With Spring Training just beginning, the 2016 MLB season is just around the corner.

One of the most interesting divisions to watch last season, surprisingly, was the American League West. Many experts predicted the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners to be contenders last season. Unfortunately for them, those two teams sat at the bottom of the division.

The Texas Rangers came out on top while the Houston Astros won the wildcard spot, coming up two games shy of a tie for the division. The Rangers lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS while the Astros lost to the Kansas City Royals.

So, how will this year pan out for the AL West? Here are my predictions.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers were expected to do pretty well last season, but after ace pitcher Yu Darvish was ruled out for the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, they were in a tough spot before the season even started. Luckily for them, their Opening Day starter Yovani Gallardo played efficiently throughout the season. Along with a great comeback season by first baseman/DH Prince Fielder, the Rangers played great ball down the stretch and were able to take the AL West crown.

With some great additions, like Cole Hamels as their #1 pitcher and Ian Desmond now in left field, the Rangers look poised to make another run at the division.

The key for their success this season will be health. This team cannot go another season without Darvish and nagging injuries from Fielder, infielder Jurickson Profar, third baseman Adrian Beltre and outfielder Josh Hamilton. These players have been injury prone in the past and they simply can’t deal with this for another year. If they all remain somewhat healthy, it should be another quality season for Texas.

Houston Astros

The surprise team in the AL last season was the Houston Astros. Finishing second in the West and playing tough against the Royals, the Astros had a plethora of young talent rise up last season, like shortstop Carlos Correa and starting pitcher Lance McCullers just to name a few. Led by fierce second baseman Jose Altuve, the Astros finished 86-76 and made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

In the offseason, the Astros added pitcher Doug Fister, but lost a lot of pieces in free agency and trades, including pitcher Scott Kazmir, first baseman Chris Carter and infielder Jed Lowrie.

Even with some key losses on the team, I still believe they have enough young talent and pitching to keep them in the chase. Correa, who won Rookie of the Year in the AL last season, was one of the most sensational players to watch, along with Kris Bryant and all of the rookies on the Chicago Cubs. McCullers is a good, young pitcher and AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel will lead the staff once again.

Los Angeles Angels

An always interesting team to watch in the West is the Los Angeles Angels.

It seems like they’re always picked to win the division, even though their regular season play doesn’t show for that. When you have stud players like outfielder Mike Trout and first baseman/DH Albert Pujols, it’s kind of hard to exclude them from those talks.

The Angels have had to dish out some big contracts over the past few seasons, including Pujols and Trout. They gave pitcher C.J. Wilson a 5-year, $77.5 million contract which will expire after this season, so they will have to either cut ties with him and find someone younger — and much cheaper — or they will have to pay up once again for an aging pitcher.

Regardless of what they do, they did make one solid move in the offseason. Last November, they traded for Atlanta Braves young shortstop Andrelton Simmons. All they had to give up was shortstop Erick Aybar, a few prospects and some cash. Simmons is one of the games young up-and-coming shortstops and will provide top tier defense and consistent contact hitting. Simmons won’t be the driving force and guide them to the postseason — if they even make it — but can definitely help them early on and get some wins that maybe they wouldn’t have gotten last season.

Seattle Mariners

One team that many figured would do well last year that didn’t live up to the hype was the Seattle Mariners. With the signings of second baseman Robinson Cano and DH Nelson Cruz over the past couple of seasons, the Mariners began to shape up the meat of their lineup. Cruz did his part and hit 44 home runs and had 93 RBI, but Cano hit just .287, compared to a 2014 season of a batting average of .314.

The key to Seattle’s success has and always will be on the shoulders of ace pitcher Felix Hernandez. Trying to top his 2014 season was nearly impossible, but he had three more wins (18) and two more complete games (2) than he had in 2014. Although in 2014, he had an ERA of 2.14 and struck out 248 batters, compared to an ERA of 3.53 and 191 strike outs in 2015. King Felix has had an incredible career with the Mariners and will probably continue that trend in 2016.

With the additions of first baseman Adam Lind and outfielder Nori Aoki, and the re-signing of pitcher Hishashi Iwakuma, the Mariners could be where the experts predicted them to be a season ago. However, the back-end of the starting rotation is weak and they now have a question mark at the closer role with Steve Cishek. However, the bullpen has been consistent over the past few seasons and could keep the Mariners around.

Oakland Athletics

After finishing second in the division in 2014 and making a wildcard spot, the Oakland Athletics were one of the biggest disappointments in the MLB in 2015. They finished 20 games out of first place in the West and had a 68-94 record overall. They went 34-47 both at home and on the road.

A huge part of their failure was due to trading third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays. After the trade, they tried to upgrade other pieces of their offense by signing DH Billy Butler and first baseman Ike Davis, and trading for outfielder Ben Zobrist. Zobrist ended up getting traded to the Royals before the trade deadline, Davis was shutdown in August after surgery and Butler had one of the worst statistical years in his career.

The A’s did make some quality moves in the offseason, however, acquiring relievers John Axford and Ryan Madson and left fielder Khris Davis.

Axford has struggled mightily since his better days in Milwaukee, but he can be a decent setup piece for closer Sean Doolittle. Madson pitched for the first time since 2011 last year and actually pitched pretty well. In 68 games with the Royals, Madson was 1-2 with an ERA of 2.13. For not pitching for several seasons, that’s a pretty good attempt at a comeback.

2016 will be Davis’ fourth year in the league and still has a lot of time to improve. He struck out 122 times in both 2014 and ’15. However, he also hit for 49 home runs and 135 RBI in that time span. Defensively he could also improve a bit, but he could be a well-rounded player and a big piece of Oakland’s offense with a little more time.

Division Prediction

1st Texas Rangers

2nd Oakland Athletics

3rd Houston Astros

4th Los Angeles Angels

5th Seattle Mariners