Season Preview - AL West

Every Wednesday The Sandwich Shoppe will take a look at a different division in MLB and by the time the season starts in April we should be about half way there...makes it much easier on predicting the future.

American League West

The AL West always seems to get overlooked. There is usually one team that is predicted to run away with the division while the other three rebuild. That is no different this year. The Los Angeles Angels are clearly the most talented team in the division and maybe in the whole American League, but the A's, Mariners and Rangers have been making progress, developing prospects and might surprise some teams.

1. LA Angels of Anaheim

As mentioned the dominant team of the division. Look for them to get close to the 100 win mark by beating up on the teams in their own division. They have a solid starting rotation, especially the top 3 with Lackey, Santana and Saunders. The 4 and 5 starters either have some miles on their arm (Weaver) or a starter with no miles (Mosley or Adenhart). Expect Lackey to come close to the 20 win barrier if not break it. In the bullpen they probably had the most significant loss of any team with K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez) going in free agency to the Mets. Brian Fuentes will have a tough time replacing him, but they will get him a lot of work and he'll be able to settle into the role nicely. Unheralded bullpen savior Scott Shields will probably see his role expanded and become a household name as the Angels rack up the wins and Shields heads to the All-Star game.

As for the line-up, it will be potent and opposing pitchers will fear going through these hitters two, three and four times a game. The strength will be in the outfield, where there is an abundance of talent, which probably means the Angels will have to move one of them before the season starts. Patrolling the grass in the outfield will be Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero. With Gary Matthews Jr., Juan Riviera and yougster Reggie Willits as back-ups they could field two teams. The infield is solid, although not spectacular. They will have a difficult time replacing the power at first base with the loss of Mark Texiera, but the Angels are hoping that Kendry Morales, another youngster can put up some numbers. He will have enough protection from those Angels in the Outfield (sorry).

2. Oakland Athletics

Full disclosure - when not cheering for the Blue Jays, I do cheer for the A's.

No one can quite figure out the Oakland A's. Is Billy Beane trying to produce a winner this year? Is he stockpiling talent with expiring contracts to trade for more prospects? No one can figure this man out.

The A's go into the season with questions in the starting rotation, but the rest of the team around them will be very solid. Bringing back Oakland folk hero and steroid poster boy Jason Giambi to play first and DH, along with recent additions Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra will solidify the infield that already boasts Kaz Suzuki, Eric Chavez and former rookie of the year Bobby Crosby. Moving to the bench will be Daric Barton and Jack Cust, who will also see some time at DH. In the outfield, the A's will be led by Matt Holliday, who arrives from Colorado during an off-season trade. Holliday will play out the final season of his contract in Oakland and how long he stays in green will depend on how close the A's are to the playoffs in July/August. Joining Holliday will be Ryan Sweeney and Travis Buck. If one of these two guys fail to produce look for Cust or prospect Aaron Cunningham to get a look from second year Manager Bob Geren.

The pitching staff, especially the starting rotation is young and inexperienced. Most die-hard fans won't even recognize 4 of the 5 starters. Justin Duchscherer will be the ace of the staff, but he is coming off some injury trouble and might not make as many starts as the A's need. The bullpen will keep Oakland in the playoff hunt. With the closer role being shared by Brad Ziegler and Joey Devine and the long relief being held down by veteran Russ Springer they will get alot of work this summer.

If they are in the running come August for one of the four playoff spots, GM Billy Beane could be looking to acquire the final pieces for a playoff push, if he can get other teams to trade with him.

3. Texas Rangers

Every winter the Rangers spend money on big name free agents and every summer they end up falling on their rears. This winter was no different. The Rangers signed reclamation project Andruw Jones to try and help them to the promised land.

The Rangers offence will provide lots of run support to the pitching staff. If they struggle or go through any droughts it could be difficult for the Rangers to get wins. In the outfield will be all-star Josh Hamilton. Hamilton coming off his Cinderella season, hitting .304 with 32 HRs and 130 RBIs and a monster of an all-star game home run derby performance, will be the key. Pitchers will try and go around him so he needs protection Michael Young, who is moving to third base and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The reason for Young moving to third is rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus who has never played above Double-A, but seems to have believers. Just as insurance the Rangers have Frank Catalanotto and Hank Blalock on the bench.

All this offence and a pitching staff that is on the verge of being a top staff. Led by Kevin Millwood and Vincet Padilla, the top two will pull the other 3 along. The bullpen is led by Brendan Donnelly who was a stand-out with the Angels a couple of years ago and was solid last year, his first as a Ranger. The closer role goes to Frank Francisco who only had 10 saves last year but is developing quite nicely into a top tier closer.

4. Seattle Mariners

The Mariners made one huge splash this winter by signing Ken Griffey Jr. who broke into the big leagues with Seattle in 1989. Other than that, they made many smaller moves that will help transform the 101 loss team from a year ago into a respectable big league team again. They are building some interesting pieces - a young talented pitching staff, lots of speed, but not alot of power to light up SafeCo Field.

The pitching staff of the Mariners will carry them through the season. "King Felix" will continue his development into one of the elite starters in the American League and will be one of the only untouchables as the Mariners continue to tinker with their roster. The rest of the rotation looks great on paper with Erik Bedard, Carlos Silva and Jarrod Washburn, but if they aren't getting run support, their records might not look good on paper. The bullpen will be a bigger question mark. With no outright closer to end games, the job will fall on the shoulders of Mark Lowe and David Aardsma.

The offence will have trouble producing runs. A huge lack of power in the line-up, will end up putting a lot of stress on small ball. In the outfield they have the consistent Ichiro in right field, but in centre and left they have newly acquired Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez who will provide spark, but no pop. Around the infield you will find some good talent which might allow the Mariners to make some good deals to contenders in August. Adrian Beltre at 3rd, Betancourt at 2nd, Russ Branyan at 1st and Kenji Johjima behind the plate is a decent line-up. The Mariners are getting better, but even in the AL West they won't have a chance to compete for a playoff spot this year.