The dream lineup and rotation for every AL West team

The 2025 MLB season featured some good and a whole lot of bad for the AL West division. On one hand, guys like Cal Raleigh and Nick Kurtz were historically great, and the Seattle Mariners made it as far as they had ever gone in the postseason. On the other hand, both the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers were massive disappointments, the Athletics underachieved a bit in the eyes of some, and the Los Angeles Angels felt as irrelevant as ever.

Things can change on a dime, though, and we've seen that this offseason. The Rangers shook up their roster by trading Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo, the Angels appear to have finally reached the end of the Anthony Rendon experience, and the Mariners have already re-signed Josh Naylor. It's been somewhat of a dream start for those three teams, and if the dream lineups and rotations below are filled out by Opening Day, who knows what to expect in 2026?

Los Angeles Angels

Dream lineup

You couldn't have asked for a better start to the offseason if you're a Los Angeles Angels fan. Not only is Anthony Rendon seemingly on the verge of retirement, but Taylor Ward was traded for Grayson Rodriguez. Sure, losing Ward and his big power bat hurts, but knowing that he was entering his final year of control and all of the upside Rodriguez has, it's hard not to love the deal for the Halos. Plus, the Angels can still run out a pretty decent lineup without Ward by making these moves.

The biggest move would be to throw money at Munetaka Murakami and hope he takes it. There's obviously a lot of risk given the swing and miss in his profile, but he's also a 25-year-old with clear 40+ home run potential. He has a chance to anchor this lineup for years to come. Murakami being a left-handed hitter makes him an even better fit.

In addition to finding Rendon's successor at third base, the Angels ought to add at least one, preferably two, outfielders. In this dream world, the Angels are able to dump Jorge Soler somewhere and use some of that money to sign Harrison Bader, a stout defensive center fielder who is also coming off a strong offensive season. The other outfield addition comes by way of Lars Nootbaar, who the Cardinals are likely to shop. Nootbaar coming off a down year makes him easily attainable, even for an Angels team bereft of prospect capital, and he'd give them a much-needed on-base threat.

For the Angels to take a step forward, they're going to mainly need their internal options to take a step forward. Can Zach Neto find stardom? Can Jo Adell repeat his breakout year? How much does Mike Trout have left in the tank? Can Logan O'Hoppe bounce back? These are questions that will need answering.

Dream rotation

Again, trading Ward hurts, but getting four years of Rodriguez makes it worthwhile. Rodriguez is an obvious injury risk, but he has legitimate ace upside. The Angels signing Zac Gallen to pair with Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Soriano who are already in town would put less pressure on Rodriguez.

Gallen is coming off his worst season and would require giving up additional compensation after rejecting the quaifying offer, which makes him far from a perfect addition, but he still makes sense for the Angels. Sure, his season as a whole was rough, but he was much better in the second half, as he posted a 3.97 ERA and went at least six innings in all but two of his 13 starts. Gallen has made at least 28 starts in each of his last four years and was a Cy Young finalist as recently as 2023. This is a worthwhile dart throw for an Angels team that should have money to spend.

Rounding out the staff is Reid Detmers, a former starter who thrived in 2025 working out of the bullpen. Detmers has yet to find any sort of consistency as a starter, but perhaps following his strong year and with new pitching coach Mike Maddox alongside him, he can find his footing as a high-upside starter.

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Athletics

Dream lineup

The Athletics already have a very strong offensive core in place. Nick Kurtz just wrapped up a historically great rookie year. Shea Langeliers hit 31 home runs with an .866 OPS as the team's primary catcher. Tyler Soderstrom broke out as the left fielder. Brent Rooker continued to rake as the DH. Jacob Wilson hit over .300 as a rookie. Even Lawrence Butler has a ton of upside, even though he had a down year in 2025.

