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It’s that time of year again when it seems like every website has a baseball preview. We here at The Bocker have always been followers and so naturally we have a preview of our own. The difference between our preview and everyone else’s is that ours comes with a money back guarantee and an 85% probability that our prognostications are correct. We start off our first installment by looking at the AL West. The format is as follows: Anthony will start off the festivities with an introduction and analysis on a division and then I will respond and we go into a back and forth for each topic. I don’t know who started this idea of “analysis by email” but we are not above utilizing this gimic.


Tony: The AL West is your neck of the woods, Jim. Fortunately though I have insomnia in addition to other sleep related ailments and actually tune in to watch these teams and their 10 pm EST starts.

Based on what I know of the four teams and the moves they made in the offseason, I think the AL West is actually one of the easiest divisions in baseball to handicap. I think the Angels are clearly the best team, the Mariners are the 2nd best team, the A’s are the 3rd best (2nd worst?) team and the Rangers are in last. The last two
teams might be somewhat interchangeable, but I still feel that the A’s even after trading away Dan Haren and Nick Swisher have the pitching needed to best the Rangers.

At the top this is the Angels division to win. Getting Torii Hunter is a boost for both their lineup and their defense, even with Torii unlikely to duplicate his 2007 season, simply because he replaces no-power Reggie Willits in center. Jon Garland for Orlando Cabrera is a nice trade because Garland seems to be a solid pitcher year-to-year and because the Angels want to play Maicer Izturis at short. They still have the deepest rotation, possibly in the bigs, but definitely in their division and Vladimir Guerrero gives them the one bonafide RBI machine needed in a lineup with lots of scrappy little guys that just look to get on base and set the table.

The problem is that I don’t believe the Angels have enough big pieces to contend versus the other likely playoff teams in the AL. Neither of their corner infielders, Chone Figgins and Casey Kotchman, give enough in the way of slugging for their position and they still carry Garret Anderson as an everyday DH (with some days in Left). Basically, California (wasn’t that a better name, the California Angels?) carries too many players in their lineup that don’t hit enough. You don’t need an all-star at each position, but with how the Tigers, Red Sox, Yankees and even Indians stack their lineups, I just don’t see this team scoring enough runs. Nevermind that their very solid rotation lacks one super dominant pitcher that can toss you a big shutout when runs are tight.

I probably should have gotten into the other teams more in this initial email, but I feel as though with the Angels almost assured of winning this AL West, it was worth spending some more time on them.

Wallace: I wish I could disagree with you Anthony on your AL West preview, but you seem to have taken the words right out of my mouth. It’s obvious the Angels are going to win the division this season. I would go out on a limb and say that this will be the worst division in baseball this season. We’ll take a quick look at the teams going in order from last to first.

Texas Rangers - Did they do anything this off season other than acquire Josh Hamilton in the hopes last year wasn’t an abberation for him? Now, I know what you are going to say, “But James, the Rangers beat your favorite Orioles by 30 runs last season.” To which I reply, “Yes Anthony, my favorite team sucks. Thanks for the support.” That offensive explosion aside this team is relying on a lot of question marks offensively. Will Josh Hamilton build on his 2007 success? Can Hank Blalock hit for an entire season as well as he did last September (.313)? Can Milton Bradley get along with anyone? Is Jarrod Saltalamacchia more than just the longest name in baseball? Will little Timmy ever get out of that well? And even if all these pieces come together, will the Rangers be able to compete with Seattle and Anaheim? I believe the answer is no. You may be asking yourself, why haven’t I mentioned the Rangers’ pitching staff? Because they don’t have one. I’m not sure their pitching staff is even comprised of AAA level talent.

Oakland Athletics - Does this team ever stop rebuilding? Even when they are winning it seems like they are doing it with prospect level talent. This is a team that has always been strapped for cash, and with attendance dropping to new lows last season, the wallet isn’t getting any fatter. Their big move in the offseason was to trade ace Dan Haren to Arizona. That move forces the A’s to rely on the likes of Joe Blanton, Chad Gaudin, Rich Harden (for the month he’s healthy), Justin Duchscherer and Lenny DiNardo. While none of those guys are exactly world beaters, Oakland will have a solid rotation of No. 3 and 4 starters. But pitching isn’t their biggest problem, it’s going to be scoring runs. Jack Cust who had a breakout year last season was named in the Mitchell Report and is most likely finished and their next best hitter was 2b Mark Ellis. I just don’t see this team having enough pop to challenge the better offensive clubs like Seattle and Anaheim. Not to mention those teams have superior pitching. Why will the A’s finish third and not in last place? Because the Rangers are that bad.

