The Oakland Athletics head into a pretty big four game series with the Texas Rangers today with a chance to gain some ground in the fairly close AL West standings. The A’s sit three games back of the Rangers, which means in reality they could actually climb ahead of the Rangers with a sweep of this series. A four game sweep is probably unlikely, but if the A’s can grab three of four, that would get them to within one game of the Rangers by the end of the weekend.
While it might be too early for some to discuss the AL West standings (and especially the wild card) the Memorial Day weekend, coming up in a month, is often considered a serious marker heading into the summer. I’ve read that if a team is 20 games over .500 at Memorial Day (or thereafter), they’re a virtual certainty to make the playoffs. Right now the 16-7 Rockies have the best record in baseball and have a shot at hitting that magic number by Memorial Day weekend.
The AL West is not quite at that level with the Rangers sitting at five games over .500 heading into this weekend. If the A’s can get just start to gain a little ground above .500 they might be able to establish their ground in the division.