The Rangers lost to the White Sox 4-2 and once again, they lose their way into first place. At 51-51, they have a half-game lead over the Mariners, who come to town for four games starting Friday.

The most shameful thing isn’t that this pitiful division is led by an immensely flawed team, it’s that the Astros are only two games out.

Houston has every right to believe it can win the West. Mainly because Seattle and Texas cannot. So, as the Rangers and Mariners beat up on each other the next four games, Houston can stumble its way closer. Texas needs to either sweep or win three of the four Seattle games to prevent Houston from gaining too much ground. And it’s too early to start scoreboard watching. 

The old adage is, just get in and anything could happen. The TV talking heads remind us that the Rangers squeaked into the playoffs in 2023 then won it all. Huge difference. That team had six All-Stars. That team got off to a huge lead at the beginning of the season. That team was good and deserved to be in the playoffs and it would have been a shame had they not made it.

This Rangers team doesn’t deserve a post-season slot. But the fact is, no team in the American League West deserves to make the playoffs. Yet one will. And that team just very well could be Houston. And that will be the biggest shame of all.

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