A look at the moves made so far this winter by AL West clubs…
Angels
- Acquired/re-signed: Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Fernando Rodney, Michael Rocco, Taylor Wilding, Julio Perez, Travis Chick, Gary Patchett, Cory Aldridge, Camilo Vazquez, Nick Gorneault,
- Lost: Darren Oliver, Chone Figgins, John Lackey, Vladimir Guerrero, Kelvim Escobar, Matt Brown, Bobby Cassevah, David Herndon
Athletics
- Acquired/re-signed: Coco Crisp, Justin Duchscherer, Jack Cust, Michael Taylor, Dallas McPherson, Aaron Miles, Jake Fox, Bobby Cassevah, Matthew Whitney, Matt Wright, Marcus McBeth, Fernando Hernandez, Cedrick Bowers, Alex Valdez, Trey Webb
- Lost: Brett Wallace, Chris Denorfia, Bobby Crosby, Jeff Gray, Matthew Spencer, Ronny Morla, Jay Marshall
Mariners
- Acquired/re-signed: Cliff Lee, Chone Figgins, Milton Bradley, Casey Kotchman, Ken Griffey Jr., Brandon League, Josh Bard, Chad Cordero, Johermyn Chavez, Yusmeiro Petit, Josh Wilson, Corey Patterson, Kanekoa Texeira, Pedro Okuda, Ryan Langerhans, Chris Woodward, Guillermo Quiroz, Rich Dorman, Steve Bray, Steven Shell, Jose Yepez, Levale Speigner, Chris Seddon, Travis Denker, Mike Koplove, David Pauley, Ralph Henriquez
- Lost: Adrian Beltre, Brandon Morrow, Kenji Johjima, Justin Thomas, Bryan LaHair, Carlos Silva, Bill Hall, Chris Jakubauskas, Robert Manuel, J.C. Ramirez, Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, Roy Corcoran
Rangers
- Acquired/re-signed: Darren Oliver, Vladimir Guerrero, Rich Harden, Chris Ray, Khalil Greene, Kevin Richardson, Joe Inglett, Clay Rapada, Ben Snyder, Ray Olmedo, Geoff Geary, Matt Brown, Robbie Alcombrack, John Otness
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Lost: Jason Grilli, Ivan Rodriguez, Eddie Guardado, Marlon Byrd, Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, Kevin Millwood
I wonder how many moves the M’s wouldn’t have been able to make had Johjima stayed put. I doubt they’d have gotten Figgins for sure. We might be looking at a very different ball club. However, I do think Jack Z. has done an excellent job in Seattle.
Man, the Angels have lost a lot more than they’ve acquired.
On paper it looks rough for the Angels. However I’m a bit surprised by how nice of an improvement the Athletics seem to have made. I still would have kept Wallace but overall they look improved and they may still have money to spend after missing out of guys like Beltre, Chapman and Scutaro. That said… go M’s.
The AL west got a whole lot closer then in the past few seasons. Now Mariners and Rangers have a better chance to knock of the Angels
The Angels are still the favorites but the M’s and Rangers definitely closed the gap. It wouldn’t surprise me if any one of those 3 won the division.
lololololololol the angels….
That A’s list would look better if they were able to sign beltre, scutaro, or chapman…rejected by all 3 LOL how fun
Every year people knock the Angels (They didnt resign texiera or K-rod)…etc Yet they continue to watch their homegrown talent shine. I think the Angels come back close to as strong as they were last year and the Mariners still have no offense.
For the angels to come back as strong as last year, they would need, A) Ervin Santana to step back up while Weaver maintains; B) Kazmir to pitch like the 2nd half of 2009, not the year and a half before, plus stay healthy; C) Morales to play better than he was ever projected to play again; D) Torre Hunter to have another career year in his mid-thirties; E) The outfield defense to hold up; F) The bullpen to hold itself together.
that’s a lot to ask. Some of those things will happen, some wont, and there’s little doubt the M’s got better, (despite their iffy offense), and the Rangers could have improved, too.
I think the AL West is up for grabs, even if the angels continue to look strong.
