My Big Fat Baseball Preview - AL West

Two divisions today, lots of baseball to talk about, so let's get right into it, except for this one quick comment. Am I the only one who's already bored with the NCAA tournament? I feel like this happens every year. The first weekend is always the best weekend. There's just so many games and upsets and schools you've never heard of before. This week I didn't even look in on the tournament until The Office and 30 Rock were over. I don't have a solution or a suggestion here, it's just the way it is. OK, let's talk about my new favorite baseball division.

Seattle Mariners
The Oklahoma City Thunder look like the early years of the Jordan Bulls right now, as in, not this year, but wait a couple of years and look out. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are just awful, they weren't the worst team in the NFL this year, but they sure looked like it whenever I saw them. The people of Seattle clearly deserve better, and like a knight in shining armor, here come the Mariners.

Off-season: Lee, Figgins, Bradley, Kotchman, Garko, re-signing King Felix. If you read my hot stove blogs, you already know how I feel about Seattle's excellent winter exploits. If you didn't, what are you waiting for?

Line-up: As much as I like this team, this line-up is still missing power. Having said that, Ichiro and Figgins give them so much speed and OBP at the top, I don't think they'll need a ton of power. Jose Lopez is an underrated and still pretty young guy and Milton Bradley can hit for as long as he can stay sane and healthy. This team will score just enough.

Pitching: When I say score just enough, that's with the understanding that they won't need much. King Felix and Cliff Lee could easily be the best one-two punch around. If and when Erik Bedard gets back, this won't be a team any line-up looks forward to facing. I like Ian Snell too. David Aardsma is a solid closer and has the most fun name in baseball (try it, Aaaarrrrrrdsma! I told you it would be fun). Lots of close wins for this team.

Final Thought: AAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRDSMA!

Prediction: First place, probably not enough offense to get past the first round of the playoffs. But let me tell you something. If the Yankees get the Mariners in round one, and all three of Seattle's top starters are healthy and pitching well, I will be terrified. Terrified!

Los Angeles Angels
I've never liked this team. They gave us rally monkeys and thunder sticks. They ruined Barry Bonds' best shot at a title. They've changed their name 7 or 8 times. It seems like they always beat the Yankees. So I was all ready, and frankly a little excited, to pick this team for third or fourth place and a down year. Then I looked at their roster and it actually looks pretty good. Stupid reality, always ruining my fun.

Off-season: The Angels lost their ace and their lead-off hitter, and didn't really replace either of them. I do like Joel Pinero for them, Fernando Rodney too. I'm not so sure about the Matsui signing. Matsui's games played for the last five seasons go like this: 162, 51, 143, 93 and 142. For what it's worth, that pattern doesn't bode well for 2010. Overall, this winter was a minus for the Angels, but not as bad as I thought.

Line-up: The Angels can hit. I really like Brandon Wood, and Howie Kendrick can win a batting title someday if he ever plays a full season. You want a big bat? How about Kendry Morales? (.304, 34 HR, 108 RBI last year) On opening day, this team has a great line-up. Here's my concern. Between old guys and brittle guys, I count six opening day starters who are just as likely to miss huge chunks of the season as they are to play a full healthy one. If they lose two or three of those guys, this offense goes from excellent to ordinary.

Pitching: The Scott Kazmir trade last summer was interesting, I'm not sure what the Rays were thinking there, but I know I like what the Angels got. I like Pinero and I like Ervin Santana if he stays healthy. As a Yankee fan, I can't bring myself to trust anyone named Weaver, but this rotation should still be pretty solid. The bullpen is a little more iffy. I said I like Fernando Rodney, but he has trouble staying healthy too. Brian Fuentes saved 48 games last year, but he also blew 7 saves and pitched to a 3.93 ERA, not very impressive. I see the Angels losing a lot of games late.

Final Thought: I'm really not sure how this team let John Lackey get away. I've never liked him as an ace, but a team needs an ace, and Lackey was the Angels' ace. I look at this team now, and I see a bunch of pitchers that don't scare anyone.

