AL West

AL West Texas Rangers (67-49): The Rangers have made the AL West the most uncompetitive division in baseball currently holding a 8.5 game lead. Their inter-division games have been as competitive as current team president and former pitcher Nolan Ryan's on field fight with Robin Ventura in 1993. Ryan has brought a much needed old time baseball attitude to a team that in prior years has had talent, but has been unable to translate that talent into on field results. That has all changed this year under Manager Ron Washington; who Nolan Ryan stood behind when he tested positive for cocaine in the off-season. The on-field results have vindicated Ryan and the decision to keep Washington; whose story of being a first time user was as believable as Lindsay Lohan's excuse of missing her alcohol classes due to charity commitments. Washington has been in baseball since the cocaine heydays of the 70's and played with the likes of Tim "Rock" Raines, but he has made the most of his second chance this year and is leading a World Series contender whose offensive core has been built through some Tyson-Spinks like one sided trades. Josh Hamilton, acquired from Cincinnati for oft injured Edinson Volquez, has rebounded from an injury plagued 09' and has put up MVP like numbers (.362 avg 26 HR's 80 RBI's 1.048 OPS) while not spending any time on the DL this season. Nelson Cruz has missed 30 games due to a balky hamstring, but has still managed good run producing numbers (.308 avg 16 HR's 64 RBI's .968 OPS). Cruz was acquired along with Carlos Lee in 06' from the Brewers for Fransico Cordero, Laynce Nix, and Kevin Mench in what should be mentioned as one of the most lopsided deadline deals ever. Vladimir Guerrero was picked up as a free agent in the off-season and has looked like he took a soak in the hot tub time machine with his numbers (.297 avg 21 HR's 87 RBI's .867 OPS) that have made the Rangers and fantasy owners happy they took a chance on him. In a lineup that rivals the Yankee's as the most balanced in baseball Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, and Elvis Andrus get on base, have some pop, and can steal bases. Kinsler missed the first 30 games of the year due to injury and is currently on DL and though his numbers (.298 avg, 6 HR's 38 RBI's) are down he will be dangerous if healthy for the playoffs. Michael Young, who was acquired in a trade for Esteban Loaiza, has filled the void left by Kinlser with his numbers (.290 avg 19 HR's 69 RBI's) and the ability to play every infield position. Elvis Andrus is one of the best young shortstops in the game, his defense is gold glove worthy and his offensive has been better than expected for a young player (.273 avg 27 SB's .357 OBP). Andrus was acquired along with current Ranger pitchers SP Chris Harrison and RP Neftali Feliz from Atlanta for Mark Teixeira in a great example of what you can get for a soon to be free agent that you have no intention of re-signing. Feliz has been lights out as a closer with 29 saves a WHIP under 1 and more than a strikeout per IP. His emergence has also allowed Frank Francisco to move into a more comfortable role as their eighth inning guy. The rotation was given a shot in the arm with the trade for Cliff Lee who showed last year that he relishes the opportunity to pitch in big games. Ryan has also been a mentoring figure to young pitchers like CJ Wilson (11-5, 3.19 ERA) and Colby Lewis (9-9, 3.28) who have shown the ability to win and pitch deep into games. If the Rangers can get Rich Harden straight before the post-season they would add another dominating arm to a staff that is bidding their time until the post-season; where the Rangers have a good chance to win the teams first ever World Series title. Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels (60-59): Perennial contenders in the AL and the recent kings of this division have been hurt this year by injuries, old age, and underperformance. The Angels have replaced departing free agents with the likes of Hideki Matsui (.251 avg 15 HR's 59 RBI's .747 OPS) and Bobby Abreu (.266 avg 14 HR's 65 RBI's .800 OPS) who have been caught by father time. Torii Hunter leads the time with a .290 average and OBP of .372, which shows the struggles of Howie Kendrick and Erick Abyar to get on base and hit. Kendry Morales breaking his ankle while celebrating his game ending grand slam in May took away the most potent bat in the Angel lineup for the year and left the Angels fighting for .500. Mike Napoli has been an offensive bright spot with his 18 HR's and has showed that he needs regular at bats for a team with more city names than threats in the lineup. The highly ranked Angel minor league system has yet to produce an impact player and call ups have been as cold as a Mike Scioscia post-game Q and A. Dan Haren was a good addition at the deadline and could combine with Jarred Weaver (11-7, 2.87 ERA) to form an excellent young 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation in the future. The Angels mission the rest of the season and off-season should be to get Ervin Santana (12-8, 3.99 ERA) and Scott Kazmir (8-9, 6.36 ERA) back to their former dominating self's. A four man pitching staff built around those four at their best would make for a quick turnaround and protect a soft tossing bullpen. Oakland A's (57-59): The A's continue the theme of this division outside of Texas; a lack of offense. Kurt Suzuki leads the team with 12 HR's, Kevin Kouzmanoff leads the team with 55 RBI's, and Rajai Davis leads the team with a .275 average. These are numbers from the dead ball era of the 20's and rival the offensive output of American born soccer strikers. The new wave of "Moneyball" guys like Jack Cust (8 HR's) and Daric Barton (5 HR's) have been Clipper like busts and Eric Chavez has had injuries kill his career. An example of how bad the offense has been is that the A's have three players with over 15 SB's (Davis 34, Crisp 15, Pennington 17), a very anti "Moneyball" like strategy. Speaking of "Moneyball" it is hard to believe they are making a movie out of the book. I loved the book and think one of the biggest "what if's" in sports is what if Billy Beane would have not backed out after accepting the job as Red Sox GM before Theo Epstein, but a movie about the book still seems like a reach the size of Spiderman 3. I guess this shows you that if Brad Pitt is going to star you can make a movie about anything like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". The offense has renewed hope this week after the A's called up Chris Carter from AAA whose numbers in 113 games of AAA are impressive (.262 avg 27 HR's 89 RBI's) and the A's will finish around .500 with young pitching that is envied around baseball. Trevor Cahill (12-5, 2.50 ERA), Gio Gonzalez (10-8, 3.49 ERA), Brett Anderson (3-3, 2.88 ERA), and Dallas Braden (7-8, 3.56) keep the A's in almost every game and Andrew Bailey (20 saves, 1.56 ERA) doesn't let many leads get away. Ben Sheet's injury at the deadline was a major blow that prevented Beane from trading Sheets to a contender to acquire offensive prospects. Seattle Mariners (46-72): The most disappointing team in baseball resides in a city that is in a sports depression. Their NFL team has Pete Carroll as coach and their NBA team was moved to Oklahoma where they are currently the best young team in basketball. On the positive side they have a WNBA team and an MLS franchise; scratch the word positive from that last phrase. There was a ton of spring hype surrounding the Mariners and GM Jack Zduriencik's focus on defense and pitching and they have had a summer as successful as BP's. Off-season additions: Figgins (.251 average), Kotchman (8 HR's), and Bradley (.205 avg 8 HR's 29 RBI's) have added nothing but money to the payroll. Mariner legend Ken Griffey retired during the season after falling asleep in the clubhouse during a game and even Ichiro (.311 avg 3 HR's 30 RBI's) has seen his numbers dip this year. Manager Don Wakamatsu whom GM Zduriencik called the "crown jewel" of his Mariner makeover two years ago has to be relieved that he will not be forced to watch the Mariner's play out the rest of their games this year after being fired. Felix Hernandez (8-10, 2.62 ERA) is one of the best in the game and is the only reason to watch this team once every five days. Hopefully the prospects received in the Cliff Lee deal will give Seattle sports fans something to be optimistic about, other than their MLS team.