AL West Update

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Who's Hot: Mark Trumbo hit .301 with 36 homeruns and 122 RBIs in AAA last year, hit .336 with 5 homeruns in the Venezuelan Winter League, and he's continuing his success into the spring as he leads the team with 4 doubles, 3 homeruns and 6 RBIs while batting .367 (11/30). Howie Kendrick, who is hitting .375 (9/24), and catcher Bobby Wilson (.429 6/14) are also off to good starts. Joel Pineiro has tossed 5 scoreless innings in his two spring starts.

Who's Not: Hank Conger has just 1 hit in 16 at bats this spring and outfield prospect Jeremy Moore is 2 for 15. Pitcher Trevor Reckling has made 3 appearances but allowed 11 hits, 11 runs and 3 homeruns in just 6 innings of work.

Of Note: The Angels have a great rotation if everyone stays healthy. Dan Haren has a career 3.66 ERA and has topped 200 innings in 6 straight seasons. Scott Kazmir struggled last year going 9-15 with a 5.94 ERA, but as recently as 2007, the now 27 year old lefty had 239 strikeouts in just 206 2/3 innings while posting a 3.48 ERA. While his 13-12 record might suggest otherwise, Jered Weaver had a career year last year for the Angels. He finished with a 3.01 ERA and 233 strikeouts in just 224 1/3 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .222 average. Ervin Santana won a career high 17 games last year with a 3.92 ERA while logging 222 2/3 innings. Pineiro only made 23 starts last year, but he was effective going 10-7 with a 3.84 ERA. In 2009 with the Cardinals he won 15 games and logged over 200 innings. So there you go, if they can stay healthy their rotation can compete with anyone in the league.


OAKLAND ATHLETICS

Who's Hot:  Andy LaRoche is hitting .350 (7/20) with 5 extra base hits (2 doubles and 3 homers). Coco Crisp leads the team in RBIs with 7 while batting .412 (7/17). Kevin Kouzmanoff leads the team with 8 hits and is hitting .533 with 6 RBIs. Jai Miller is hitting .313 with 6 runs batted in and 4 stolen bases. Gio Gonzalez has thrown 5 hitless innings allowing just 2 walks and striking out 10. Tyson Ross hasn't been scored upon in 6 2/3 innings and Bobby Cramer has only allowed 1 run 7.

Who's Not: Conor Jackson is 1 for 23 right now and Hideki Matsui is just 1 for 14. Dallas Braden has lost all 3 of his spring starts and has a 10.80 ERA. In 6 2/3 innings, he's allowed 16 baserunners.

Of Note: People forget that this is a time that finished in second in the AL West last year. And they've added Matsui, Josh Willingham, David DeJesus on offense, and Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes to their bullpen. They've also brought Rich Harden back and traded for Brandon McCarthy to help their rotation. The A's have a lot of guys coming back from offseason surgeries, but enter camp pretty healthy. Don't sleep on this team in 2011.


SEATTLE MARINERS

Who's Hot: Ichiro Suzuki is hitting .316 (6/19) and is tied for the team lead in runs (4) and hits. Jack Wilson is 6 for 13 with a team high 5 RBIs, Milton Bradley is 5 for 14 and 22 year old Alexi Liddi is second on the team with 4 RBIs while hitting .333 (3/9). Erik Bedard has pitched in just 30 games over the last 3 seasons (and did not pitch at all in 2010), but has tossed 3 hitless innings with 6 strikeouts in 2 spring starts. 22 year old Michael Pineda has thrown 4 innings and allowed just 1 hit in 2 appearances. The 6'5" righthander went 11-4 between AA and AAA last year with 154 strikeouts in 139 1/3 innings. He comes into 2011 as the 13th ranked prospect according to mlb.com.

Who's Not: Brendan Ryan (2/17), Michael Saunders (3/20 8 Ks), Justin Smoak (2/17), Gabe Gross (1/11) and Miguel Olivo (1/10) have all stumbled out of the gates this spring.

Of Note: I really thought the Mariners were going to do more last year with Cliff Lee, King Felix and Bedard in their rotation and the acquisition of Chone Figgins to the top of their lineup. But Bedard wasn't healthy, and Lee got traded. Figgins hit .259 and only scored 62 runs. Ichiro had a career low 74 runs despite 214 hits and struck out a career high 86 times. They could still bounce back in 2011 though even with Lee's absence. If Bedard is indeed healthy again, he and Hernandez provide a strong 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. And the M's return 3 guys (Figgins, Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez) had 25 steals last year so you know they can run. I expect them to do better than the 61-101 record they posted a year ago, but I don't see them contending.


TEXAS RANGERS

Who's Hot: Chris Davis is hitting .385 (10/26) with 4 doubles 2 homeruns and a team high 8 RBIs. Julio Borbon is 9 for 23 with 3 stolen bases. Mitch Moreland is 8 for 23 with 2 homeruns and 6 RBIs. Ian Kinsler already has 4 homeruns this spring in just 22 at bats and is hitting .409. Michael Young seems to have gotten over the offseason DH fiasco and is 10 for 19 with 2 doubles, 2 triples and 6 RBIs. Mike Napoli has a pair of homers and is hitting .389 (7/18). On the mound Neftali Feliz, the AL's reigning rookie of the year, has tossed 5 shutout innings. Eric Hurley hasn't allowed a hit in his 5 innings of work after missing all of 2009 and 2010 with various injuries. In the Arizona Fall League this past winter he was 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in 6 starts.

Who's Not: Engel Beltre is hitless in 15 at bats with 5 strikeouts. Chad Tracy is 1 for 13, but that one hit was a homerun. Seth McClung has allowed 6 walks 6 hits and 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings over 3 appearances.

Of Note: Cliff Lee is gone and so is Vladimir Guerrero as the Rangers look to defend their American League Championship. As usual though with Texas the questions aren't going to be about their offense, they're going to be about their pitching. If Brandon Webb returns from the injury that kept him out of the last two seasons and pitches like he did before he went down (BIG if), he could fill the void Lee is leaving.