What if being average is good enough in the American League West? The Rangers, who finished 81-81 last year and nine games out of first, are textbook average.

But average this year is good enough to win the A.L. West. Nobody is good in this division. But here’s the tricky part: Even if nobody deserves to win the division, according to the by-laws of Major League Baseball, someone legally has to win it, no matter how bad they are. Or how average. 

The Rangers, at 47-46, took over possession of first place in the A.L. West. It’s almost shameful to say that. They blew a 6-1 lead, yet still won 7-6 thanks to a game winning Wyatt Langford single in the bottom of the ninth.

Texas has three more against Houston before the All-Star break. They could go into the break in first or in fourth. It’s a division that isn’t relevant. There’s not a good team in the lot, only shades of bad.

Just the kind of division the Rangers could win.

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