Climbing the Ladder with the American League West

Angels look to repeat in 2008

2007 Recap

In recent years, the American League West has been known for being one of baseballs more competitive divisions. It’s really too bad the majority of the country’s baseball fans are asleep when they play their games because there is some good baseball coming out of this division. For the first time since 2001, the American League West had its divisional winner locked up in late August when the Angels swept the Mariners in a three game series at Safeco Field. Despite their efforts to win on the cheap, injuries and overall disappointing performances by many players were to blame for the absence of Oakland’s late season push for the playoffs. The Texas Rangers simply started the season off poorly and never recovered, conceding the season at the trading deadline with the dealings of Kenny Lofton, Mark Teixeira and Eric Gagne. The Angel’s were eventually swept in the first round of the divisional series by the Boston Red Sox, and the rest was history.

2008 Season

The 2008 season is looking to shape up a lot like the 2007 one did. I predict the Angles taking the division, but not without somewhat of a fight from Seattle and its newly revamped pitching staff. Texas figures to finish in third simply by default due to the fire sale that has been taking place in Oakland.

2008 Team Previews

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Projected 1 ^st place AL West; 88-74 record

The Angels are looking to be the winner of a weak two team race in the American League West in 2008. Of the three divisional winners in the American League, the Angels will likely be the worst. The team’s focus in the off season should not have been to build a team who can win the west, but rather to build a team who can compete with the American League’s best. The Angels took a step in the right direction by acquiring starting pitcher Jon Garland and outfielder Torii Hunter. Hunter, who could be considered the best of the 2007-2008 free agent class, will provide the Angels with some much needed power, while Garland will eat up a good number of innings without hurting the team. The pitching staff was strong in 2007 and may experience somewhat of a drop off in 2008. The addition of Garland helps the staff, but it isn’t realistic that Lackey and Escobar will repeat or improve upon the numbers they posted in 2007. Ervin Santana’s home/road splits (3.14 career home ERA, 7.14 road ERA) still remain a mystery, and it is expected that he will have a better season, similar to the ones he had in 2005 and 2006.

Seattle Mariners

Projected 2 ^nd place AL West; 86-76

The Seattle Mariners look to be a solid lock for second place in the American League West. The addition of Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva will help improve upon Seattle’s greatest weakness: starting pitching. The outings of Jeff Weaver (6.20 ERA) and Horacio Ramirez (7.12 ERA) last year were simply awful and replacing them with Bedard and Silva will make them a much better team. Seattle is still a long way from competing in any American League playoff scenario and will remain that way as long as Richie Sexson and Jose Vidro continue to under perform at positions where most teams draw strength from. In order for Seattle to win they need solid performances from its starting pitching and bullpen. An injury to Putz, Bedard or Hernandez could prove to be disastrous to the Mariners and would likely result in a finish in the bottom of the standings. Seattle has a good group of talented young players, but many are being blocked by veterans. If the Mariners struggle in April you may see a shake up in the line up to see if any of these kids can play. Seattle will need to make offensive improvements with a similar magnitude to the ones they made to their pitching staff if they ever hope to compete in the American League.

Texas Rangers

Projected 3 ^rd place AL West; 80-82

After trading Mark Teixeira, Kenny Lofton and Eric Gagne for nine prospects, the Texas Rangers played .500 baseball for the remainder of the season. This year may not be “the year” for the Rangers, but the future looks bright. The team is beginning to shape itself into a great mix of young talent and experienced veterans. The Rangers have a strong farm system, low payroll, and are finally done supplementing the payment of A-rod’s contract by the New York Yankees. Although this team will score runs in 2008, its pitching remains a huge weakness and will keep the team from winning. The Rangers should be poised to either trade for, or sign significant pitching talent when the time comes. 2008 looks to be the year of the youngsters for Texas as they begin to give some of those talented prospects playing time and allow them to gain experience on the field. Not much can be expected from Texas in 2008 but then again….there’s always next year.

Oakland Athletics

Projected 4 ^th place AL West; 70-92

The cycle of winning and losing with the Oakland Athletics seems to be continually changing. There are times when the team is good (9 World Championships) and there are times when they are bad (28 seasons with a winning percentage below .400). 2008 looks to be one of those bad years for the Oakland Athletics. Rebuilding has begun and Billy Beane is doing what he does best: bring in young talent. For the first time in the last decade, the farm system has failed to produce a team competitive enough to compete with its American League rivals. The A’s line-up looks to be ridden with black holes in 2008 and until the talent acquired in the off season matures, it will remain so. The road to recovery may be long and hard for the Oakland A’s and it seems that it will get worse before it gets better. A’s fans can expect to see Huston Street, Joe Blanton and Mark Ellis shipped out to contenders before the trade deadline. The one bright spot in all of this is that A’s fans will get to see another team improve and grow to compete by the 2011 opening of Cisco Field.