Seattle Mariners - I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mariners won this division based on two things, Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez. Bedard was acquired from the Orioles in the offseason and gives Seattle a second staff ace for that ever-loved lefty-righty combination. Hernandez has been on the cusp of a 20 win season for some time now, and at only 22, this may be his year. Those two pitchers alone, depending on the way the matchups fall, could be enough to take 2 out of 3 in a series against the Angels. They lost phenom Adam Jones in the Bedard trade but they acquired Brad Wilkerson in free agency and he’ll be able to give them 20+ home runs while playing an adequate right field. In the end this team isn’t’ good enough to make the playoffs, but are better than the other two teams they will be competing against for second place.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - Yes, they do have the longest name in baseball, but they also are the best of this division they call the AL West. It probably hurts them that they have to play so many games against such sorry competition, but I say they play enough against actual opponents to be battle tested come October. The sad part is I’m going to have to agree with Anthony, I think they are arguably the fourth best team in the American League and you could argue that they might even be the fifth. I’d put the defending champ Red Sox, they offensive juggernaut Yankees, the Hall of Fame Tigers and the Indians all ahead of the Angels at this point in time. This isn’t a reflection on the Angels as much as it is a reflection on how good these teams have gotten in the off season. Anthony makes a great point with this team. In the playoffs the lack of an All-Star bat will sink this team. We saw it last year against the Red Sox when Angel pitchers, even the great John Lackey, just couldn’t do enough to help their teams win. Vlad Guerrero, the Angels best hitter, is slowly declining and their just isn’t enough there to take over his production. Howie Kendrick is my guy to watch in 2008. Mostly because he’s on my fantasy team and I need him to have a break out year to get myself out of the basement and into contention. Look for the Angels to make the playoff and to lose in the first round.

Tony: I keep on trying to figure out what it would take for the Mariners to overtake the Angels or for the Rangers to win more than 75 games or for Billy Beane to conjure up 85 wins again for the A’s, but I don’t see it.

I am going to be watching Seattle the closest because they are a very interesting team since they added Erik Bedard. Somehow, the M’s stayed in the race until labor day, when they lost 15 of 17, and finally showed all of the problems apparent with the roster from the preseason. Getting Bedard says that this team is planning on competing. I think if Felix Hernandez is able to take his yearly 15-strikeout shutout performance against a great AL team in April and turn that into a full season of quality, this team will be pretty good. I also love the pen in Seattle, mostly because J.J. Putz has shown himself to be as good as any other closer in the bigs. Trying to decide between him and K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels) for the best in this division is tough.

So now that we’ve agreed on the finish:

1) Angels
2) Mariners
3) A’s
4) Rangers

My favorite things about the AL West in 2008: Teams opting to play fundamentally sound baseball. Lots of great defenders (Ichiro, Torii Hunter, Adrian Beltre, etc.). Watching Ichiro and Vlad at bat. Erik Bedard, the best lefty in the AL.

Things I dislike about the AL West in 2008: The Angels still haven’t acquired enough to bolster the lineup offensively. Oakland no longer can compete now that every other GM in baseball is using Money Ball ideas, except these teams also have money to outspend Oakland. The Rangers.

Worst aspect of the AL West in 2008: Oakland’s descent from competition and relevancy.

Wallace: Anthony, I wish there was more to say about this division, but the fact is that it looks pretty cut and dry. The Mariners should be able to give the Angels a run for their money with their improved pitching but the experience of the Angels will win out in the end.

Things to watch in the AL West 2008:

-Felix Hernandez becoming one of baseball’s elite pitchers.
-Howie Kendrick’s break out year.
-The Rangers’ search for a pitcher.

Ok, let’s face it, there really isn’t much to watch in the AL West this season. If you’re favorite team is in this Division, I feel sorry for you..

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