I don’t know who’s going to win the World Series. I’m thrilled the Astros won it last year and I think there are – you know, I could name about eight teams in each league that certainly have the “look” of a World Champion. I’ll narrow it down just a bit.
I think it’s very possible that the American League West, which overall used to be the weakest division, may be the strongest. The teams like Houston and Seattle and Los Angeles kind of impresses me, and Texas. I look at all of those and I say, “You know what? I don’t think anybody in any league has a guarantee of anything”. Let me just stick to the American League West. I think that it could very well be the best – yeah, don’t laugh – the best Division in all of major league baseball. I think there’s only one team that’s out of it and that’s Oakland, and Oakland will probably make a run for the title knowing my luck. But, I really don’t think Oakland has a chance to stand up to any of the teams in the West. So, there’s my preseason pick – Oakland is going be dead last.
Now, the other extreme gets a whole lot tougher. I think Los Angeles and Seattle are going to have a battle, not for the top spot or the second spot, but down at third and fourth. I think it’s going to be a heck of a battle and I think the winner is possibly going to get in the playoff hunt. Los Angeles impresses me but I just don’t think they have enough depth. Seattle has the depth but they don’t have near the talent of the other guys. So, I think Seattle and Los Angeles are pretty well a toss-up. I’m going to shock some people here. I’m going to pick Houston to win, but think the Texas Rangers could very well finish second. I’m just very impressed by them. I think they got some pitching help. They’re not great on the mound but they are plenty solid and so much better than last year that it’s not even funny. I think that Jacob deGrom will be a terrific pitcher and several others could have outstanding years. The hitting, I think, is going to be a better situation for them than it has been in the past.
I thought they were okay scoring runs last year, they just couldn’t hold anybody. This year they can. So, I think it’s kind of a wadded up deal with Texas and Los Angeles and Seattle and nobody really jumps out. They all look good to me, so I think Texas could finish as high as number two. I think Houston is number one. They scare me a little because sometimes teams just get caught up with injuries and they don’t play real well because of that. They’ve got pitching but they are oh so very young. I mean these guys won the World Championship last year, but they had Verlander to lead them and they don’t this year. I think their pitching is good enough but we’ll see. Already Altuve is out for two months and, they’ve got Brantley out for a while. One of the pitchers, McCullers, is out and if that doesn’t sound real impressive to you, to me, it’s a scary deal. You take an All-Star second baseman, an All Star outfielder, a front line pitcher, and there are not a lot of teams that could survive that. But, I not only think Houston will survive it, I think they’ll win the Division – back in the playoffs. And, once the playoffs come around, who knows, they could win the whole thing again.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently is Pastor of Center City Baptist Church and hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at [email protected].