You wanna talk about a lot to ask? How about looking at the M’s. What pitcher do they have after Felix Hernandez? Who is their middle relief? Who is going to be the clean-up hitter? Questions Questions Questions…
How about Texas? Did their pitching staff get any better? No. Did their OBP get any better or is their club still filled with a bunch low-average, high-power hitters?
Overall, the Angels are still the much more balanced ball-club.
Finally, E and F can apply to any ball club. Like Yogi Berra said: “The hardest thing to forecast is the future…”
We can talk about What If’s until were blue in the face…on paper, Angels still take it.
“What pitcher do they have after Felix Hernandez?”
Cliff Lee?
obviously. Work with me people here… Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, then who?
They don’t really need anything after that. But really, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Ian Snell, bunch of other youngsters, plus they still have some money to spend on a possible risk/reward type (Bedard, Sheets type).
Oh goodness this makes me giggle. What pitching besides Felix? Gee I guess all they have is some no name called Cliff Lee. Then there’s that god-awful youngster Ryan-Rowland Smith. I’m sure they’re completely done with the rotation too. Bullpen? Complete crap after Aardsma, Lowe, Kelley, League and the dozens of arms after them.
Clean-up hitter? Legit question I suppose, but I would count on this team scoring far more runs now with the huge improvements in OBP via Figgins, Bradley and Kotchmann. If Moore is worth anything he’ll be an improvement at catcher. I wouldn’t count them out for making one more move on offense though.
Questioning the offense I understand. Questioning the pitching is straight-up ignorant.
Really? Because if you look at the Angels rotation you have three All-Stars and a 16 game winner who shut down the Red Sox in the ALDS last year.
Seattle has Cliff and Felix, then…it drops off dramatically. Rowland-Smith? A guy who has only thrown over 100 innings once in his career? I think thats a bigger question mark than any of the angels staff and or bullpen…
After Felix Hernandez the M’s have Cliff Lee. He’s decent, I guess.
lol!
Cliff Lee anyone? Relief pitchers? How about Lowe, Kelley, White… Milton Bradley can work as their clean-up hitter…
Really? Those are the “questions questions questions?” Like mateo said, Cliff Lee comes after Felix, and until we gather a legit #3, Ryan Rowland-Smith. Our top three beats your top three. Middle relief is solved easily, especially when we have four stud late-inning relievers. Shawn White, Steve Kelley, Jason Vargas all are suitable middle relievers. Perhaps Ian Snell or Doug Fister, or even Josh Fields will round out the fold. As for clean-up hitter, that is an irrelevant point you make. The M’s don’t have a lot of “power” hitters, if that’s is what you’re saying. Lopez or Bradley or Griffey or Branyan… someone will hit 4th. maybe we’ll pick up a guy. But don’t you worry, Angel fans, the M’s will score some runs. Maybe not as many as you, but we won’t have to, either. These aren’t ‘what ifs’ anymore. Thems is the izzzis.
I agree BK. The Angels have more pop. Kazmir makes up for Lackey. Woods is a great fielder. He’ll strike out 150 times, but he’ll hit 25 bombs. He’s sort of a return of Troy Glaus. Godzilla will be more consistent than Vlad. I like what the Angels have done.
The Rangers are better than the M’s. The M’s clubhouse is going to do them in.
It’s been interesting to see the A’s as the runner up in a few pretty major FA acquisitions.
If they’re willing to spend a bit of money, I wonder if they’ll stick with Daric Barton at first base or make a one year offer to LaRoche or Delgado. With what we’ve seen recently, I wouldn’t be surprised.
The reason the Angels win the division every year is the other teams were not up to their level, now it looks like a very competitive division and as a baseball fan you have to like that… I would never really want to watch Seattle or A’s games… Now I do, Is Mcphereson competing for the 3b job? if that guy ever figures out how to hit big league pitching he could be awesome….I hope Jake Fox gets his share of at bats he is a animal
If I was Seattle’s coach I would make sure every time we were about to face the Angels I would have Felix and Lee both pitching in every series against them and take the series that way….no way the Angels can fight those 2 guys off facing them both a million times..
