It's Only Waiver Thin

Something about the AL West just owes itself to waiver-wire deals, as three teams have made some nice moves to try and up their game in the race. Both the Angels and Mariners want to play the Yankees in the Wild Card game, and the Astros want to play....uh, either the Yankees, or hopefully the Angels or Mariners, in the playoffs. They're bobbing for seeds, and want to make the best of their playoff cases.

The Angels made the biggest move, in acquiring Justin Upton from the perpetually sinking ship known as the Detroit Tigers. Upton's been having one of his best seasons in years, but not only does he get to compete for the first time in a little while, but he gets to help a generally blah team improve its name, by having something else to talk about other than Mike Trout. Honestly, an outfield of Trout-Calhoun-Upton is a pretty nice idea, and Upton will help to elevate them from being a so-so squad.

Then, there's the other vier for the WC race, the Mariners. They went with another help area..

Yes, the Ms knew their pitching was a weakness, so they nabbed Mike Leake from the 'finally realizing they're not competing' Cardinals. Leake's been having a great year, but the fear is that he'll perform similarly than the way he did back in 2015 when he was spun into a competing Giants squad. The fact of the matter is that Leake's never been great on a truly pennant-chasing team, but the M's have a lineup to die for, and a rotation that's been aided. This was more of a utility need then an 'oh-my-god' need, but this will definitely help the Mariners' playoff case.

And then we have the Astros, who actually managed to disarm a competitor..

Cameron Maybe has slowly become one of the great unsung heroes of the MLB, stealing bases left and right, swapping teams every December, and never having a truly bad season, even on the direst of squads. Giving him to the AL West Champion Astros is an idea that may wind up pushing them further into the playoffs.

The lineup in Houston's already really good, but there's been an emphasis on bulky, 30+ home run hitters, even as the infield's full of young, speedy hits guys. Maybin's presence will spread the youth towards the outfield, as well as bringing versatility, immense speed, and likability, to a team that could use that. He's basically this year's equivalent of Coco Crisp landing in Cleveland- we didn't know how good it would look until it happened.

These are some pretty nice moves. As a card-collector, it's a bit annoying to see these guys not making the Update set, but if that's my only problem, it's not bad.