Ryan's MLB Preview, AL West

The first two days of the NCAA Tournament are probably the best two days of sports out there. That being said, the baseball season is the best season out there, so while I'm watching Tim Brando meltdown today, I can only wait until we see Tim McCarver meltdown during the baseball season. Now It's time for my transition to the American League to see what will happen out west.

Angels: I give up on writing their full name. Perhaps they could have used the money they spent on Gary Matthews Jr. and Torii Hunter on a marketing department. But they did spend money on Hunter and Matthews Jr. and I don't that it was necessarily money well spent. I said last year that the Twins would lose Torii Hunter after the 2007 because the Gary Matthews contract set the market for him, since Hunter was essentially a better version of the same player. Well, I have to say I never expected the Angels to be the one to buy him. They have a pretty solid lineup and a pretty solid rotation, neither as excellent as I'm sure they would wish, but they have an excellent bullpen. I think them to be the best team in the division, which, I guess, is a pretty good reason to have them winning it.

Oakland Athletics: I realize that the A's have traded away their best pitcher and one of their top outfielders. I realize this. They did get a lot of young prospects and Billy Beane tends to find some of the best prospects that nobody else does (someone should write a book about him) and this team is chock full of young guys. Most importantly, even without Dan Haren, the A's still feature three solid pitchers at the top of the rotation a good bullpen and a top tier closer. The question marks in the line up will be too numerous to overcome, since not everyone can pan out. Also, is it just me or does "Kurt Suzuki"sound like a made up name for a bad Americanized ninja movie or an actor on a late night Cinemax movie? I hope the young catcher makes it for that reason. Seeing the picture at right (from the AP) I can't tell which makes more sense.

Seattle Mariners: The Mariners seem like a pretty decent squad this year. Their problems are that they have Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson, Raul Ibanez and Jose Vidro all hitting at the heart of the order. And that they traded most of their bullpen for Eric Bedard. And that they think that Carlos Silva, Jarrod Washburn and Miguel Batista will do well at the back end of their rotation. So, in conclusion, the Mariners seem like a pretty bad squad this year.

Texas Rangers: The Rangers don't have a single Hispanic player in their starting 9. Seriously. Check it out. The Rangers seemed to be at the forefront of bringing big hitting Hispanics into the league now have a lineup dominated by white guys and one crazy-ass black guy. And Marlon Byrd. But the thing I really noticed was that they don't seem to have that big bat in the middle of the lineup that they always had, even in their worst seasons. They hope Josh Hamilton will fill those shoes, but right now, they don't seem like a power team. Fortunately, the most recognizable trait of this team, the craptacular pitching, remains. Also, not really on topic, but I think the Rangers were the big winners in this whole Mitchell Report thing. Nobody seemed to note that, hey, there were a lot of old Rangers in that thing. Hmm..