When we last looked at Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA projections for 2019, I noted that the Astros were well ahead of everyone else in the AL West. At 98-64, there was no one else within spitting distance, with the nearest divisional rivals closer to .500 than the Astros. And Baseball Prospectus is hardly the only one saying this, though. For instance, Fangraphs has the Astros at 94 wins, 10 wins ahead of the Angels and 13 ahead of the 2018 Wild Card Athletics.
Of course, teams can always surprise; who saw the Athletics getting as close to the Astros as they did last year, or the Mariners hanging in playoff contention for as long as they did?