The Texas Rangers defeated the Oakland A's 3-0 on Friday evening to clinch back to back AL West titles becoming the first AL team to clinch a post-season berth. The Chicago Cubs are the only other MLB team to secure a berth as they clinched the NL Central on September 15th.
The Rangers have won the AL West seven times in the past 20 years but have never won a World Series in franchise history going back to their days as the Washington Senators.
At present, the Rangers own the best record in the AL and if they keep that record they will have home field advantage during the ALDS and ALCS. Texas climbed into first place on May 29th and never relinquished the spot.
The Rangers have five players with 20 or more home runs - Mitch Moreland, Rougned Odor, Adrian Beltre, Ian Desmond and Nomar Mazara. Odor and Mazara are 22 and 21, respectively and will be mainstays in Texas for years to come while Desmond has come back from career decline in DC. Meanwhile, Beltre is adding to his Hall of Fame credentials.
Their starting rotation is weak after Cole Hamels, but they have an outstanding bullpen led by Sam Dyson. I've a feeling Dyson and the Rangers would love to face the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS after Jose Bautista batted flipped them out of the race a year ago. If the Jays win the AL Wild Card match up then this rematch is a very distinct possibility. During the season, Odor sucker punched Bautista. If it does come to pass, this will surely mean ratings.
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