AL West Preview

LOS ANGELES ANGELS OF ANAHEIM – It’s never a good thing for a team when they lose more big name and elite players than they bring in.

Unfortunately for the Angels – who won 100 games last year – that’s exactly what happened.

They’re still the best team in the division, but that isn’t saying much. After losing Mark Teixeira to the Yankees and Francisco Rodriguez to the Mets, two faces of last season’s successful run are gone.

The team did bring in two pieces to fill their missing holes – they signed former Yankee Bobby Abreu, who will add pop (and a much needed high on-base percentage) to the middle of their lineup, and former Rockies closer Brian Fuentes to take the place of Rodriguez.

Abreu will definitely help, especially if Vladimir Guerrero returns to his former self and puts up good numbers in a contract year. Fuentes may seem like a less fit replacement, but the strength of the Angels’ bullpen – their middle relief – is still intact, as Scot Shields, Darren Oliver and Jose Arredondo (all of whom had great years last year) are still around.

The Angels have the most talent in the division, so they should be able to win the AL West yet again. However, for anyone who thinks they’ll match last season’s production, brace yourself for a letdown.

TEXAS RANGERS – For several years now, the Rangers have fallen far shy of the playoffs. To expect anything different in 2009 would be asking a lot. It would be asking something that the team can’t deliver… yet.

The Rangers spent this past off-season further loading up their farm system (which ranks among the top two or three in all of baseball) for a playoff run in the near future. Unless the Angels falter or the Rangers reach the next level in Rays-like speed, they won’t win the AL West this year.

That’s not to say that the Rangers will be terrible this season. Last year, they scored the most runs in the league but also gave up the most. They didn’t do anything about that dreadful pitching for 2009 (they landed a bunch of quality arms for seasons as soon as next year), but that offense should definitely be able to propel the team to a few wins.

Anchored by Josh Hamilton, who propelled himself into baseball’s elite offensive players last year, as well as Chris Davis (who was tremendously effective in half a season last year (.285 average, 17 HR, 55 RBI), the Rangers are a good bet to lead the league in offense again this year.

If only their pitching was up to par, they would be an intimidating team for anyone to face.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS – Last year, Oakland GM Billy Beane continued his recent trend of trading star pitchers to overhaul several years down the road. After perfecting the process by trading Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson following the 2004 season, Beane followed in his own footsteps by dealing Rich Harden (Cubs) and Joe Blanton (Phillies) last year. These trades left the A’s depleted last season and left them with very few talented players on their major league roster.

This off-season, the A’s further depleted their pitching staff by trading away closer Huston Street. However, instead of getting minor league arms, they got back Matt Holliday from the Rockies. Holliday is one of the league’s premier young hitters, having hit .329 with 95 HR and 339 RBI over the last three years. His numbers were obviously aided by Colorado’s thin air, but Holliday has hit at least 10 HRs on the road in each of those years, and has hit at least .300 on the road for the past two.

The A’s also picked up Jason Giambi to give Holliday some protection in the lineup. This will be a return trip to Oakland for Giambi, as he helped lead the A’s to the playoffs prior to signing with the Yankees. Though he is no longer great by any standard, he should help provide some power to the middle of their lineup.

Never doubt Billy Beane. However, looking at his roster (and more specifically, his pitching) in 2009, it seems hard to imagine anything better than a second place finish.

SEATTLE MARINERS – After years of being uncompetitive, it seems as though the Mariners changed their tune this off-season.

How’d they do that? They brought back Ken Griffey Jr.

Griffey’s no longer an elite player, and even calling him an above average player could be a stretch. However, his return to Seattle in the twilight of his career is an excellent publicity move for both the team and Griffey (who can safely retire a Mariner now and, if and when he’s elected to the Hall of Fame, rightfully be inducted in a Seattle uniform).

Bringing back Griffey wasn’t a move made to really improve the team as much as bring fans out to the games. Sure, the team has talent – most notably Ichiro and Felix Hernandez – but for them to compete in the AL West, they’re going to need far more pieces to come together on their puzzle.