The Workermonkey

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

AL West 

# posted by Supreme Monkey Overlord @ 4/18/2006 04:39:00 PM

Continuing my little foray into future telling…

Oakland Athletics; Their pitching can’t be stopped. Zito, harden, harren, Blanton and a 200 inning eater like estaban loiaz in the 5^th spot. Plus they now have a great closer in Huston street and a kick ass bullpen. The only team who can claim to shake a stick at this staff is Minnesota and the A’s can hit much better. From some of the reports I’ve read, mark Ellis is apparently going to be much better then I think. Bobby Crosby just has to stay healthy to be considered an MVP candidate (he won’t win, but he’ll get a few votes). Adding Milton Bradley to the outfield was smart because it didn’t cost them anything, picking up frank Thomas was a steal. Thomas will add that giant power to the middle of a line up that needed it, but I can’t see him staying healthy all year. Watching him run around the bases the other day was painful, he’s not even walking right, how the hell is that ankle going to hold up? His best bet is to get hurt somewhere around 2/3’s of the way through the season so he can come back strong for the playoffs when the A’s really need him. Eric Chavez is solid and will be fine, hopefully Jason Kendal remembers how to hit for power, he’s gone more then 800 at bats without a homerun, that’s more then a full season. it’s the kind of record you don’t want and the A’s are rightfully dumbfounded at what happened.

I’ve already started hearing stuff like “this is why Billy beans stuff works in the playoffs” which is the opposite of what everyone has been saying for years, myself included. Its not so much that his stuff doesn’t work in the playoffs, it that he did a few things differently this year that will help. Picking up frank Thomas was one of the them and Bradley the other. They aren’t the kind of guys the A’s normally have. They expect Thomas to get hurt, and well, they are prepared. Milton Bradley is the kind of guy they normally would have stayed away from because he’s had problems and isn’t that great defensively. The A’s are going to hit and out pitch a lot of people, that’s going to get them far.

Anaheim Angles; I still refuse to include the name LA in their title. This organization gets a lot of credit for the stuff they’ve done and this isn’t one of them. Just drop the charade and pick one. If that were to happen, they are obligated to pick Anaheim, the contract says the team needs to include the name Anaheim in the title, it doesn’t say anything about adding other city names like LA. That’s the legal loophole. Either way, art Marrero has done a great job with this franchise. Snagging vlad two years ago was awesome but they need to keep his back healthy for him to stay on the field. Garret Anderson has fallen off the charts and is now actually in obscurity instead of just being underrated for years. Chone figgins should bounce around the field and play every position possible as that is his strength, he’s not great anywhere, but good allover. If Tim salmon makes it to the end of the year with this team it’ll be a miracle, I know he’s had a great start and spring but it can’t last can it? A regression to being old is over due. This team is going to do well. They are going to beat up on Seattle and do well against Texas, they may even do alright against Oakland as they also have a strong pitching staff. The real bright spot is that farm system where there are a bunch of kids ready to step up should someone get hurt. They have a weak bench at the major league level but they have a great bench waiting for them in triple-A. the kids are going to push their way up but this team isn’t going to hit enough to pass the A’s. they’ll fight for a wild card but come up short.

Texas Rangers. Well they went out and spent a bunch of money on Kevin Millwood because that what they have to do to get pitching. Eaton being hurt is killing them, and when the hell does the farm system actually start to produce pitching? Buck showalter has been here too long for this type of charade to continue. They need pitching and aren’t going to get past Oakland or Anaheim anytime soon without it. This team has a GREAT infield. Young and kinsler are a good DP combination and they can both hit. Blalock and texeria and stars and I would think you all know them by now. The outfield is a little sketchy, Gary Matthews Jr. shouldn’t be playing and neither should Adrian brown any more. Mench will hit a little and brad Wilkerson is the prize from trading Alfonzo soriano. The soriano trade was more about moving him, his salary and getting him away from second as it was getting something in return. Rod Barajas is fine at backstop but this team needs to find a solid outfielder and another good starting pitcher, worry about the bullpen later. I give them props for getting rid of David delluchi for something of value, Texas’s gain is Philly’s’ fuck up. I’m not sure how the minors look for them but this is going to be another year like last year for Texas and they’ll still be looking up at Oakland and Anaheim.

Seattle mariners; there is actually a guy named Jose Lopez on this team. Who the hell is running the Seattle front office? Last year it was Adrian beltre, this year it’s Carl Everett, Jarrod Washburn, and matt Lawton. Seattle should be bitch slapped for incompetence and genius at the same time. There are great people on this team like ichiro, Jeremy reed, Ritchie sexton and Felix Hernandez. While at the same time they have signed guys like beltre, Everett, Lawton, Washburn, guardado, and wee willy bloomquist to contracts that are way above what they are worth. Taking a chance on another Japanese import like kenji johjima is a good move. He’ll hit well and I guess there is a chance he and their pitching staff can both learn sign language to communicate, or they can just call ichiro in from right field every time they have a conference on the mound. Lets hope king Felix doesn’t get blown out like so many great pitching prospects in the Seattle organization. They have a thing for screwing up young guys. This pitching staff isn’t that bad (Jamie Moyer, is that really you?) but who cares. I’d like to root for some of these guys but the rest of the team just pisses me off. Ichiro should demand a trade to a winner for his own sake. He’s wasting his time here.

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