The AL west has some fantastic franchises. The Athletics, Mariners and Rangers have some of the game's greats. While the Angels and Astros have more recent history. None of these were easy lists to narrow down. Naturally, I'm sure there will be some controversy.
Houston Astros
The Astros have been around since the 60's, but they weren't very good until the 2000's. That doesn't mean they didn't have some incredible players throughout their history. While most of this list will represent the 2000's, we do have one in the Rush who will represent their earlier years. Starting off the 00's with Jeff Bagwell. The slugging first baseman played with the Astros from 1991-2005. During that time, he slashed .297 with 449 home runs and 1,529 RBI's. He also received just about every award you can think of including the NL Rookie of the Year and NL MVP. He was the prime of the Astros bats. Lance Berkman is the second name on this Rushmore. Berkman is easily one of the most underrated players of all time in my opinion. He played with the Astros from 1999-2010. During his time in Houston, he hit .296 with 326 home runs, 1,648 hits and 1,090 RBIs. He played numerous positions for the club and was one of the best run producers of the 2000's. Next up has to be Craig Biggio. He played with the Astros for his entire career (1988-2007). He finished with a .281 BA with 3,060 hits and 291 home runs. The second baseman was a 7 time All-Star and won 4 Gold Glove Awards. To round us out, we will go with Cesar Cedeno. One of the more unheard of greats in our game, Cedeno was a 5 time Gold Glove Award winner and 4 time All-Star. He played in Houston from 1970-1981 in which he had a .289 BA with 163 home runs. He was also a HUGE threat on the base paths stealing 487 bags in his 12-year tenure with the 'Stros. If it wasn't for Ricky Henderson, he would be thought as one of the best base stealers of all time.
Honorable Mentions: Jose Altuve, Jose Cruz, Roy Oswalt
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels were a slightly tougher one to narrow down. They have a mix of solid older options along with some current superstars. Starting off, we are going with OF Garret Anderson. He played with the Angels from 1994-2008 slugging 272 HR's, 1,292 RBI's while maintaining a BA of .296. He helped the Angels win their first ever world series and is their career leader in hits, total bases, singles, doubles, sac flies and extra-base hits. Vladimir Guerrero, Sr. is next up on the list. He only played for the Angels from 2004-2009, but his time with Anaheim was nothing short of spectacular. He hit .319 with 173 HR's and 616 RBI's. He even won an MVP award for them in 2004. In normal circumstances, he would probably fall just short of landing on this Mount Rushmore since he didn't play for the Halos for long, but because he is the first player to wear an Angels hat in the HOF, he nudges his way on here. Next man up is the best pitcher in franchise history, Nolan Ryan. Ryan played for a few different teams during his career, but his tenure with the Angels from 1972-1979 were his best without question. He compiled 138 wins with a 3.07 ERA and 2,416 K's with the Halos. He is widely regarded as one of the toughest pitchers in baseball and his prime with the Angels solidifies him on this list. Finally, we have none other than OF Mike Trout. Trout will unquestionably go down as one of the best players of all time and it's likely that his entire career will be spent with the Angels. Even if he retired right now, he would be a HOF player and the best player in franchise history. He started with the Halos in 2011 and has already won 3 MVP awards, a ROY award and is a 9 time All-Star. I just hope to see what he can do in the playoffs.
Honorable Mentions: Chuck Finley, Shohei Ohtani, Tim Salmon
Oakland Athletics
Yes, the Athletics are terrible this year, but that doesn't mean they don't have one of the most fun Mount Rushmore lists we have! Leading off the list we have pitcher Dennis Eckersley. Eck was one of the most dominate closers of his era. He played with the A's from 1987-1995, during that time he had 320 saves with a 2.74 ERA and a .953 WHIP. He won the 1992 MVP Award which is one of the few times a pitcher has ever won, let alone a closing pitcher. Second is the most obvious A's player. the great Rickey Henderson. He is the all time leading player in both stolen bases and runs scored. He played with the A's from1979-1984; 1989-1993; 1994-1995; 1998. During his Athletics tenure, he batted .288 with 167 HR's and 867 SB's. He won the AL MVP in 1990. Catfish Hunter is the 3rd name to appear on the list. Hunter played for the A's from 1968-1974. He had a 3.00 ERA with a 131-77 record and 1,139 K's. He won the CY Young Award for the club in 1974, and his jersey number is retired by Oakland. We will finish off with none other than the slugger Reggie Jackson. He played with the A's from 1968-1975 during which he hit 253 HR's with 727 RBI's and a .268 BA. He was a 6 time All-Star and won the MVP in 1973.
Honorable Mentions: Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Mark McGwire
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners have one of the easiest lists to narrow down of all 30 teams. There is one player I feel was very close to making the list, but in the end, the final four was simple. Starting off with Ken Griffey, Jr. Griffey is one of the most universally liked athletes in history. He was a genuine joy to watch play the game, and boy, was he incredibly good at it. He played with the Mariners from 1989-1999; 2009-2010. He batted .292 with 417 HR's and 1,216 RBI's for the M's. During his tenure in Seattle, he was a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner and 7-time Silver Slugger. He also won the 1997 MVP Award. The Big Unit Randy Johnson is up next. the 6'10 Left-handed pitcher played with the Mariners from 1989-1999. He had a 130-74 record with a 3.42 ERA and 2,162 K's with the club. He won the CY Young award in 1995 and was a 5 time All-Star. Edgar Martinez is the third man up. He played with the Mariners from 1987-2004. Many people believe he is the greatest DH in MLB history (though I believe he is the second best). He hit .312 with 309 HR's and 1,261 RBI's for the Mariners. Finally, we have another one of the most likable athletes in history, Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro played with the Mariners from 2001-2012 and then again from 2018-2019. He hit for a .321 BA with 2,542 hits and 99 HR's for the club. He didn't appear in the MLB until he was 27 years old but made an immediate impact when he came over from Japan. He won the ROY, Gold Glove, MVP and Silver slugger...IN HIS ROOKIEYEAR! He went on to win many more awards for the club.
Honorable Mentions: Jay Buhner, Felix Hernandez, Alex Rodriguez
Texas Rangers
The Rangers have some questionable players on their list. They have quite a few players with some steroid allegations surrounding them; however, I couldn't keep them off the list. There will be a handful of PED questionable guys throughout these articles, so it's not fair to add some and subtract others. Leading off is a player with no suspicion, Adrian Beltre. The 3rd baseman played with the Randers from 2011-2018 and was one of the best and most entertaining players during his time in Texas. He had a .304 BA with199 HR's and 699 RBI's during that time. He won the Platinum glove award in 2011 and 2012 and his number was retired by the Rangers shortly after he retired in 2019. Next up is one of the players with some PED suspicions, Rafael Palmeiro. He played with the Rangers from 1989-1993; 1999-2003. During that time he hit .290 with 321 HR's and 1,039 RBI's. Next up is another player with some PED allegations, Ivan Rodriguez. 'Pudge' is widely thought of as one of the best catchers of all time. He played with the Rangers from 1991-2002; 2009. During that time he had a .304 BA with 217 HR's and 842 RBI's. He was a 10 time All Star and 10 time Gold Glove Award winner. He is a HOFer and his number is also retired by the Rangers. Michael Young rounds out the list. He played in Arlington from 2000-2012 hitting .301 with 177 HR's and 2,230 hits. He won the Batting title in 2005, was a 7-time All Star and had his jersey retired in Arlington as well.
Honorable Mentions: Juan Gonzalez, Ian Kinsler, Nolan Ryan
--Cyrus Beermann