AL West Preview
The SCN Newsletter 2025 MLB Preview continues. This week, the Eye of Dudley casts its gaze on the AL West. It’s a division with three teams that have their sites set on the postseason and two teams best hoping not to embarrass themselves too much. All five teams have players of note in the hobby, and the games will affect their cards even if their team outlook is dismal.
Houston Astros
Kyle Tucker was my favorite Astro in the hobby to write about, but his departure gives me time to write about two underappreciated guys in the hobby, Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve.
Since his debut in 2019, Alvarez has been 2nd in all of MLB in OPS and wRC+ behind only Aaron Judge and just ahead of hobby darlings Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto. There is a strong argument that he has been the best overall hitter in the league, not named Judge since 2020.
He gets dinged in the hobby fairly for being a DH and unfairly for the stench of the Astros controversy that seemingly attaches itself to all members of the club, regardless of whether they were even on the Trashtros roster.
Alvarez represents a rare opportunity in the hobby as an underpriced young top 5 hitter. The DH stigma and concerns about his health have many veteran collectors staying away as they figure he’ll have a hard road to the HOF. They might be right, but with his Topps Chrome RC autos selling for under $100, he’s one of the more attractively priced young stars in the game.
Jose Altuve has put together a strong case for HOF membership. The media seems to be letting up on the cheating scandal, and I think his odds of being barred for that are low, especially with Carlos Beltran getting strong support. With a couple more reasonably productive seasons, he should be a shoo-in.
He also is getting more positive attention in the card world. His cards used to be met with tons of negative comments, and while those are still there, they are more of the exception rather than the rule. Most Altuve cards are now greeted with compliments and discussion of how underrated he is.
He’s also the clear fan favorite for the Houston fan base, which is one of the more passionate ones in the hobby. All that said, I like Altuve’s hobby future in both the short and long term.
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels are stuck in the doldrums with little reason for optimism in 2025. They are down to Mike Trout as their lone hobby-relevant player left, barring Nolan Schanuel or Zach Neto having an unexpected breakout season (possible for either, I suppose).
As everyone knows, Trout has been hit with injuries for four years now. He’s still producing at an MVP level when healthy. Even with the injuries, he’s managed to score three All-Star Game nods and a top-10 MVP finish.
With the new move to rightfield (and hopefully ample time at DH), Trout will be able to put together a full season and show the league what he can still do.
That’d be great, but what would really move the needle is freeing him from his sunny California prison. Even with Trout as an MVP contender, the Angels aren’t likely to sniff the postseason, and it’d be nice to see Trout not waste the last few years of his prime playing meaningless games.
Not-Oakland Athletics
The A’s don’t have a clear hobby-relevant guy yet. Brent Rooker is good but too old, Gelof has a shot at a 20/20 season, but no one cares, and Lawrence Butler could continue to show some pop, I guess, but none seem ready to grab the hobby spotlight.
There might be some intriguing hobby talent incoming, but Mason Miller is the guy on the current roster I’m most interested in. He’s got absolutely electric stuff that scouts and fantasy baseball writers rave endlessly about. With an average fastball speed over 100 and with good movement, it is easy to see why.
The question is if he can get hobby attention as a closer on a bad team. I think he can, actually, but it will take a crazy scoreless streak or a TON of strikeouts (both very possible).
He’s good enough that I keep waiting for his auto prices to dip, but he’s also good enough that they haven’t hit levels I’m comfortable with yet. The fact collectors are snapping up a reliever on the A’s is really all the evidence one needs to know Miller is special.
Seattle Mariners
Julio Rodriguez looked poised to become the face of the league but has hit a few snags. One of which is that he has started each of his first three seasons horribly. J-Rod stinks at the start of the year.
That gives collectors a clear buying window each season as those who excitedly stocked up on J.Rod panic sell as he looks like he hardly belongs on an MLB roster through April before slowly morphing into an MVP-caliber player.
It’s a nice buying window, but it also limits his long-term value. He’ll have very good seasons if he doesn’t correct the slow starts, but he won’t have great ones that he is capable of.
Collectors steer clear of players who routinely miss a month of the season due to the impact on stats. If J.Rod starts slowly again, it is worth asking if his slow starts should be treated with the same caution.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers have two young players who have both flirted with being major names in the hobby, if only briefly. Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford are both looking to jump to the forefront of the hobby elite for the foreseeable future.
Langford comes with a strong pedigree and improved greatly as the season went on. Most young players flag down the stretch, but Langford managed to be in the MLB’s top 10 OPS producers after September 1st onwards.
He’s on pretty much every fantasy baseball and collectors’ breakout list this year, and his prices are creeping up to match Jackson Merrill and Jackson Chourio, so it’s not like I’m breaking new ground here. Like most folks, I think he looks ready for a big 2025.
Carter offers collectors more of a bargain but is less of a sure thing. Carter was all the rage two postseasons ago, but his 2024 turned collectors off in a hurry, with good reason. Carter was awful and had his season derailed by back injuries, which is never a good sign.
There is some buzz about Carter having a bounce-back season. It’s more in the line of being a 2-3 WAR player who looks like he belongs in the majors and not a star, though. He was a top 5 overall prospect before his remarkable run, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see a young player make significant progress.
I don’t see it, but I’m certainly not chastising those who stock up on Carter.
Marcus Semien is a great player that the hobby overlooks as he is a bit of an enigma. He has more top 5 MVP finishes than anyone not named Trout or Ohtani but has only made three All-Star Games.
He’s got an outside chance to make a HOF push if he keeps banking tons of WAR and puts up a couple more top 5 MVP seasons. He’s a bit old to rely on that, and the odds are stacked against him. If he can get to over 65 WAR, though, I think he gets serious consideration.
Semien has been alternating between average hitting seasons and very good hitting seasons, and if the pattern holds, he should be up for a big year. He’s also entering his age 34 season, so it is likely that last year’s downturn is the new normal. Ultimately, he’s a great player for fans but not likely to be on many collectors’ radars.
Wrap Up
That’s it for this week’s baseball preview. I often talk myself into buying cards while writing these, and I am going to start mentioning that in the wrap-ups. This week, I had to snag a Mike Trout Bowman Anime after writing the Angels segment. Next week: The NL Central!