by Tyler Mason
Last season, the Houston Astros took the division with 95 wins, five games ahead of the Seattle Mariners. Not surprising, the Astros were tops in the AL West with a +205 run differential. Surprisingly, the only other team with a positive run differential was not the Mariners but the Oakland Athletics at +56. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Angels have the largest 26-man payroll of the group at $168,588,094, which is a whopping $130,439,760 more than the A’s, owners of the lowest payroll in the division.