Felix Hernandez has racked up 110 innings against the Angels. He has posted a 4.20 ERA. In fact, only the Yankees have posed a bigger problem for Felix and that is in a very small sample size. To assume that the M’s win every matchup against the Angels simply by pitching Hernandez and Lee is awfully silly.
Then lets get silly my friend! I bet Felix dominates them this year
Blanks, that is ridiculous. Why screw up your rotation against everyone else?
Seattle can stack the deck against The Angels in spring training like in ’08. 😉
Get over it and focus on the 162 games. Man, you M’s fans are hungry. Starving, actually.
Texas 90 wins
Angels 88 wins
Mariners 87 wins
A’s 85 wins
Probably the second lowest probability outcome.
muhahaha….with that killer pitching staff, Texas wins 90 games? NOPE.
with what rotation? texas doesn’t get 90
85 wins for the A’s is about 10 too high. As a die hard A’s fan, I’m not too happy with this off season
No way Oakland wins 85-games, more like 75. They are too young on the hill and thin on offense. They need a hot start to finish near .500.
I don’t think many people are expecting them to tear through the AL West, but you have to realize that they will probably field a team with 6-7 above average defenders (Suzuki, Barton, Ellis, Sweeney, Crisp and Davis (Pennington is a wild card)), that they will probably have one of the best bullpens (Bailey, Ziegler, Devine, Wuertz, etc.) and will likely have an above average rotation.
Wow the Angels have had a real tough off-season. I’m a bit surprised to see how well the A’s did though. I would have kept Wallace but Taylor’s got plenty of upside. That all said, go M’s!
Texas is no better this year than last. Byrd to Vlad? no upgrade there at all. Also only other significant change is Harden for Millwood. I would take Millwood and his steady, solid production over Harden and his spectactular 5 inning outings and invariable trips to the DL. I don’t see them has upgrading at all. In fact if you look at some of their starters from last year their stats say they were “lucky” to win the number of games they won. Sea is better, ANA still need to find another starter, Oakland will continue to develop what they have as will Texas. Tex and Oakland are built for 2011
– You mention some pitchers getting lucky.. when by far the luckiest was Kevin Millwod, who you hate them losing.
– Its not all luck, the Rangers had one of the biggest year to year defensive improvements in the game, and that should only get better with an improvement in CF and Young having experience at 3b (where his UZR was hugely negative the first 2 months, and fine from there).
– Some of those young pitchers having good years were top prospects and *gasp* its possible that the rangers developed a pitcher or two.
– Well then how about the reverse, players who had bad seasons. Hamilton, though still a question, is highly unlikely to give NOTHING again. Theres no way Chris Davis will be as bad as he was in the first half again. Kinsler will likely up his OBP.
– Why are you comparing the CF change to the DH change? Its byrd to borbon (top prospect, better defense and speed but less power, we’ll see) and andruw jones to vlad (upgrade).
– 140 innings of harden + 60 innings of the rangers plentiful 6th starter options is probably better than 200 ip of millwood. They need that 140 ip though, can’t 90% of the year like he did in Oak a couple times.
Feldman will regress. Holland will improve. Feliz to the rotation is a HUGE question mark. I agree they are on the right track but are not better this year than last year and I stand by that. Davis is that bad! Smoak is in the wings which is also an upgarade over him. Don’t discout the loss of Vizquel working with Andrus. Hamilton’s health is far from a slam dunk. I was referring to offensive production. Borbon was there starting most of the last 2 months last year, he’s solid not Great. Vlad isnt the Vlad we all loved to watch. If they can get a combined 200 games out of Vlad and Hamilton I would be shocked.
Millwood was not an ace, but he was a steady innings eater which this staff seriously lacks. The ENTIRE staff will be on Inning counts. Their bull pen is not designed to handle this. They still have time to address this but havent done so yet
Why do you think that the entire pitching staff will be on inning counts? Ryan has consistently said that the SP will exit the game when their job is done – not with pitch counts, not with inning counts.
You are right when you say that Feliz is a question mark in the rotation. He’ll likely start in AAA before working out of the bullpen – b/c there are tons of pen options for the Rangers during the season. Additionally, the Rangers went out and signed possibly the most reliable bullpen arm available.
