Jump to content
  • Welcome to AngelsWin.com

    AngelsWin.com - THE Internet Home for Angels fans! Unraveling Angels Baseball ... One Thread at a Time.

    Register today to join the most interactive online Angels community on the net!

    Once you're a member you'll see less advertisements. Become a Premium member and you won't see any ads! 

     

IGNORED

As of today, Who wins the AL West?


19HALO71

Recommended Posts

Pretty much. What's interesting is if one plays well but the other doesn't. Then it comes down to how much the pitching improves.

Not really. Two separate issues IMO. The pitching must improve AND Albert and Josh need to get back to some resemblance of their respective selves. Both aspects of this team must vastly improve from last year in order to have a respectable season and possibly make the playoffs. And let us not forget defense, that which is a part of our game in most need of improving as well. We have our work cut out for us, but definitely doable. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A's

Rangers

Angels

Mariners

Astros

 

For me the top three are all close, but I'll side with the A's and their immense pitching depth and ability to platoon at will.  They also get points for being able to obtain talent when needed and have enough in their farm system and moveable parts at the MLB level where they can be counted on to reshape the team as they need mid-season.  They seem to be all in this year, wouldn't shock me to see them do the unthinkable and even sell off parts of their future to win this season.

 

The Rangers are relying on a few things that aren't sure to happen, like Harrison to be the same pitcher he was before back surgery, Holland to be back by mid-season, Perez to build on his season last year instead of play more in line with his expected results.  Darvish and Ogando are a great start but they have their own set of question marks beyond those two.  If Cody Buckel is fixed they are in better shape if  something goes wrong on the mount..  It's going to be fun to see Prince hit in that park for 81 games and Choo should give them the lead-off hitter they have been lacking since Kinsler's bat started to fade in 2011.

 

The Angels have have the most questions on the mound, both SP and RP, and they are hoping for bounce-back seasons from two guys making a ton of money.  They are also hoping for Kole Calhoun to play like a much higher profile player than he's been asked to be in the past. The Angels could win anywhere between 75-95 games and not have it be a shocker -- if they are tanking early I hope they go full blown rebuild mode at the All Star break.  If this team's defense doesn't play better than last year they will be meat.

 

The Mariners added Cano, and a couple of guys who's biggest contribution to their former teams recently is giving job security to their training staff..  They now have a team made entirely of 2B and 1B/DH types.  Kyle Seager and Brad Miller are always seen sitting together because nobody else on the team has any clue how to play on the left side of the field and can't relate to them -- I think they are sad.  Jesus Montero has gone from future all star to guy nobody wants to even admit they know who he is.  

 

The Astros are completely committed to tanking, sucking up MLB shared monies, and adding top five picks in the draft.  They have zero interest in winning for the time being and are simply stockpiling everything they can for when they might be able to compete.

Edited by Inside Pitch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Angels have a chance but as of this moment I would pick the A's. That bullpen is ridiculous

 

It is. I didn't know O'flaherty had such good numbers. I don't even care if he misses the first half of the year.

 

I think Donaldson will obviously do worse (offensively, at least), Reddick/Cespedes will do better, but I guess they're going to platoon Jaso and Callaspo at dh. I don't know about this.

 

 That and I'd like if they had one veteran starter. No, Kazmir doesn't count.

Edited by DW711
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A case can be made for 4 different teams. 

 

Rangers added Fielder and Choo to improve the offense, and though trading Kinsler add Profar as the new 2B. 

Pitching is still solid, although Holland is out for the first 2-3 months.

 

A's have the momentum from two excellent seasons, and even without Colon and Balfour are always finding new pitching. 

 

Halos should be much improved (especially hopefully Pujols and Hamilton), although holes still exist.

 

M's may have as good of a rotation as any AL West team, if Walker and Paxton realize their potential.

But even in adding Cano, the lineup still has holes.

 

Right now for me:  Rangers, A's, Halos, M's, Astros; with the A's getting one of the two WC spots. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rangers look like the favorites as of now but again Oakland will be the team with the luxury of riches when it comes to pitching. Nobody in the division can compare with them with how deep they are in the rotation and the pen

 

Halos still look firmly 3rd behind those 2 teams, though they'll be more competitive this year. If I had to guess, I'd say the Halos will win anywhere from 82-88 games. 84 or 85 would be a more specific guess

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rangers look like the favorites as of now but again Oakland will be the team with the luxury of riches when it comes to pitching. Nobody in the division can compare with them with how deep they are in the rotation and the pen

 

Halos still look firmly 3rd behind those 2 teams, though they'll be more competitive this year. If I had to guess, I'd say the Halos will win anywhere from 82-88 games. 84 or 85 would be a more specific guess

When you consider their home parks, the Rangers' pitching staff is likely better than the A's. The A's also have one of the worst farm systems in baseball so they can't use it to bolster the team.

 

I doubt Donaldson, Crisp, and Moss perform anywhere close to their 2013 numbers so I'm expecting some regression.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't buy the Rangers starting staff being better, especially now with Holland out at least half the season. Both teams have 2 young high upisde guys(Gray and Perez) and will need both to come up big and pitch a lot of innings. I like the A's depth in the rotation more, however. I also think they have the best pen of the division. Johnson/Cook/Doolittle/Gregerson is pretty tough to deal with

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...