There aren't many positions in need of addressing, but third base is one of them. Eugenio Suarez might not be a good defender at this stage of his career, but he's fine enough to play the hot corner for a year or two, and he can make a potentially great offense even better. Suarez hit 49 home runs last season, and while he might strike out a lot, he'd drive in a ton of runs in this lineup, particularly with half his games coming in a minor league park. Suarez should not break the bank, making him a very viable fit with the A's.

Rounding out the lineup are a pair of dart throws. Zack Gelof hasn't done much since his impressive debut season in 2023, but he's still just 26 years old, so perhaps he can establish himself as the A's second baseman of the future. Denzel Clarke probably won't give much with the bat, but his glove is as good as it gets in center field, making him an ideal fit at the bottom of the order.

Dream rotation

The biggest weakness of this A's team is undoubtedly the rotation. It's in need of an overhaul. We know the team won't spend the money necessary to make this rotation truly formidable, but there are upgrades worth pursuing.

Tyler Mahle only made 16 starts last season, but he had a 2.18 ERA for the Texas Rangers. When healthy, he's been a solid mid-rotation arm for years now. Assuming the A's are able to trade Luis Severino, a pitcher who struggled mightily in Sacramento and made it clear that he's unhappy, they should have the money to sign Mahle.

The other addition I have the A's making is a trade for Braxton Garrett of the Miami Marlins. Garrett threw as many pitches as I did last season, but he's a groundball-producing left-hander with three more years of control who has been effective when healthy and would be a nice fit in the A's homer-friendly ballpark.

Pairing those two additions with a reliable veteran, Jeffrey Springs, and a pair of youngsters who impressed at times last season, Luis Medina and Jacob Lopez, and the A's might have something here.

Texas Rangers

Dream lineup

Trading Marcus Semien, a Gold Glove winner and captain of a World Series team stung for Texas Rangers fans, but getting Brandon Nimmo in exchange makes sense. Sure, the Nimmo contract might not look great in a couple of years, but he's a better player than Semien right now and a better fit with the Rangers, a team in dire need of offense. Nimmo might not be the on-base machine he once was, but he set career highs with 25 home runs and 92 RBI last season. He'll provide a much-needed spark at the top of the order.

Behind Nimmo in this dream lineup, Corey Seager obviously stays put, and the Rangers pull off a big trade for Willson Contreras. Is this realistic? Perhaps not, especially since Contreras has a no-trade clause, but the St. Louis Cardinals were willing to eat a ton of money to send Sonny Gray to Boston - perhaps they'd do the same with Contreras. The veteran would be a clear upgrade over Jake Burger at first base, both offensively and defensively.

The other major addition comes behind the plate with the best catcher available, J.T. Realmuto, signing the dotted line on an affordable multi-year deal. The Rangers have a vacancy behind the plate after non-tendering Jonah Heim, and while Realmuto is not what he once was, he's still among the game's best and most consistent catchers.

These veteran additions, combined with bounce-back campaigns from guys like Joc Pederson and Josh Jung, could lead to great things in 2025 for Texas.

Dream rotation

The Rangers have one of the best starting pitching duos in the American League when healthy. Jacob deGrom finished eighth in the AL Cy Young balloting in 2025, and Nathan Eovaldi had a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts. Their issue is that the rest of the rotation offers a lack of clarity. That's where Chris Bassitt comes in.

Bassitt is far from a big name, but as Rangers fans know from his days with the Athletics, he's consistent. He's made at least 25 starts in six of the last seven seasons, with the only exception coming in the shortened 2020 campaign. He's posted a sub-4.00 ERA in six of those seven years as well. He's made 30+ starts with a sub-4.00 ERA in three of the last four years with at least 170 innings of work. Considering the injury concerns at the top of the rotation and the inconsistency at the bottom, someone like Bassitt would fit in nicely, and at 36 years of age, he shouldn't break the bank.

The Rangers will hope that Jack Leiter builds off a strong first full season in the majors and that Kumar Rocker flashes some of the immense upside that led to him getting selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft by Texas. There are a lot of ifs, but if things break Texas's way, this rotation can be quite good.