– Why on earth is Davis that bad. This guy lead minor league baseball in homeruns and rbis from the start of 2006 until mid 2008 when he was called up while hitting over .300. He then his .285/.331/.549 as a 22 year old for half a season in the majors. And he hit .308/.338/.496 in the second half last year. And developing as a player going into his age 24 season, hes as bad as his putrid first 2009 half that nothing he did before or after that nothing hes done before or after would suggest? Ok there buddy.
– Lol, Vlad to Byrd a noticeable offensive downgrade? The “vlad we know” has a career .964 ops. Theres a long way to go between the old vlad and being a DOWNGRADE from career .764 ops only-hit-in-arlington Marlon Byrd. The only offensive year in which vlad hasn’t completely obliterated marlon byrd is indeed 2009, but that was with torn pectoral muscle hurting him instead of just his general health with which he was still productive with in 2008 and after recovering from the pectoral in late 2009. Even with all the injuries his slash line is about as good as Byrds without the benefit of Arlington.
– Vlad and Hamilton played 189 games in the worst case scenario 2009, and 299 games in 2008. And you’d be SHOCKED if they get to 200? Lol.
– How steady was he? He had an era over 5 while pitching an average of 170 innings in 2007 and 2008. Yes, the SP’s inning counts will be a major concern for the rangers. It was in 2009 too. Thats a team weakness. As for the bullpen- no bullpen can completely pick up the slack for a rotation that doesn’t go deep into the games, but their bullpen is certainly a good one and reasonably well suited to make the effort. Half the competitors for spots in the pen are starting prospects who can go multiple innings, they signed Darren Oliver who can bridge a 2 inning gap late in the game regularly, the only people who are 1 inning guys are the closer which doesn’t matter, and probably Chris Ray.
You are being as pessimistic as possible. Everyone who underperformed last year will be as bad or worse, and everyone who overpeformed will tank. It doesn’t work like that. Now, not everyone will hit their peaks either- but the sum as it stands should be a gain.
On paper, the subtractions definitely out-weight the additions, but I would argue that the list looks much worse than it actually is. Here’s why.
One look at John Lackey’s peripherals and the first thing that comes to mind is the word “peaked”. Throw in his injuries and immature antics and you got a player already in decline. I think Weaver steps into his rotation slot and Kazmir, Hokey Joe and Santana head up the best 1-4 in the AL west.
As much as Vlad contributed to the recent success of the team, the man is a shell of his former self. He can’t play the field or be relied upon to stay healthy for more than 100 games. Plus, outfield is crowded with aging players as is and his number should be easily upgraded with Matsui replaces his AB’s
Chone Figgins- An anomaly in that he seems to have figured it out so relatively late in his career, it will interesting to see running around the bases in spacious Safeco. You hate to lose his OBP, but with perennial prospect Brandon Wood ready to go, you have to give him a shot. Hopefully we get 20-25 hrs and 85+ RBI’s out of him.
Are you really sure being the Angels as the best 1-4 ? I don’t really think so…
FIP 09
Weaver 4.04
Kazmir 4.26
Saunders 5.17
Santana 5.02
Felix 3.09
Lee 3.11
RRS 4.20
Snell 4.88
It’s a laugh when you speak of Vlad as a guy who can’t play more than 100 games and his production being easily replaceable when Matsui can’t even run for a double without getting injured.
On Chone Figgins, don’t worry his production is going to be fine along with his great defense. As far as Wood goes, he is a prospect, you never know for sure how is he going to translate his minor league numbers in the bigs.
Ok, Vlad may play over hundred games, and we all know he mashes in the Texas heat, but if think Hideki’s legs are worse for wear, you haven’t seen Vlad limp around the bases. My assertion is that we aren’t losing a lot in the Masui for Vlad swap.
And yes, I’d still take the Halo’s 1-4 over the M’s. Santana seemed to get over his injuries in the second have and Kazmir was lights our in 2nd half of last year.
But you wouldn’t take your top three over ours… and you haven’t seen the #3 Jack is going to pick up.
