Expert Predictions: The AL WestApril 4, 2005Predictions: AL West
Ray Flowers’ Picks 1. Angels- Too much offense with Vlad, a healthy Anderson and the addition of Cabrera and Finley. If K-Rod can hold up as closer, the division is theirs. 2. Rangers- Team ERA of 4.54 was actually .10 below the league average. Combine that with a team that could easily have six 20 HR hitters and you might finally have a recipe for success in Texas. Best IF offense in baseball. 3. Athletics- Won’t fall as far as many think, but the other teams have just improved too much. Kotsay, Byrnes and Kendall etc. give this team a series of good, but not great players. Could still win 85 games this year. 4. Mariners- Beltre and Sexson will improve the offense but they can’t pitch. A rotation of an aging Moyer, a spotty Meche, an injured Pineiro, a rookie in Madritsch and Franklin…scary. Jonathan Leshanski’s Picks 1. Angels - Still the class of the west with the best balance of both pitching and hitting. Guerrero, Finley and Anderson might be the best outfield in baseball, and Colon and Escobar will both do better than last year. 2. Rangers - Offense can carry you only so far, that’s the lesson that the Rangers will learn this year though adding a big pitcher at the All-Star break could make it into a wild ride. 3. Athletics - Keeping above both .500 and the Mariners should prove to be a challenge. I gave the A’s the nod over Seattle only because I believe that Billy Beane usually has a method to his madness and that there must be something up his sleeve. 4. Mariners - Much, much better than last year, but still not a competitive team. The rebuilding is going really well though. Daniel Paulling’s Picks 1. Angels - The Angels won last year by one game so don't be surprised if they can repeat again with added offense with Steve Finley and Orlando Cabrera. Their bullpen is still great, even without Percival and their rotation figures to be better after Bartolo Colon went 12-4 in the second half. The offense should be able to produce even better than last season. 2. Athletics - The A's should take second place, but just barely. They have the pitching talent, but if those young starting arms do their job is another story. The bullpen is very deep and very good, which will count for something. The offense is better than last year, which is important, too. 3. Rangers - The Rangers will prove that last year's bullpen antics were a fluke, except for Francisco Cordero. The young infield will mash, along with Kevin Mench in the OF. The starting pitching won't be that great this year, but not much worse than last year's. 4. Mariners - They will be a dominating force and quite close to the two teams above them. Just because they're fourth does not mean that they are horrible, they'll probably be 4 games behind the A's. They do not have enough depth in the pitching staff, bullpen or rotation, to contend. Look for a pretty good season in the Emerald City, however. This will be a wild, wild race. Matthew Souders’ Picks 1. Seattle Mariners (AL West, 92-70) - Additions of Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson, Pokey Reese, Aaron Sele, Jeff Nelson, Jorge Campillo, Miguel Olivo, Jeremy Reed, a healthy Raul Ibanez, a healthier Eddie Guardado, and a resurgent rotation core of Gil Meche, Joel Pineiro, and Jamie Moyer do more than give the Mariners “extra pop”. The largest change between 2004 and 2005 in Seattle was the trip from the very heights of defensive excellence to the cellar. This year’s club will once again be one of the best defensive clubs in baseball. Adding some thump to the line-up and hoping for the rotation’s depth (if not its excellence) to keep Seattle in games, should prove effective in returning Seattle to the play-offs in 2005. 2. Anaheim Angels (91-71) - Once again, I diverge from the pundits on this one. It is commonly thought that the additions of Steve Finley, a healthy Garret Anderson, and Orlando Cabrera, and possibly the rebounding of Bartolo Colon should take what had already been a solid club in 2004 and turn it into a powerhouse. I look at Steve Finley and see a man in his decline…both defensive and offensively. I look at Garret Anderson and find it at least somewhat likely that he’ll spend time on the DL de to his degenerative condition. What’s worse…the Entire Angel infield is sub-par offensively…Dallas McPherson has power potential but strikes out about 5 times as often as he walks. Orlando Cabrera is at best a mediocre hitter. Chone Figgins is a solid player, but doesn’t get on base quite enough to really be considered an elite lead-off hitter…something the Angels have never really had in recent years. And Erstad may be one of the weaker hitters at his position. If anything the Angels have taken a slight step backwards in 2005 in this analyst’s opinion. 3. Texas Rangers (83-79) - A lot of the Rangers’ success in 2004 was tied to a significant period of excellence from Kenny Rogers. At this stage in his career, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that Mr. Rogers is not likely to repeat this performance in 2005. The Rangers made no moves to sure up an unstable rotation other than adding some minor league flyers. They made no moves to fix an abomination of a team defense. They’re counting too heavily on the once injury prone arm of Francisco Cordero and rising core of young hitting talents they acquired. Expect this to result in a pretty average year at TBIA. 4. Oakland Athletics (81-81) - This off-season the As traded their two best starting pitchers for a collection of solid but unspectacular prospects and fiddled with the role players on their squad in the hopes that some of their small acquisitions would pay big dividends this season. The line-up features one real hitter (Eric Chavez) and a handful of good but not great side-kicks (Erubiel Durazo, Jason Kendall, Mark Kotsay, Nick Swisher, Keith Ginter, Eric Byrnes and Bobby Crosby). Their team defense is pretty darned weak. Their pitching is entirely based on young unproven prospects and a lot of hope (the exceptions being Rich Harden and Octavio Dotel). Many people will say, “they’ve done this before” but I would submit that when last the As tried this, they featured three unknown pitchers who were widely considered brilliant prospects…this time they feature Danny Haren, Dan Meyer, and Joe Blanton…none of whom is thought to be a “can’t miss prospect.” I see a collection of Ted Lilly’s, not a collection of Tim Hudson’s. Brandon Wilson’s Picks 1. Texas Rangers - I live in Dallas so this is another fine example of homerism. Having said that, what's not to like about the Rangers offense. You want 4 guys to hit 30 home runs? Try Teixeira, Blalock, Mench and Hidalgo. You want a shortstop that gets 200 hits, Michael Young. The only question is the rotation and if Orel Hershiser can do again this year what he did last year, he will be close to the Mazzone zone. 2. Los Angeles Angels - I am just not sold on this rotation. Colon will have a bounce back year, but the Escobar ailments this spring concern me. The offense should be solid, but the age of Finley and youth around the infield (Figgins and Quinlan) and Anderson's injuries concern me. When is this team going to commit to Kotchman and dump Erstad? Try mid-season if Kotchman does what I think he will at Triple-A. 3. Oakland A's - Dan Haren will have as good a season as Mark Mulder and Rich Harden will arrive. This team will sorely miss Tim Hudson, though, and Barry Zito will not return to the Cy Young form that A's are hoping for. The offense will be much improved by adding another on-base man in Kendall at the top. Eric Chavez may have an MVP year. 4. Seattle Mariners - Beltre may be the biggest bust of the off-season from a fantasy perspective. He is taking a tremendous hit on the change in ballparks and last year was a flukishly good year that he may never repeat and that does not even touch on whether he will be properly motivated. Add that to an unimproved pitching staff and this team finishes at the bottom again. Sorry, Ichiro. Share your thoughts or comments in our forums |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ad Space for Sale |
|
Buy tickets
from CoastToCoasttickets.com |
Buy tickets from Onlineseats.com |
|
|
