Well when you start talking about the AL West you have to first start with the reigning AL champions, The Texas Rangers. They missed out on resigning Cliff Lee with him moving back to Philly and the NL. It will be strange to see Josh Hamiliton not patrolling CF with Julio Borbon out there. Adrian Beltre will hopefully have a season like he did last year in Boston after signing a massive contract. With Michael Young shifting to DH because of the Beltre signing we might see Young win a batting title with only having to focus on batting. The pitching staff is a question mark without a real number one guy. Brandon Webb coming over from the D-Backs might help out the young guns Hunter and Holland. Neftali Feliz is a top 5 closer right now. In the offseason I heard rumors of the Rangers maybe signing Rafael Soriano and shifting Feliz from closer to starter but I like him out of the pen for the 9th inning.
The Angels needed to make some sort of noise this offseason and it happened really late. Better late than never right. Taking on the highly costly contract of Vernon Wells turned away a lot of clubs but the Angels needed someone to anchor the middle of their lineup with Mr. Hunter. With the departure of Mike Napoli Jeff Mathis must step up and be an everyday starter at catcher. Kendry Morales is coming back from a season ending ACL tearing celebration. The Angels pitching staff is solid with Weaver and Santana being anchors for the halos. I like Dan Haren and this might be the season where he returns to form. Not the same to be said for Scott Kazmir. He scares me ever since The Rays were open to trading him. He was beat and he knew it. Fernando Rodney is a nut job which is to be said for every closer.
The Mariners are the cellar dweller of the AL West to me. Yes they have one of the best pitchers in baseball in King Felix but when someone does not play everyday its hard for your team to compete on a day to day basis. I think this might be the season where Felix comes out and says he wants to be traded, he is tired of losing and wasting his time and effort for nothing. I love Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez but other that no one has been consistent. Especially Chone Figgins. Where has he gone. Fall off much. If you are a free agent does Seattle look appealing to you? I think not.
My surprise team in the AL West is the Oakland A's. I'm not saying they are going to win the division, I just like where this franchise is headed. Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson anchor a very young pitching staff. And the bullpen isn't that bad. Putting together a solid bullpen isn't easy and to get Balfour from the Rays was huge. I like Bailey and Ziegler and Wuertz. But in the American League you have to score runs. The A's are not built to smash. With guys like Suzuki, Ellis, Crisp and Barton their isn't much run production coming from those guys. I like the addition of Matsui but I just don't think it will be enough to get past the Rangers.
Well when you start talking about the AL West you have to first start with the reigning AL champions, The Texas Rangers. They missed out on resigning Cliff Lee with him moving back to Philly and the NL. It will be strange to see Josh Hamiliton not patrolling CF with Julio Borbon out there. Adrian Beltre will hopefully have a season like he did last year in Boston after signing a massive contract. With Michael Young shifting to DH because of the Beltre signing we might see Young win a batting title with only having to focus on batting. The pitching staff is a question mark without a real number one guy. Brandon Webb coming over from the D-Backs might help out the young guns Hunter and Holland. Neftali Feliz is a top 5 closer right now. In the offseason I heard rumors of the Rangers maybe signing Rafael Soriano and shifting Feliz from closer to starter but I like him out of the pen for the 9th inning. 
The Angels needed to make some sort of noise this offseason and it happened really late. Better late than never right. Taking on the highly costly contract of Vernon Wells turned away a lot of clubs but the Angels needed someone to anchor the middle of their lineup with Mr. Hunter. With the departure of Mike Napoli Jeff Mathis must step up and be an everyday starter at catcher. Kendry Morales is coming back from a season ending ACL tearing celebration. The Angels pitching staff is solid with Weaver and Santana being anchors for the halos. I like Dan Haren and this might be the season where he returns to form. Not the same to be said for Scott Kazmir. He scares me ever since The Rays were open to trading him. He was beat and he knew it. Fernando Rodney is a nut job which is to be said for every closer. 
The Mariners are the cellar dweller of the AL West to me. Yes they have one of the best pitchers in baseball in King Felix but when someone does not play everyday its hard for your team to compete on a day to day basis. I think this might be the season where Felix comes out and says he wants to be traded, he is tired of losing and wasting his time and effort for nothing. I love Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez but other that no one has been consistent. Especially Chone Figgins. Where has he gone. Fall off much. If you are a free agent does Seattle look appealing to you? I think not.
My surprise team in the AL West is the Oakland A's. I'm not saying they are going to win the division, I just like where this franchise is headed. Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson anchor a very young pitching staff. And the bullpen isn't that bad. Putting together a solid bullpen isn't easy and to get Balfour from the Rays was huge. I like Bailey and Ziegler and Wuertz. But in the American League you have to score runs. The A's are not built to smash. With guys like Suzuki, Ellis, Crisp and Barton their isn't much run production coming from those guys. I like the addition of Matsui but I just don't think it will be enough to get past the Rangers.
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