Actually, yes I would take my top 3 over yours. I think there’s a huge drop off, like Mariana Trench drop off, after Lee a Felix the Cat. I think he, Felix, had one very good year and that it’s not a guarantee that he bounces back for another. As another poster here pointed out, he’s always struggled against the Angels.
Kazmir is definitely under 4.0, but not sure how far under. His ERA with the Angels is under 2.0, but not saying he will repeat that for a whole year. Saunders will probably be around 4.0, definitely not higher than 4.5 I think. Santana is the big question mark. He seems to pitch well every other year for some unknown reason, so I think this may be a good year for him :). Would anyone argue against the point that all four of those guys could win at least 15 games each? Whether they do or not, remains to be seen. It is going to be a great year competition wise for the AL West. I’m looking forward to watching a lot of meaningful games this season. Go Angels!
The Mariners and Rangers definitely gained some ground on the Angels. FYI The Angels may have dominated the division the last 3 years, but the As have won more division titles overall 14-8.
Seattle is vastly improved on paper!
In 1991, the Angels stacked themselves with a power-laden lineup (Dave Winfield, Dave Parker, Gary Gaetti, Lance Parrish), and got a stellar performance from their top three starting pitchers (Mark Langston 19-8, Chuck Finley 18-9, Jim Abbott 18-11) yet they still were only 81-81 for that season. Why? Because just about everyone in the middle of that order (minus Wally Joyner and Winfield) went over the hill and there was little power in the second half. The reason I am pointing this out is because so many people are in love with the moves the Mariners have made, even though the M’s still have no real power threat, and they only have two proven arms in their rotation. Do a position-by-position comparison of the 2010 Mariners and the 1991 Angels, and then see if you still have the M’s winning the AL West. Someone mentioned Kenji Johjima. Well someone in that front office doesn’t have their eye completely on the ball because you can’t win anything without a solid catcher. I commend the M’s emphasis on defense, but I’m thinking that the Rangers are the team to watch out for. Especially if they can re-sign Hank Blalock after signing Vladdy. Two more solid starting pitchers, and Texas is likely your Division winner. That’s if the pieces that Angels were missing for much of last season don’t stay healthy. Remember, they scored all those runs last summer with Hunter and Vladdy on the DL, and fought their way to first place with a beat up, last place starting rotation. Whatever might happen, I’m excited to see a 3-team race in the AL West again.
Apply the 1991 Angels theory to the 2010 Angels, who have their share of aging sluggers. I doubt that Angels team played the league’s best defense with a first rate bullpen, either. Nothing about the 2010 M’s suggests a tired second half team that can’t hit the ball.
And Hank blalock sucks. and the Rangers aren’t going after more starting pitching. What was this post about again?
Jon Daniels said today that the rangers next target is a starting pitcher.
However, it will have to be someone cheap and not anything thats going to change opinions on here. Doug Davis type.
Wow, Angels went from having one of the top 4 line-ups to a middle of the pack team after all those free agents left. I still have faith in our team cause of our manager but it’s definately going to be a tougher division this year. At least it’ll be worth it to go see the Halos versus the Mariner and Rangers this year. Not only to see some of our old guys but the games should be a whole lot better now.
Keep in mind that this lineup was leading the Majors in runs with Hunter and Vladdy both on the DL. Add a healthy Hunter, and a healthy Godzilla, and it will likely be about the same. The reason I don’t say better is because none of us really know how well Erick Aybar is going to handle the leadoff spot in the absence of Chone Figgins.
I say Brandon Wood benefits from not having too much pressure put on him; or not being thrown into the middle of the order like the Angels did with Tim Salmon in 1993. Realistically, I’m looking at Wood to hit about .270, 15-20 HR, and 60-80 RBI in 2010. That’s just for starters as he will likely develop from the #8 spot in the lineup.
