Author’s Note: This post was written prior to the Rangers/Angels game on Thursday night. I don’t do 9 p.m. start times. Sorry, kids…

Texas Rangers

With a little less than 2 weeks left in the regular season, the Texas Rangers are pretty much where they have been the entire season, a top the AL West standings. Overall, not much has changed with the Rangers.  Over the last couple of weeks, they have gone 11-7, winning 2 series against the Indians, another against the Royals, and another against the Mariners.  The Derek Holland we all saw the second half of the 2011 season seems to emerged over the past few weeks which would help this team close things out over the next week or so.  That said, an injury to Adrian Beltre is certainly something to watch as they wind down the season.

The Rangers’ magic number is 11.

For more on the Texas Rangers, visit Big Game Claws.

Oakland Athletics

The A’s are certainly one of the best stories in all of baseball this year. I’m pretty sure no one (besides A’s fans, of course) even considered them to be a contender this year.  Yet here they are, only 3.5 games back in the AL West and currently have the 3rd best record in the American League.  Guys, this team is legit.

As a team, Oakland has had a few blows these past few weeks. The loss of Brandon McCarthy, their ace who was hit in the head with comebacker 2 weeks ago, definitely hurts what is a pretty solid rotation.  Then the loss of Brett Anderson for the rest of the season with an oblique strain just made things that much worse.  Despite these injuries, the A’s just seem to keep on winning, going 12-7 over the past 2 weeks.  The A’s will meet the Rangers 7 times before the season ends, which should make things pretty interesting in the AL West.

For more on the Oakland Athletics, visit The Oaktown Breakdown. 

Los Angeles Angels

Currently sitting 4 games back in the Wild Card standings and 7.5 games back in the AL West, things are looking too bright for the Angels.  Despite the best efforts from Mike Trout and Albert Pujols (who, yes, has had a great year yet again), this team just could seem to get it together.  Going 12-6, they really weren’t able to make up much ground against the A’s and Rangers who had similar records in September.

Unfortunately for the Angels, they have no games left against their Wild Card competition, the O’s and the A’s, and only 3 games left against their AL West rival, the Rangers.  Looks like unless they make a tremendous run or someone else collapses, the Angels may have to wait until next year for the Playoffs.

For more on the Los Angeles Angels, visit Light Up The Halo. 

Seattle Mariners

With only 12 games left in the season, the Mariners are 19 games back in the AL West and 15.5 games back in the Wild Card.  I think we can safely say that no one is thinking this team will be making a run at a Playoff spot.  That said, Felix Hernandez is still awesome.  I’m sorta sad that he plays on a West Coast team (I live in Texas) because that means that I don’t get to see him pitch as often (see also: I don’t do 9pm starts).  In 2012, he’s posted a 2.85 ERA (8th in MLB), a 1.207 WHIP (8th in MLB), 4.6 WAR (10th among pitchers in MLB), 207 strikeouts (3rd in MLB), 5 shutouts, 5 complete games and 220.2 innings pitched (2nd in MLB). You really can’t ask for much more.

For more on the Seattle Mariners, visit Needle Ball.