This year’s version of the Trade Deadline is still a few weeks away, but there’s little doubt teams have been thinking about Aug. 31 since the date was announced.

And while the 2020 campaign is unlike any other season in history, the approach to acquiring talent at the Deadline remains mostly the same. Teams have to consider their present and their future. They have to determine if they will be active or not. There are tons of questions and the answers often reveal themselves in the weeks leading up to the Deadline.

For our American League West notebook this week, our beat reporters identified the questions the clubs they cover must answer before Aug. 31 Deadline. Here is what the experts said:

Angels: Do the Angels have enough pitching to get back in the race?
The Angels are off to a slow start and their pitching is again an issue as well as their inability to hit with runners in scoring position. The offense, however, should turn it around with star players such as Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon and Shohei Ohtani all heating up. But the Angels lack rotation depth with Ohtani unable to pitch this season and veteran Julio Teheran struggling in his first two starts. The Angels might have to hit their way into the postseason, and it'll be interesting to see if it's enough for their first playoff berth since 2014. Dylan Bundy has turned into the staff ace but the Angels are going to need more pitching. -- Rhett Bollinger

Astros: Can the Astros get enough pitchers back healthy to make a push?
The Astros have been devastated by injuries to the pitching staff this year, leading to nine rookie pitchers making their Major League debut within the first two weeks of the season. The biggest injury is a forearm strain to starter Justin Verlander, which hindered a rotation that already lost Gerrit Cole to free agency and Jose Urquidy to an undisclosed injury. In the bullpen, closer Roberto Osuna is likely out for the year, and veterans Chris Devenski, Austin Pruitt, Brad Peacock and Joe Biagini are out with injuries as well. There’s still a chance Verlander could come back, which is vital to their postseason hopes, and Peacock is progressing and could return soon. The number of healthy arms the Astros have on Aug. 31 will go a long way toward what they do at the Deadline. -- Brian McTaggart

Athletics: Will Manaea figure it out?
Sean Manaea’s outings have gotten shorter with each start, most recently lasting just 2 2/3 innings in a loss to the Angels on Monday night. With a 9.00 ERA over 15 innings, the A’s need to know if Manaea can get back to his 2019 form, which saw him dominate through the month of September to the point where he earned the starting nod for Oakland in the AL Wild Card Game. If not, the A’s could be searching for a starting pitcher at the Trade Deadline, something they've done the previous two seasons with acquisitions of Tanner Roark at the '19 deadline and Mike Fiers in '18. -- Martin Gallegos

Mariners: Will they bring up more young studs?
General manager Jerry Dipoto seems content to let top outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic and top pitching prospect Logan Gilbert build experience this year playing intrasquad games at the team’s alternate training site. But with second place in the AL West wide open in the early going, if the rebuilding Mariners find themselves in contention at the end of August, will they try to bring in their own talented reinforcements in an attempt to end an 18-year playoff drought in this year’s expanded 16-team format?

Kelenic and Gilbert both have limited Double-A experience so it would be a big jump. While rookie center fielder Kyle Lewis has proven that it’s certainly possible to provide instant impact, first baseman Evan White is struggling at the plate after making that same leap this year. Dipoto won’t sacrifice the long-term plan by trading prospects to bring in veteran help, so the question is whether he’d push his own young prize pupils ahead of schedule in the right scenario. -- Greg Johns

Rangers: Do the Rangers have the offense to contend for a playoff spot?
The Rangers need to decide if they have enough offense to contend for the postseason. If they don’t, they need to decide where to upgrade. Rougned Odor is a big concern at second base. He is off to another terrible start. So too is Elvis Andrus, but the Rangers could also use more power at the corner infield positions. The Rangers have some young hitters who can put the bat on the ball. But if Odor continues to be dormant, then Joey Gallo and maybe Todd Frazier are their only real power threats in the lineup. Danny Santana should be another, but he has been absent because of a sore right arm. Offensive power used to be the one thing the Rangers could count on. That is no longer the case. -- TR Sullivan