gauranteed A’s,M’s, and Rangers have all improved. The Angels have not improved player wise just yet but i think they’ll improve as a team with the young talented starters on that team. The A’s wont be getting blown out next year anymore but lets be real there not doin anything maybe 75 wins. Rangers and M’s can finally compete with the Angels in 10′ but listen the Angels are very balanced and theyll have all the aspects to win when they sign their 5th starter (Jon Garland) “cough”. and lets be honest the Angels have the best coaching staff in the West, which goes a long way. To me the Rangers dont have the pitching in the long run especially with ? marks like Harden and who do they have in the pen? Rangers 85 wins. Now i will say the Mariners have improvd drastically. Bringing in the talent and the pitching, they’ve gambled very much by dumping there farm system and going after an Al West Championship. What they do not have is an RBI guy. Someone in there lineup who is reliable to get the job, the big hitter. They’ll be turning to the type of game the Angels have come a custom too. Manufacturing runs by stealing, small ball and those timely professional hits. M’s will need to win those close games (low scoring games) a lot of those with pitching and D they have. If they can win those games they have a shot to win the West. But M’s 93-95 wins.
Al West
Champs Angels 96-99 wins
Mariners 94 wins
Rangers 87 wins
Athletics 77wins
If by balanced you mean shoddy bullpen and shaky defense coupled with excellent offense and dependible starting pitching, then we’re on the same page.
nah. the angels lost about 10 WAR in the offseason. assuming Wood at 1.5 WAR and Kazmir at 2 WAR, they’re only at about 89-90 wins. 96-99 is highly, highly unlikely.
Last offseason, the same comments generated. The Angels lost a 30-40 HR bat in Teixeira, a door-slammer like K-Rod, and nearly lost Juan Rivera. People expected the Angels to win 84-88 games; I called 89 to be optimistic. You cannot base a season off of what you see on paper. That is called FANTASY BASEBALL. Doesn’t work too well in reality. Oh, and about those 2009 Angels who were supposed to be mediocre-at-best: THEY WON 97 GAMES LAST YEAR.
You know, I specifically remember one offseason long ago. We traded a beastly bat that could easily smack 35 HR for an aging pitcher who averaged an ERA in the mid-fours. What did the Angels have to gain that offseason? A minor league contract offered to a man named Clay Bellinger.
Expectations were for yet another third-place finish, around 85 wins at highest. Their “big” deadline deal was for a utility infielder and an aging backup catcher out of Milwaukee.
What offseason am I talking about? The 2001-02 offseason.
The Angels traded Mo Vaughn for Kevin Appier, which in all reality, would be like trading GMJ for Lowe nowadays. They signed Bellinger to a minor league deal, and he managed to make September callups.
Not very productive, especially with a lame-duck deadline trade. They won 99 games–and the AL Wild Card–to go along with their 11-5 postseason record and a World Series title.
Now, am I saying the Angels are a World Series-caliber team? Not at all. However, you can NEVER go off of paper to determine how a season will go.
Did anyone see Kelvim Escobar flopping again? How many of you brilliant clairvoyants saw the Angels losing one outfielder and four pitchers to the DL, another pitcher to death, and yet another outfielder to injury–all within two months? And after all that, did any of you Billy/Jack/Jon cult followers see the Angels winning 97 games?
Don’t count on predictions. They get you absolutely nowhere and often times, they are wrong.
Last offseason, the same comments generated. The Angels lost a 30-40 HR bat in Teixeira, a door-slammer like K-Rod, and nearly lost Juan Rivera. People expected the Angels to win 84-88 games; I called 89 to be optimistic. You cannot base a season off of what you see on paper. That is called FANTASY BASEBALL. Doesn’t work too well in reality. Oh, and about those 2009 Angels who were supposed to be mediocre-at-best: THEY WON 97 GAMES LAST YEAR.
You know, I specifically remember one offseason long ago. We traded a beastly bat that could easily smack 35 HR for an aging pitcher who averaged an ERA in the mid-fours. What did the Angels have to gain that offseason? A minor league contract offered to a man named Clay Bellinger.
Expectations were for yet another third-place finish, around 85 wins at highest. Their “big” deadline deal was for a utility infielder and an aging backup catcher out of Milwaukee.
What offseason am I talking about? The 2001-02 offseason.
The Angels traded Mo Vaughn for Kevin Appier, which in all reality, would be like trading GMJ for Lowe nowadays. They signed Bellinger to a minor league deal, and he managed to make September callups.