Houston Astros

Dream lineup

The Houston Astros enter this offseason with two clear needs. They need to add at least one outfielder, and they need to add at least one left-handed hitter. A trade with the Cardinals for Brendan Donovan would kill those two birds with one stone. A deal would admittedly be tough for Houston to pull off, given the team's barren farm system, but not impossible. Donovan would fit in perfectly in the middle of the lineup, and his ability to play all over the diamond would help the Astros a ton.

Outside of Donovan, there isn't much for Houston to do other than pray that their team can be healthier and more productive than it was in 2025. Guys like Yordan Alvarez, Isaac Paredes and Jeremy Pena all missed time due to injuries, and guys like Jose Altuve andn Yainer DIaz underperformed relative to expectations.

Getting anything out of youngsters Cam Smith and Zach Cole would help a ton, also. Smith had an up-and-down rookie year, but he has a lot of potential. Cole only had 47 big league at-bats down the stretch, but he hit four home runs and opened some eyes.

Dream rotation

This rotation is in rough shape. As much as Astros fans might want to see Framber Valdez back, odds are they won't spend what it'll take to bring him back. If the Astros won't spend on Valdez, there's probably a good chance they won't spend on guys like Ranger Suarez, Tatsuya Imai or Michael King either. That brings us to Merrill Kelly, a really solid, but older pitcher who won't break the bank.

Kelly had a 3.52 ERA in 32 starts and 184 innings of work split between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Rangers, and he's put together three strong years in the last four. Adding the 37-year-old on a relatively affordable two-year deal might age poorly, but it's hard to envision the Astros signing anyone better with a limited budget. The fact that he's a Houston native could help boost their odds of signing him.

The other external addition comes by way of Justin Verlander, an Astros legend. Verlander might be 42 years old, but he's coming off a 3.85 ERA season in 29 starts with the San Francisco Giants. It might be unreasonable to expect him to make 29 starts in 2026, but it's clear he still has some gas left in the tank. Better and healthier years from Cristian Javier and Spencer Arrighetti could lead to some surprisingly good results.

Seattle Mariners

Dream lineup

The Seattle Mariners made it to Game 7 of the ALCS for the first time in franchise history, and should only push the gas pedal harder this winter. They've already re-signed Josh Naylor, and have a chance to do a whole lot more. A trade to bring Ketel Marte back to Seattle would be perhaps the biggest move made this winter.

Marte has developed into a superstar and the best second baseman in the game with the Diamondbacks. While it's unclear how motivated the Diamondbacks are to trade him, Marte certainly isn't untouchable. With eight top-100 prospects per MLB Pipeline, the Mariners have a ton to offer to pry Marte, who is under contract through 2031, out of Arizona. A trio featuring Julio Rodriguez, Marte and Cal Raleigh would be really tough to pitch to.

Seattle re-signed Naylor and should do the same with Jorge Polanco, who hit 26 home runs in the regular season and tacked on three more huge ones in the postseason. Durability concerns are real, but keeping him as the DH with Marte now at second base gives him a better chance of staying healthy.

The lower third of the order might not inspire too much confidence, but in this dream world, Colt Emerson makes the team out of spring training and takes over as the everyday third baseman. With only six games of experience at Triple-A this might not be likely for one of the best prospects in the sport, but hey, we can dream.

Dream rotation

Is it likely that the Detroit Tigers trade Tarik Skubal? No. Do the Mariners even need to trade for Skubal? Not really. Should they do whatever they realistically can to acquire the best pitcher in baseball? Absolutely. Again, the Mariners have eight top-100 prospects per MLB Pipeline. A package featuring some of those and Bryce Miller would absolutely get the Tigers at least somewhat interested. Adding him to arguably the best rotation in baseball is the kind of moves teams make when trying to get over the hump.

In this dream world, the Mariners look like clear favorites to represent the AL in the World Series. Their rotation already featured a trio of frontline arms in Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, so adding Skubal makes it unfair.

We've seen Jerry Dipoto be hyper-aggressive with trades before, and this offseason should feature more of the same.