt with it and now have arguably the best bullpen in their division.

Grade: B

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

While the Angels were in contention for the Wild Card spot until the last day of season in 2015, we know how that ended, with the Astros snagging the spot and Mike Trout sitting out October. Besides the Josh Hamilton craziness, one of the big stories for the Angels last season was the rather public feud between manager Mike Scioscia and GM Jerry Dipoto, who resigned mid-season and is now the GM for Seattle (who will be discussed shortly). The biggest problem that the Angels had last year was offense, as even with Trout putting up ridiculous numbers (we’ll just stop 8.9 WAR and .991 OPS, as the list is long) and Albert Pujols having a solid year, the offensive numbers from the team as a whole weren’t enough.

So, new GM Billy Eppler’s first move was interesting for a couple of reasons. First, because it was a blockbuster trade and, second, because it was for the best defensive shortstop currently playing, Andrelton Simmons, who is also very arguably the best defensive player in all of baseball right now. The package sent the Angels’ current shortstop, Erick Aybar, who will be a free agent after next season, along with LHP Sean Newcomb and RHP Chris Ellis to the Braves, and also netted minor league catcher Jose Briceno. Newcomb is currently ranked 19 on MLB’s top 100 prospect list and Ellis’s stock has been rising a bit, too.

In and of itself, it’s hard to argue with this move from the Angels’ perspective, since they are getting five years of a defensive wizard at a reasonable price who’s still only 26 and has shown flashes of further offensive potential. With Aybar becoming a free agent next offseason and the other options not looking particularly great, this was a smart move. The problem lies in the fact that more hasn’t been done to upgrade offense elsewhere.

If you look at the projected WAR by position next year, you can see how the Angels’ decision to go cheap (whether or not owner Arte Moreno says this isn’t happening) may “hamstring” the team after all. The numbers don’t like the projected value produced by new signees Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry, who will presumably share time in left. The Angels also traded for Yunel Escobar to replace the departed David Freese at third, which could be another downgrade, and they dealt from their pitching depth again to do so. The promotion of Carlos Perez at catcher after his rookie year looks to be an upgrade over Chris Iannetta, who is now with the Mariners, but, again, not a huge one.

If there’s one area the Angels don’t need to be too concerned about, it’s starting pitcher depth, with Garrett Richards, Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Hector Santiago, Andrew Heaney, Matt Shoemaker, Nick Tropeano and Tyler Skaggs all in the mix. Now, after Richards, there are definitely some question marks in that group, but the fact that they have so many arms gives them options, whether it’s a trade or just shuffling.

The Simmons trade was an excellent move, but the Angels didn’t really do much to upgrade their offense. With Pujols having undergone foot surgery and getting up there in years as well, it’s not clear how much offense the Halos will have beyond Trout. It would be a shame to not see him in the playoffs more often and the division looks to be pretty closely decided, so the Angels would have done well to write a check for a bat.

Grade: C-

Seattle Mariners

Goodness gracious, where to begin. Since coming over from the Angels, GM Jerry Dipoto has been a busy, busy man. He has dramatically revamped Seattle’s entire team and, frankly, that makes it a lot of work to break it down. Honestly, I’m a little worried that by the time this gets published, the whole roster will look totally different.

In the outfield, they made the aforementioned swap with the Rangers that brings Leonys Martin to Seattle. Centerfield was a huge problem for the Mariners defensively last year and the offense didn’t make up for it, as Austin Jackson and company combined for 1.1 WAR at that position. Martin had a down season at the plate last year (perhaps due to a low BABIP, as pointed out by Dipoto), but even if he regress towards his prior two years offensively, he’s an immediate upgrade defensively.

After the Giants opted not to pick up Nori Aoki’s option, the Mariners signed him to a one-year, $5.5 million deal. While Aoki is not a world-beater and it’s not as if he plays superlative defense, at least the Mariners can park Nelson Cruz at DH and Seattle fans won’t have to watch him field, as he did for 80 games last year.

Gone at first base is Mark Trumbo, to the Orioles, in exchange for backup catcher Steve Clevenger, who will likely split catching duties with new signee Chris Iannetta. Those two will surely be an upgrade over Mike Zunino and friends, who hit an abysmal .159/.205/.259 en route to -1.9 WAR last year at catcher. To replace Trumbo, Dipoto traded three unheralded minor league arms to the Brewers in exchange for one year of Adam Lind. Lind is coming off his best season since 2009 and if, as expected, the Mariners platoon him with Jesus Montero, that will likely be an upgrade over Trumbo’s production there as well.