Not very productive, especially with a lame-duck deadline trade. They won 99 games–and the AL Wild Card–to go along with their 11-5 postseason record and a World Series title.
Now, am I saying the Angels are a World Series-caliber team? Not at all. However, you can NEVER go off of paper to determine how a season will go.
Did anyone see Kelvim Escobar flopping again? How many of you brilliant clairvoyants saw the Angels losing one outfielder and four pitchers to the DL, another pitcher to death, and yet another outfielder to injury–all within two months? And after all that, did any of you Billy/Jack/Jon cult followers see the Angels winning 97 games?
Don’t count on predictions. They get you absolutely nowhere and often times, they are wrong.
After the MLB-best duo of Felix&Cliff, the M’s have Ian Snell and Ryan Rowland-Smith. They arent the best but considering the M’s superb defense their are going to put up some ERAs that no one will see coming. Being the best defense in baseball is going to make sure that all their pitchers put up some flawed yet excellent ERAs. Theyre going to have crappy FIPs but it wont matter.
If you dont think ANY of the teams in this division arent capable of winning it, you are kidding yourself. Its a 4 horse race.
Amusing to say the least. “Wait so I totally missed the obvious, but work with me here …”
If you plan to comment, please at least do so after reading up (even slightly) on the team you’re commenting on. You do realize that “middle relief” is utterly vague right? With the amount of replacement level starting rotation depth available there for the M’s I’m pretty sure they aren’t worried about middle relief. Everyone under the sun knows that the offense isn’t going to hit HR left and right, but that offense isn’t nearly as bad as some people are making it out to be — and that defense is substantially improved.
Texas is much better than you’re giving them credit for … I don’t even want to write an involved response to that line of ridiculous conjecture. On paper, this is pretty darn close between the three clubs.
You guys are overlooking the Rangers they have a well balanced team.
Really??? Your gonna question the rangers pitching staff????
Harden- 9-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 2008 in an “off” season which was injury plagued.
Feldman- 17-8 with a 4.08 ERA (wasn’t in the opening day rotation.)
Hunter- 9-6 with a 4.10 ERA (wasn’t in the opening day rotation.)
Holland- a guy that is projected to be a future ace. (wasn’t in the opening day rotation.)
Feliz- a guy who in the bullpen last year posted a 1.74 ERA and will start this year. plus his fastball is clocked out anywhere from 97-102mph!
Combine that staff with this lineup:
1. Borbon
2. Young
3. Hamilton
4. Guerrero
5. Kinsler
6. Cruz
7. Davis
8. Salty
9. Andrus
Thats a SCARY team! And…i didnt even mention other possible starters in McCarthy, Harrison, etc.
You have no right to question the Rangers…
Harden Ace
Feldman pretty solid and getting better a poor mans carpentar
Hunter a innings eater #2 #3
Holland A future ace could be a very great left hander
Feliz A great fastball with a plus slider change up is average but will improve in spring training he’s going to be a #1 if not ace
Harden needs to stay healthy and with Nolan Ryan’s pusing pitchers past pitch counts he will not make it past June. Holland no future ace ,maybe a #3 starter. Feliz will be a great closer but in no way a starter. Why not get a innings eater for your #5 slot texas? Millwood will be missed.
You can’t just plug in great prospects like Feliz and say you have a dominant rotation. In time, yes he could be great. But to suppose that he’ll be great out of the gate and hold up for 30 starts is ridiculous.
You also give excuses that Harden had a “down” year w/o saying that Feldman had a “career” year.
Borbon solid not a star < Byrd
Young= Leader coming off a great year
Hamilton= cant be counted on for more than 90 healthy games
Guerrero= See Hamilton
Kinsler= Stud in the making if he stays healhty and cuts down the K's will produce
Cruz=Solid player not a star honestly see them trading him before the deadline
Davis= Garbage. Every team has a guy like this in their minors…Smoak will be there shortly
Salty/Teag=Love the potential but can't stay on the field or hit the off speed pitch
Andrus= loses mentor still a very special talent
As i stated above you can't rely on that number of pitchers on a inning count. They lost their innings eater as well as have done nothing to improve their pen (sorry Mr. Ray). Love them in 2011 when the pitchers mature, but see them being the same if not a slight step down from last year
every team has someone that hit 40 HR and 128 rbi as a 22 year old in a season spent 50% in the mlb? Or even 0% in the mlb but in at least primarily AAA? With an average over 300?
