The AL West might have experienced the most upheaval of any division in this past offseason. The biggest moves, of course, were the trades of Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder out of Oakland. Seattle welcomes big boppers Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, the California Angels (don't get me started on their name) lose Troy Glaus and Jose Guillen, and Texas pretty much stands pat. Who knows what all of this means? I'll give it a shot:
4. Texas - sorry, I don't care how good the infield is - and it's the best, at least offensively, in baseball. There's no pitching here, still. Could someone explain that to Tom Hicks? I love the bats here: Teixeira, Michael Young, Soriano and Blalock are an awesome combination, and if Texas is smart, they'll keep them all for years and beat the crap out of the ball for a long, long time. Richard Hidalgo, Laynce Nix and Kevin Mench form a nice outfield to complement the infielders. It's a great lineup. But egads, they're still starting Chan Ho Park in Arlington! Kenny Rogers, Ryan Drese, Pedro Astacio - give me a break. Texas' continual failure to either sign or groom young throwers (Chris Young aside, who should begin the year in the rotation - but he's not a top prospect leaguewide) is one of the great crimes in baseball in the last decade. I like Francisco Cordero as closer, and don't know much about the rest of the bullpen. Texas will lose a lot of 11-10 games, they'll be fun to watch and yet they'll be excruciating - because one or two arms down there turns this sub-.500 team into a Series contender.
3. Oakland - Where in "Moneyball" does Billy Beane discuss the sensibilities of trading away two All-Star and possible Hall-of-Fame starters in the same offseason for unproven replacements? I don't remember that section either. Now the Big Three is down to the Big One (Barry Zito), the Big Maybe (Rich Harden), and the Big Gambles (Joe Blanton, Dan Meyer and Dan Haren). Harden was supposed to be the #4 to Zito-Hudson-Mulder, and now he's got to step it up if the A's will have a chance. Blanton is homegrown, but is he ready? His ERA at Triple-A last year was 4.19. Meyer comes from Atlanta in the Hudson deal, and Haren from St. Louis for Mulder, and both will get their chances in 2005. If Beane is right, Oakland may quickly rise again to the top with its rotation in 2006 and beyond - but not this year. Oh, they added Jason Kendall, and Eric Chavez, Erubiel Durazo, and Bobby Crosby are still here. But do you care? This team's sitting out in October, watching at least one of its former studs pitch on national TV.
2. Seattle - the more I thought about the M's, the more I convinced myself that they'll leapfrog Oakland in 2005. I think they overpaid for both Beltre and Sexson, but there's no denying the boost they'll provide in the middle of this lineup. Seattle needs it, too, as Bret Boone returns to his sober form as a more annoying, less likable version of his non-roided brother Aaron. With Ichiro and a solid Randy Winn in the outfield, plus CF Jeremy Reed and C Miguel Olivo (both stolen from the White Sox in the Freddy Garcia deal), and overrated but able Raul Ibanez, maybe this team can score a little, even in pitcher-friendly Safeco Field? Ryan Franklin, Bobby Madritsch and Joel Pineiro are the keys to this team - they're supposed to be good young pitchers, and they're waiting up in Seattle for these guys to break out. Jamie Moyer will have to retire one day, so if one or two of this group doesn't step up, Seattle won't challenge Anaheim for a long time. If enough goes right for the Mariners with their rotation, and Anaheim doesn't live up to its billing, maybe they can stay competitive into September. But don't bet on it.
1. Anaheim - they're still Anaheim to me, and they still should scare the shit out of you. This team is awfully good! Not many teams could lose two 30-homer hitters (Glaus and Guillen) and not bat an eye. But we've got Vlad Guerrero, Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad, and new arrivals Orlando Cabrera and Steve Finley here, and putative rookie superstud Dallas McPherson replacing Glaus at third. Chone Figgins sets the table, and these other guys start knocking the ball all over and out of the park, and you've got a lot of runs. As for the pitching staff, the numbers don't do this team justice: Bartolo Colon, Kelvim Escobar, Jarrod Washburn, Paul Byrd and John Lackey ought to make Manager Mike Scoscia very comfortable when he goes to sleep at night. Losing Troy Percival won't hurt much - Felix "K-Rod" Rodriguez should be able to close, and Scot Shields and Brendan Donnelly form an excellent set-up pair for him. Gotta love the Halos, and don't listen to all the hype out of the East - this team could very easily kick the crap out of anyone in a seven-game series. They're going to the postseason.
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4 comments:
I agree your ranking of the AL West teams. However, I, as an Easterner, disagree with your last sentence relating to the Angels. We're not scared of them. Remember, the Angels are trotting out the exact same pitching staff that gave up 9, 8 and 8 runs to the Boston Red Sox in their 3 game humiliation in the ALDS.
Will the Angels likely win the AL West? Yes. Are they as good as the Yanks and BoSox? Not likely when you look at that little thing called pitching staffs.
I thought Mike Scoscia sleeps comfortably because of the huge piles of money and many playmates that all can be found in his bed.
Going on on a limb here but I say Oakland finishes 4rth. Bush will rule that since you can't mess with Texas then by definition they can't finish last.
Just a post-script to my earlier comment...
This supposedly solid pitching staff, the one that will allow Fatty Scioscia to sleep well at night, got absolutely clobbered in the ALDS last year. Not only did they lose 3 games in a row, they had an 8.13 ERA, a 1.98 WHIP and a .302 BAA. They allowed the Sox a team OBP of .403 and had a team OPS of .860. That's pretty impressive.
Although there are some talented pitchers on that team (K-Rod, maybe Colon too), the more I think about it, the more I just can't see the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim being a serious player in the post-season. This cast of pitchers just doesn't impress me in the least.
A sober Bret Boone will do wonders for the clubhouse morale in Seattle, Ichiro used to be scared of getting beat up.
I think that Hart is taking some unnecessary flak for the Angels though. The Angels can certainly compete against the superpowers of the Red Sox & the Yankees. It's all contingent on Colon not gaining any more weight. Also, the A's are in store for a complete rebuilding year, and will be dead last.
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