One of the moves Dipoto made this offseason which has lead to some head scratching was also his biggest, the trade with the Red Sox  which brought Wade Miley to the Mariners along with reliever Jonathon Aro in exchange for reliever Carson Smith and starter Roenis Elias. Smith was excellent in his first full season, pitching 70 innings with a 2.31 ERA, 11.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and putting up 2.7 WAR, good for 5th among all relievers. Wade Miley has had some good years and some bad years, but presumably pitching in Safeco should help him out a bit. While it might have been a slight overpay, it’s not quite the package the Diamondbacks gave up to get Shelby Miller, for instance.

The other big change to the rotation was re-signing Hisashi Iwakuma after three-year deal with the Dodgers fell apart due to a physical. The right hander re-signed on a fairly complicated contract that is basically a one-year, $12 million guaranteed contract with vesting options and incentives that can bring him near what he would have made with the Dodgers over three years. These additions give the Mariners what looks to be a solid, deep rotation behind King Félix.

The only area where the Mariners look like they have taken a step back is the bullpen. The relievers who have been added, former Marlins closer Steve Cishek on a two-year, $10 million deal and 38-year old Joaquin Benoit, in a trade for a couple of prospects. Neither of these pitchers are going to replace what Smith did in his first, full year, but combined with the value added from Miley (assuming that he has a better year), it’s not as bad as one might initially think.

All in all, the Mariners are a totally different team from the one that was trotted out last year. Obviously, time will tell whether Dipoto’s moves were successful, but they made incremental upgrades across the board and are trying a new approach that has them looking like they will certainly best their record from last year. Don’t be surprised if Dipoto gets back to work and trades for relief pitching out of starting pitching depth if the bullpen struggles, either.

Grade: B

Oakland Athletics

The A’s likely had statistically the worst bullpen in baseball last year, en route to a 94-loss season despite posting only a -35 run differential on the year. The front office could have hoped for some regression and the return of a healthy Sean Doolittle and just sat tight, but, while Billy Beane may no longer be the A’s GM, David Forst’s promotion didn’t keep this from being a very “Beane” offseason. Nay, the A’s decided to more or less clean house in the bullpen and make a bunch of moves everywhere else, to boot.

The biggest trade was Jesse Chavez to Toronto for Liam Hendricks, who, in 64 innings of work in 2015, put up excellent numbers (9.9 K/9, 1.5  BB/9). Chavez had one year of team control left left and, while he had put up decent numbers since Oakland converted him to a starter, this looks like a win for the cost-conscious A’s. Evan Scribner, who was out of options, was traded to the Mariners for a relief prospect. Also gone are Fernando Abad, Pat Venditte Dan Otero, Arnold Leon and Edward Mujica, all of whom had disappointing years for the A’s, to say the least. In order to inject some more major-ready relief arms back into the system, they signed Ryan Madson for three years and $22 million and John Axford for two years and $10 million, both fairly expensive and risky, but not without experience and upside.

One of the few bright spots in the A’s 2015 bullpen, Drew Pomeranz, is no longer with the team, but he was dealt in the trade that netted Oakland first baseman Yonder Alonso, who will presumably platoon with Mark Canha there and improve the situation there. In other position player moves, Brett Lawrie, one of the relative highlights of the (reasonably) much maligned Josh Donaldson trade, is gone for decent but unexciting prospects. Jed Lowrie is back with the A’s after they sent Houston a relief prospect, a smart move.

In terms of starting pitching, the A’s signed Rich Hill and Henderson Alvarez, both buy-low candidates due to injury but with definite upside, especially in the case of the latter. While injuries decimated his 2015 season, he put up a 2.65 ERA and a 140 ERA+ in the prior year, so his one-year $4.25 million contract is definitely worthwhile risk for a cash-starved team.

DH Billy Butler is is making $10 million next year, Coco Crisp making $11 and, other than Reddick (3.1), Vogt (2.7), Gray (3.5) and Hill (2.2), no one is projected at over 2 WAR. At this point, it’s hard to even figure out what to think of the A’s moves. The payroll situation forces front office creativity, and they, in turn, will make savvy, underrated moves but then do something totally bizarre, whether it’s trading Donaldson with four years of control remaining or overpaying for a DH or reliever. It’s hard not to analyze the offseasons of small market teams a little differently, as the A’s were never going to be in the running for Greinke, Heyward, et al., but the trades all look good and it certainly looks like they improved and, at the very least, it seems likely that Oakland will have some excellent trade bait for the deadline next year.

Grade: B