Chris Davis is being seriously overlooked. He is not going to put up a good obp but he could easily be a solid run producer.
And you can’t COUNT on hammy to play over 90 games, but at the same time he played 156 just one season ago come on.
Big ? marks all around. Hamilton can he come back? Salty is a terrible catcher. Davis is nothing special and there is no defense other than SS.
You guys are overlooking the Rangers. They have the #1 farm system also it looks like the rangers pitchers are getting lucky because of that great defense behind them.
Every team in the AL West can win over 85 games, even the A’s.
Oakland got better defensively by adding Crisp and pitching-wise by adding Ducscherer. Keep counting them out though, they only have about 12 players primed for breakout seasons in 2010. Like Suzuki, Sweeney & Barton are really going to be terrible…yeah, right :/
The Angels lost major players: Lackey, Figgins (To a Rival Team), and Vlad (To a Rival Team).
Acquired: Matsui (Fairly good DH, but he plans to play the field every few days…sigh…two weeks into the season he’ll be out for the year because of his legs), and Rodney even thought they already had a closer, but fine by me, if Rodney wants to take over it’s great news for other AL West team fans because Rodney sucks!
lolololololol
What did the rangers do that makes them better? They lost their best starter and filled it with a guy who will get hurt and can’t pitch past the 6th inning. I would trather have Byrd over Vlad. The M’s would be the favorites for the division with the Angels a tad behind. Rangers and A’s fight it out over 80 wins.
What pitcher do they have after Felix Hernandez?
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@ bryanharveysmoustache. You do know the mariners got Cliff Lee right?
who have the mariners lost? adrian beltre who cant hit at safeco and brandon morrow who cant save a game when the m’s are up by 3. looks like some big losses there…. m’s are the favorite to win the al west then the angels, rangers are close behind. the a’s just suck. good young talent though
I think everyone here can agree (unless you are a super fanatical homer) that its gonna be a good year with the M’s, Rangers and Angels battling for the division.
Every team has question marks.. Who’s gonna step up? Who’s gonna have a good year or bad year? If *Insert name here* can stay healthy “we” have a good line-up/rotation/bullpen. Lets play 162 and we’ll see the standings in the end. That said, as an Angel fan I hope we win, but as a baseball fan, the West will be fun to watch. Good luck to everyone’s team
Few, I was getting worried there for a second. A non-ignorant Angels fan (read some of the other idiotic posts) ! I think any team can win (Though the A’s are pretty unlikely).
I’m just glad we got Nick Gorneault back.
Honestly though, as an Angels fan, I am not worried by the moves made by the Mariners. If losing Figgins was going to hurt the Angels, I don’t think the front office would have let him go so easily. In addition, I predict Cliff Lee will get the Mariners as far as Johan Santana has led the Mets. One pitcher, no matter how good, and a singles hitter destined to regress do not turn a losing team in a contender.
Sure the M’s lack power, but you have to remember they’ve got one of the best defenses in the MLB. Even last year they were considered a top defensive team and now they’ve improved.
The addition of Jack Wilson (though it happened last year), Casey Kotchman, and Chone Figgins (makes up for losing Beltre) now give the M’s an incredible defense. To me the addition of Jack Wilson needs to be factored into the improvements, since he was added so late in the season last year.
Sure the M’s lack power, but you have to remember they’ve got one of the best defenses in the MLB. Even last year they were considered a top defensive team and now they’ve improved.
The addition of Jack Wilson (though it happened last year), Casey Kotchman, and Chone Figgins (makes up for losing Beltre) now give the M’s an incredible defense. To me the addition of Jack Wilson needs to be factored into the improvements, since he was added so late in the season last year.
I just hope that a competitive AL West means that we send two teams to the playoffs and the AL East sends only one.
Agreed lol