Baseball Division Preview II

Today, the AL West.  People always say things like: 'The Wild West', 'East Coast Bias', and 'Texas never ever has pitching ever'.  Well, here's what I say.  The west is a 2 horse race.  The other two horses are looking at each other in a staring contest.  The winner gets the right to finish 20 games out.  The loser...well glue comes from somewhere.

From Worst to First:

4) Oakland

3) Texas

2) Seattle

1) LAAAAAA

Oaktown: In the words of Al Pacino from that lawyer movie he did with Neo from Bill and Teds Bogus Journey: 'Nice run Kev, had to end sometime'.  Except that Kev is Billy Beane. 

Everyone made a big deal about how the A's fleeced the Cardinals when they traded Mark Mulder.  You know who's left on the A's from that deal?  Exactly (it's Kiki Calero and Daric Barton pictured right).  This is a 'rebuilding year' for Oakland.  With more and more teams operating 'Moneyball style'.  The A's are finding it tougher and tougher to compete.  I think Beane's head might explode this year.  The dude is an uber jedi at putting competing teams out there with less resources but at a certain point, you know he wants to say: 'Can we at least make an offer to someone?  Maybe 1 trade where we get the star instead of being a vocational program?!!!!'

You just cannot convince me that this team will compete with an outfield of THE Emil Brown, Chris Denorfia, and Travis Buck.  They are stuck with the corpse of Eric 'Season at Bernie's' Chavez and to me, will win a lot of 3-2 games on their way to 66 wins.

3) Texas: They have a nice young group in Arlington.  There are some really good young players that have found their way onto the Rangers roster.  I think they will surprise some people before fading away down the stretch.  Josh Hamilton, has a chance to continue the greatest rehab story of all times.  Jarrod Salta..Salta...not gonna work here anymore is a stud in waiting, as is Ian Kinsler.  If they get decent years out of the once highly touted Ben Broussard and Hank Blalock, they could batter some teams into submission.  The pitching staff is a patchwork.  Retreads Kevin Millwood and Vincente Padilla anchor a staff that is filled with young arms.  A couple pan outs and this could be an exciting team.  Realistically, they are shy a big bat and a starter or two.  That's why they'll finish 3rd.

Seattle: Jay Buhner isn't walking through that door!  Sorry, always wanted to do that. Lots of people assume that since the MMMMMMkays got Bedard, they are now a lock to win the divison.  Cue Lee Corso: not so fast my friend.

The 1-2 of Bedard and King Felix is formidable.  Nastiness.  Beyond that?  ewwwwwww.  Carlos Silva gets hit more than a heavy bag, Jared Washburn has very little left and Miguel Batista...is still in the majors?  The staff is ordinary after the top 2.  This doesn't bode well for a team that sometimes can scuffle scoring runs.  Sexson stinks, Beltre isn't in a contract year, and their best run producer the last 2 years has been Raul Ibanez.  That means you don't have a good run producer.  Listen, Ichiro is still amazing.  Would you be excited about Yuniesky Betancourt, Jose Lopez, or the human K Brad Wilkerson?  This is a good team.  They might make a deal that puts them over the top.  But right now, I don't think they have the horses to compete with:

The LAAAAAAA Angels: Solid rotation with innings eaters John Lackey, John Garland and Jared Weaver.  The bullpen is, as usual, phenomenal.  Offensively, this team will score a ton.  Vlad might not hit 40 bolts anymore but he is still a top 5 offensive force.  A full season from Howie Kendrick will be a special thing to watch this year.  Mark it down.  He can flat out hit.  They'll be better on defense with Torii HUnter in center, they've got depth all over the field, they have speed, lineup balance, the experience, a great manager, vets, young guys that are hungry, and most importantly, I am picking them.  Lock it up.

Look for LAAAAAA to win the West this year with Seattle chasing their heals.