Prediction: Second place. They could win the division if they stay healthy, but the lack of an ace would kill them in the playoffs.

Texas Rangers
I'd be willing to sell Texas to Mexico for, literally, any price. It is both our hottest and our stupidest state. I don't know if either of those opinions are actually backed up by anything, but in true Texas fashion, I'm just saying whatever seems like it might be true. Dear Texas, I'll stop calling you stupid when you stop screwing up everyone's text books. Love, Sean.

Off-season: This is another team whose off-season I've already talked about quite a bit. To recap, Rich Harden and Vlad Guerrero are two more guys who may or may not be standing by June. I'm willing to buy the possibility of a big year from one of them, but not both. Of course, I didn't get to say what I think about the Ron Washington cocaine story. As usual, I think that I don't understand why I'm supposed to care.

Line-up: Lots to like in this line-up, other than Chris Davis' awful .238 batting average and .284 OBP last year. This team has speed (Andrus, Borbon), guys who can hit for high averages (Young, Hamilton, Guerrero) and plenty of power (Cruz, Hamilton, Kinsler, Davis when he's not striking out). Keep an eye out for Justin Smoak at first base, but even if they keep Chris Davis there all year and he strikes out 400 times, this team should score a ton of runs.

Pitching: Texas is stacked with good young arms. If they all deliver, Texas can win the division. You know how I feel about counting on young guys though, plus Harden has looked pretty pedestrian this spring. I hardly ever put any stock in spring numbers, but if I'm Texas, I would have wanted to see something from Harden that tells me he's ready to be healthy and effective. I like the Texas bullpen. Frank Francisco is a solid closer with a cool name and he's got a good group of set-up guys. Lots of upside here, but pitching in Texas tends to wear down over the summer, and I'm predicting that again until I see something different.

Final Thought: I know I said I didn't care about Ron Washington's cocaine story, and I don't, except to say this. Don't you think Josh Hamilton's team, of all teams, would want to keep drugs as far away from their team as possible?

Prediction: Third place. Like I said, lots of upside here with a team that can definitely score. The playoffs aren't out of the question, I just think Texas isn't the best bet, not this year anyway.

Oakland Athletics
Have you ever noticed the elephant on the A's uniforms? Apparently, this goes back over 100 years to John McGraw suggesting the A's franchise was a white elephant. I can't decide if trash talking sucked in the past, or if it was awesome.

Off-season: The A's popped up out of almost nowhere to sign Ben Sheets. They also added Coco Crisp and Kevin Kouzmanoff. Typical quiet winter for Oakland. I'm interested to see what happens if Crisp plays a full, healthy season. Of course, Coco's already dealing with injuries in spring training, so I don't think I'll get my wish.

Line-up: I don't see a lot to like here. I'm trying to figure out who their best hitter is supposed to be. Jack Cust hit 25 HR's last year, but he also hit .240. Ryan Sweeney and Rajaj Davis hit for the highest averages on the team last year, but, combined, they had 9 HR's and 101 RBI in 874 at-bats. Kurt Suzuki looks like the best all around guy, .274, 15 HR, 88 RBI. Yikes. Take the under on A's games, is what I'm saying.

Pitching: If Ben Sheets has a healthy year, he can still be an ace. I'm less sold on Justin Duchscherer's ability to return to his 2008 form, but you never know. Like Texas, this team has some promising young arms that could produce. Unlike Texas, it doesn't look like Oakland's young arms will find a whole lot of run support behind them. Andrew Bailey is a strong closer, but they probably won't have a lot of leads for him to protect.

Final Thought: This team has moved west twice in its long history. I think it's time for a third move. Goodbye California, hello Hawaii A's.

Prediction: Last place. Just not enough offense. The A's jump up and surprise us every few years, and they were pretty competitive after the all-star break last year, so you never know. I just don't see it.