The American League West has an exciting race going on as it's no longer just the Houston Astros show.

The AL West has four teams in the conversation for a playoff spot, with three of them battling to take the division.

Can someone dethrone the Astros, or will it be the same old story when October comes around?

Here's a look at the current AL West odds via the MLB division winner odds at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Note: The Oakland Athletics (+25000) will not be featured

Texas Rangers

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: -165
Record: 46-28 (first in AL West)

The Texas Rangers have quickly gone from being one of the best stories in baseball this season to simply being one of the best teams in the sport.

With a 5 1/2-game lead on the Houston Astros, the Rangers have proven that they're the real deal.

The offense has pushed them to new heights as the big signings from two offseasons ago -- Corey Seager and Marcus Semien -- are paying off in major fashion. The Rangers' dangerous lineup is third in the majors with a .345 weighted on-base average (wOBA), and they have the best team batting average, as well, at .272.

Texas has the best run differential in the league at +153 and has the most runs scored with 451. The offensive wagon continues to drive on as they're one of seven teams with 100 home runs this season.

When it comes to pitching, the Rangers were dealt a tough hand when signature free-agent signing Jacob deGrom was ruled out for the season due to Tommy John surgery. However, the Rangers still have good pitching -- led by Nathan Eovaldi and Jon Gray. Their skill-interactive ERA (SIERA) ranks 16th at 4.14, but their 4.04 fielding independent pitching (FIP) ranks 9th-best.

As the season goes on and the Rangers hope to hold off the Astros and company, they may need to make some moves for pitching. But as of now, they are in the driver's seat to win the division.

Houston Astros

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +170
Record: 41-34 (second in AL West)

The defending World Series champions are not at the level we expected to see them at heading into the halfway mark, but the Houston Astros are still the Houston Astros.

What I mean by that is they're probably going to find a way -- as they often do -- to make it count later in the season, which their +170 odds highlight.

The most interesting part of their season so far is that it's been the pitching staff leading the way despite the rotation losing reigning AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander in free agency and Luis Garcia to injury.

On offense, Houston's .313 wOBA ranks 19th, and much of those struggles can be attributed to the team's inability to drive the ball. The Astros have a 30.7% hard-hit rate, ranked just 23rd in MLB.

The pitching, as noted, has been far more impressive for the Astros. The staff's 3.88 SIERA is the sixth-best while they also boast the sixth-highest clip of strikeouts per nine innings (9.38). Framber Valdez -- the AL Cy Young favorite, per the Cy Young odds at FanDuel Sportsbook -- has been sensational this season as his 3.11 SIERA ranks fourth, and the emerging Hunter Brown ranks 11th with a 3.49 SIERA.

The Astros have never had a problem leaning on their pitching and, they're doing it again in 2023.

Assuming an offense led by Yordan Alvarez can pick itself up in the second half, it would surprise no one to see Houston close the gap to Texas and make this a tight race. That makes the Astros an intriguing bet at +170.

Los Angeles Angels

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +1100
Record: 41-35 (third in AL West)

A roster featuring Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout needs to make the playoffs one time before one of the two moves on, right?

Well, the Los Angeles Angels sure hope that to be the case, and this might be the year it happens.

Ohtani is having another dynamite season and is leading the Angels in every important statistic on offense and pitching -- that's absurd.

Los Angeles is ranked seventh in both hard-hit rate (33.4%) and wOBA (.331). It's undeniable that the offense is pushing the Angels to success, and their bats will likely have to keep that up with LA's pitching being in the bottom half of the league.

The Halos' 19th-ranked 4.28 SIERA isn't going to get many bettors excited.

If the Angels had a track record of making late-season pushes, it'd be one thing, but they haven't made it to the postseason since 2014. Ohtani can power them for only so long before everyone else needs to chip in to make more noise than they have already.

Seattle Mariners

FanDuel Sportsbook Odds: +2400
Record: 36-37 (fourth in AL West)

The Seattle Mariners came into the season with lots of anticipation after making the playoffs in 2022, the first time they'd done so since 2001, but they have been met with a rocky start in the early going.

Reigning AL Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez hasn't been the same dynamic player he was in his first season, which -- without question -- attributes to the offensive woes of the Mariners thus far. Rodriguez's wOBA is down from .366 last season to .312 this year. Seeing that there were expectations for J-Rod to possibly make a second-year leap, that's where some of the disappointment comes in.

But it's not just Rodriguez.

The offense's .304 wOBA ranks 24th in the majors while their strikeout rate is the second-highest at 25.9%. Their pitching, however, gives some hope that if the offense turns it around in the second half, the M's could climb up into a Wild Card spot or maybe even get into the race for the AL West.

Seattle currently ranks first in all of baseball in team SIERA at 3.78. Their rotation -- led by Luis Castillo and George Kirby -- has been good, and the backend of their bullpen has been great.

I'm not saying the Mariners are going to come back and win this division, but if you're looking for a division-winner long-shot bet to make across the MLB, there may not be a better choice than Seattle. That being said, there's a reason they have +2400 odds -- it's quite unlikely.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author’s advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.