Editorial. Photos by AP News
After owning the AL West without much competition for the last few seasons, The Los Angeles Angles could have a few teams nipping at their heels in 2010.
The Angles lost their ace in John Lackey, but still boast a very solid rotation. Weaver, Saunders, Santana, and Pineiro are a solid 1-4, and Scott Kazmir will help out when healthy. Look for the Angels to once again finish atop the division, but this time, it won’t be easy.The Mariners added Cliff Lee and Chone Figgins, while the Rangers signed Rich Harden and Vlad Guerrero. Even the A’s could give the Angels a run for their money with a solid young pitching staff.
Essentially, the AL West is up for grabs.
2009 Standings 2010 Projected Standings
1. Los Angeles Angels 1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Texas Rangers 2. Seattle Mariners
2. Texas Rangers 2. Seattle Mariners
First Place -- Los Angeles Angels
Even after losing two of their most consistent players, the Angels will have a very good ball club in 2010.
They will certainly miss Chone Figgins at the top of their order, but if Aybar, Morales, and Kendrick continue to improve and mature, they should be all right. The combination of Abreu and Matsui will give the Halo’s two of the most disciplined left handed bats in the game, and will help stretch out the middle of their order.
Meanwhile, Mike Scioscia will need to help many of his young players step up and take on bigger roles, but his years of experience should make this a somewhat easy task.
Projected Rotation Projected Batting Order
Jered Weaver Erick Aybar
Joe Saunders Bobby Abreu
Joe Saunders Bobby Abreu
Ervin Santana Torri Hunter
Joel Pineiro Kendry Morales
Scott Kazmir Hideki Matsui
Juan Rivera
Mike Napoli
Howie Kendrick
Howie Kendrick
Brandon Wood
Second Place -- Seattle Mariners
The Mariners should struggle early due to injuries to both Cliff Lee and Erik Bedard. But when healthy, the M’s rotation is downright scary.
They still don’t offer much in the hitting department, but the addition of Figgins will certainly help. Having Griffey as the every day DH is a very questionable decision, especially when names like Jermaine Dye and Carlos Delgado still waiting in free agency.
Projected Rotation Projected Batting Order
Felix Hernandez Ichiro
Cliff Lee Chone Figgins
Erik Bedard Milton Bradley
Ryan Rowland-Smith Ken Griffey Jr.
Ian Snell Jose Lopez
Franklin Gutierrez
Casey Kotchman
Jack Wilson
Rob Johnson
Third Place -- Texas Rangers
After a second place finish in 2009, look for the Rangers to fall off just a bit in 2010.
Even after adding Nolan Ryan to the organization and Rich Harden to the rotation, the Rangers will struggle with pitching. As usual, offense won’t be a concern for Texas. Kinsler, Hamilton, Cruz, and Guerrero make for a very scary middle of the order, and young Elvis Andrus could blossom into a superstar.
But Texas’ season depends mainly on their young arms. Scott Feldman will need to at least repeat his success from last season, and C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis will need to solidify the bottom half of the rotation.
Look for Seattle to improve a bit more than Texas, handing them a third place finish.
Projected Rotation Projected Batting Order
Rich Harden Elvis Andrus
Scott Feldman Michael Young
Scott Feldman Michael Young
CJ Wilson Ian Kinsler
Colby Lewis Josh Hamilton
Matt Harrison Vladimir Guerrero
Nelson Cruz
Chris Davis
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Julio Borbon
4th Place -- Oakland Athletics
While the A’s do have one of the most underrated pitching staffs in the league, they should still finish at the bottom of the West.
Their young offense has gotten off to a hot start, but will certainly fizzle as the season goes on. Bright spots for the Athletics include Andrew Bailey, Dallas Braden, Rajai Davis, and Daric Barton.
While Coco Crisp and Trevor Cahill are both starting the year on the DL, their returns will certainly help. Look for the A’s to once again finish at the bottom of the West, but with serious improvements from their 2009 campaign.
Projected Rotation Projected Batting Order
Ben Sheets Rajai Davis
Dallas Braden Mark Ellis
Trevor Cahill Kurt Suzuki
Justin Duchscherer Eric Chavez
Brett Anderson Kevin Kouzmanoff
Daric Barton
Ryan Sweeney
Coco Crisp
Cliff Pennington
How can you have Seattle ahead of Texas? When your best bat is Milton Bradley, you have problems. When Ken Griffey Jr. is your cleanup hitter, you have even more problems. Plus, with Lee out - man, c'mon now. How can you expect a 'regression' with young guys like Cruz, Kinsler, Davis a healthy Hamilton AND the addition of Vlad. That makes no sense. If anything they get better.
ReplyDeleteWhen that Seattle rotation is all healthy, the lack of offense won't matter as much. I agree, and say in the article that Griffey is a poor choice for a clean up hitter, but if he struggles early, there are still free agents out there that could replace him for the DH role. It should be very close between Texas and Seattle
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