The
American League West is one of three
divisions in
Major League Baseball's
American League. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams currently only reside along the
west coast and in
Texas, historically the division has had teams as far east as
Chicago. From 1998 (when the NL West expanded to five teams) to 2012, the AL West was the only MLB division with four teams. The current champion of this division is the
Texas Rangers. In 2013, the
Houston Astros went from the
National League Central to the AL West. That move gives all six MLB divisions an equal five teams and both leagues an equal 15 teams.