A Look at the Division - AL WEST

Starring the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Texas Rangers. Here, I make my first round of predictions that involve a DH. Offseason acquisitions are in italics.

Texas Rangers
Pos_Name__2006 Batting Line__Opening Day Age
2 - Laird (.296/.332/.473), 27
3 - Texiera (.282/.371/.514), 26
4 - Kinsler (.286/.347/.454), 24
5 - Blalock (.266/.325/.401), 26
6 - Young (.314/.356/.459), 30
7 - Wilkerson (.222/.306/.422), 29
8 - Lofton (.301/.360/.403), 39
9 - Cruz (.223/.261/.385), 26 or Sosa (.274/.345/.537 career), 38
DH - Catalonoto (.300/.376/.439), 32

Rotation
Milwood (R, 16-12, 4.52, Age: 32)
Padilla (R, 15-10, 4.50, Age: 29)
McCarthy (R, 4-7, 4.68, Age: 23)
Tejada (R, 5-5, 4.28, Age: 25)
Koronka (L, 7-7, 5.69, Age: 26)

Closer: Eric Gagne

Anaheim Angels
2 - Napoli (.228/.360/.455), 25
3 - undecided
4 - Kendrick (.285/.314/.416), 23
5 - Figgins (.267/.336/.376), 29
6 - Cabrera (.282/.335/.404), 32
7 - Anderson (.280/.323/.433), 34
8 - Matthews (.313/.371/.495), 32
9 - Guerrero (.329/.382/.552), 31
DH - Hillenbrand (.277/.313/.451), 31

Rotation
Lackey (R, 13-11 3.56, Age:28)
Escobar (R, 11-14, 3.61, Age: 30)
Santana (R, 16-8, 4.28, Age: 24)
Weaver (R, 11-2, 2.56, Age: 24)
Colon (R, 1-5, 5.11, Age: 33) or Sanders (L, 7-3 4.71, Age: 25)

Closer: Francisco Rodriguez

Seattle Mariners

2 - Johjima (.291/.332/.451), 30
3 - Sexson (.264/.338/. 504), 32
4 - Lopez (.282/.319/.405), 23
5 - Beltre (.268/.328/.465), 27
6 - Betancourt ( .289/.310/.403), 25
7 - Ibanez (.289/.353/.516), 34
8 - Ichiro (.322/.370/.416), 33
9 - Guillen (.216/.276/.398), 30
DH - Vidro (.289/.348/.395), 32

Rotation
Hernandez (R, 12-14, 4.52, age: 20)
Washburn (L, 8-14, 4.67, age:32)
Ramirez (L, 5-5, 4.48, age:27)
Batista (R, 11-8, 4.58, age 36)
Weaver (R, 8-14, 5.76, age: 30)

Closer: JJ Putz

Oakland Athletics

2 - Jason Kendall (.295/.367/.342), 32
3 - Dan Johnson (.234/.323/.381), 27
4 - Mark Ellis (.249/.319/.385), 29
5 - Eric Chavez (.241/.351/.435), 29
6 - Bobby Crosby (.229/.298/.338), 27
7 - Nick Swisher (.254/.372/.493), 26
8 - Mark Kotsay (.275/.332/.386), 31
9 - Milton Bradley (.276/.370/.447), 27

Rotation
Harden (R, 4-0 4.24, age 25)
Haren (R, 14-13 4.12, age 26)
Loaiza (R, 11-9 4.89, age 35)
Blanton (R, 16-12, 4.82, age 26)
Kennedy (L, 4-1, 2.31, age 27)

Closer: Huston Street

Analysis

This is a mixed bag as far as divisions go. The Angels have a great pitching staff, but their offense, apart from Vlad, is mediocre to miserable. The A's have a subpar offense, decent defense, and a good pitching staff. The Mariners have a better offense, as Guillen will be an upgrade from the black hole that was centerfield last year. Their pitching staff should be slightly better, as King Felix is a year older and Jeff Weaver might start getting lucky again with balls in play. The Rangers have added Gagne, who will be great unless he blows his arm out again, Kenny Lofton, Frank Catalonotto, and Sammy Sosa. Catalonotto will be the most useful of the new Rangers, and unless Sosa hits at least 30 bombs, the Rangers will break the streak of Schowalter blessings of World Series wins.

Predicted Standings

4) Texas Rangers (-18 games)
3) Seattle Mariners (-11 games)
2) Oakland A's (-10 games)
1) Anaheim Angels