Does anybody want to win the American League West?
Entering play on Monday, nobody in the American League West is over .500.
The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are tied at 65-66 while the Seattle Mariners are three games back at 62-69.
It's been a disappointing season for Seattle, but the door is open for them to get to the playoffs for a second straight year: The Mariners have just six games left this season against teams over .500 (three vs. Philadelphia, three vs. Boston), while the Rangers have the ninth-hardest schedule remaining and the Astros have the 11th.
Given how the Mariners have played this season, even an easy schedule can't be taken as easy, but the opportunity is there.
And frankly, the Mariners need to be able to take advantage of it. After all, the Rangers tried to sell off some of their parts at the trade deadline: They traded Josh Smith, a bit player, but also tried to move Jacob deGrom in a deal, only for him to block the trade with his no-trade clause.
The Astros made only modest moves, adding only Daulton Varsho, and on Monday they parted ways with general manager Dana Brown, essentially acknowledging that they are a team in flux even though they have a chance to win the division.
The division is telling the Mariners that it's there's for the taking, they just have to step up and do it now.
About the schedule
If you want to see the schedule in picture form, this comes from Tankathon: The Mariners have the easiest schedule remaining, based upon opponents win percentage. The teams the M's will see have a .448 winning percentage while both the Rangers and Astros have opponent winning percentages of over .500.
It's never quite that simple, right? The Mariners percentage is dragged down because they have seven games with the Athletics and three with the Rockies, who own the worst records in their respective leagues. Of course, the Blue Jays have gone 10-7 over their last 17 games, so they are playing better than their percentage indicates.
Again, it's never as simple as looking at this metric, but it paints the point that the division is up for grabs. And based upon all the signals from the Rangers and Astros, they are willing to give it to you.
The Mariners will start a new series with the Phillies on Monday night at T-Mobile Park. It's a great pitching matchup as Logan Gilbert battles Zack Wheeler.
The Phillies have won nine straight.
