Out west is where the real battle will be. Last year, the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim went down to the last week before the Rangers ended up winning on the way to their second straight World Series. Expect that to happen again, only with BOTH teams having much better records. This time though, I have a hunch it will be the other way around.
1. LA Angels. For two reasons, I think there will be a shift of power in the AL west: Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. The Angels had a pretty decent lineup before, but the arrival of the best hitter and slugger in the game today will pay off, like the pay increase Pujols got.
With Albert hitting 3rd or 4th in a luneup that also includes the return of DH Kendrys Morales, Tori Hunter and Vernon Wells, they will score a lot of runs. Peter Bourjos is great defensively and is underrated with the bat and with his legs. Chris Ianetta comes over from Colorado and can swing a big bat from the catcher spot. Maicer Isturis and Erick Aybar are good defensively and underrated as hitters. The only weak spot is at third, where Alberto Callaspo won't hit for a lot of power, but should have a decent average.
The rotation is one of the AL's best with Jared Weaver and Dan Haren especially strong at the 1 and 2 spots. Ervin Santana is an innings eater and is fairly solid, while C.J. Wilson takes away from the Rangers rotation and adds a solid southpaw to the Angels rotation. Relief pitching could be the achilles heel though, as Jordan Walden will have to improve on his blown save rate and the middle men are average at best.
2. Texas Rangers. The Rangers might have better hitting from top to bottom, but I think there starting staff is a notch below LA's. Mike Napoli had a breakout year behind the plate. Mitch Moreland is underrated at first. Elvis Andrus is one of the best shortstops in the game that no one really knows about. Great glove and speed and is improving at the plate with his discipline. Adrien Beltre is an all-star at third. Michael Young is on the downside of his career but still capable of hitting .300 with 15 homers as the DH. The outfield of Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and David Murphy will be one of the league's best.
The totation took a hit losing C.J. Wilson and it remains to be seen if Matt Harrison will be able to pick up the slack. Colby Lewis is good, but not as good as the top tier of other staff aces. Derek Holland had a good year last year but is unproven long term. Japanese import Yu Darvish is critical. If he lives up to his billing, the Rangers will be really tough. If he does a Dice-K, there could be problems. The Rangers do have a luxury of great middle reliavers with last years all star Alexei Ogando being moved to the long role. Neftali Feliz, a flamethrowing closer the last couple years, moves into the 5th starter role, and Joe Nathan comes over to close games. If he has anything left, that will help. If he flames out, look for Feliz to go back to closing, or perhaps Ogando.
3. Seattle Mariners. Youth, inexperience and potential. This team has a lot of all three. justin Smoak and Dustin Ackley on the left side of the infield and Brendan Ryan and Kyle Seager on the right. Says it all huh? Pretty much all rookies with a lot of potential. If they realize it, the M's will play .500 ball. If not, or any of them have to be sent down, this club could finish 4th. Ichiro is still here and can still hit and run, but the wheels seem to have begun to come off on what is obviously the latter days of his great career. Mike Carp and Michael Saunders are young and have a lot of potential. Chone Figgins was terrible last year, and has to get better moving to the outfield. A big key will be if former Yankee stud prospect Jesus Montero can provide 30+ homer output from the DH spot.
As for pitching, Felix Hernandez is one of the best in the game, and Jason Vargas is solid although hittable at times. Other than that, the rotation is a crapshoot, although I do like youngster Blake Beavan. Hector Noesi moves into the rotation but is a huge question mark, and as of now, retread Kevin Millwood is holding down the 5 spot.....yikes! Brandon League has nasty stuff as their closer, but the rest of the bullpen is comprised of guys you nor I have ever even heard of.
4. Oakland A's. Very similar to Seattle in pitching especially. Brandon McCarthy is a very underrated ace, ready to have a breakout year, and Bartolo Colon showed he is not done yet last year. After that, it's another crapshoot, just like Seattle with young arms who have yet to prove themselves. Grant Balfour finally gets his first opportunity to close games since he was a Rochester Red Wing years ago. The rest of the relief staff like Joey Devine and Brian Fuentes isn't terrible.
The A's will be better offensively if Cuban import Yoenis Cespedes is as good as scouts say he is. Josh Reddick comes over from Boston and will start in right. He has a lot of potential and could hit .280 with 25-30 homers. Coco Crisp isn't bad in left, but has not shown he can stay healthy for long. Jamile Weeks and Cliff Pennington are very good young middle infielders, Brandon Allen is a big question mark at first, as is Josh Donaldson at third. Kurt Suzuki is one of the better catchers in teh AL. It will be tough though for this team to consistently score runs.
We may have to wait until next week for the National League forecaast, as I have a very busy weekend.
