We're almost there! This is the last pre-baseball weekend of 2015, as well as the last weekend without baseball until November. Spring Training isn't officially over yet, but teams have broken camp and headed North for exhibition games in their actual home parks. Although, for the teams on the West Coast, they won't be doing much traveling from Arizona to their respective home cities.
In the AL West, things are going to be a little different this year. Houston's going to be much better, so the Angels, A's and Mariners won't have as many automatic wins to add to their record. It was an interesting point they brought up during the Division Series last year. The Angels had the best record in the American League, but were only like five games over .500 against good teams. They loaded up on wins over Houston and Texas. But with the Astros much improved and the Rangers, you'd figure, not going to be as snake bitten with injuries, the AL West won't have as great of a win disparity this season.
I'm also curious to see if Oakland will continue doing its thing or actually be only as good as its talent suggests. It was another winter overhaul for the A's, who had that epic collapse last season and enter 2015 as the third-best team in the division. I agree with the consensus. The best team in the AL West is Seattle. The Mariners have always had the pitching, and signing Robinson Cano before last season marked the start of their commitment to the offensive part. It almost paid off with a playoff appearance last season, and they only got better during the offseason. Seattle should return to the postseason for the first time in 14 years and is a real threat to win its first American League pennant.
1. Seattle Mariners: They've always had King Felix. Then they added Hisashi Iwakuma. Then they finally figured out that they can't rely on those two to win every game 2-0 and decided to get an offense around them. It started with Robinson Cano. Now they've added Nelson Cruz. And Kyle Seager is turning into a star. And suddenly the Seattle Mariners are arguably the best team in the American League. I still think Detroit's a little better, but the Mariners are legitimate World Series contenders. At the very least, they should end their playoff drought. Even in a tough AL West, Seattle's got the most complete team in the division. It all starts with Hernandez and Iwakuma. Spots 3-5 in the rotation are good, not great, although pretty much everyone agrees Taijuan Walker will turn into a star. And they've got Fernando Rodney in the back of the bullpen. A good team needs a good closer, and the Mariners have one. If there's a cause for concern, it's that they don't have much depth. Losing Michael Saunders, who signed with the Blue Jays, might hurt more than they think. Because Seth Smith isn't the answer in right. And as much promise as Dustin Ackley has shown (they drafted him No. 2 overall for a reason), you have to wonder if he's ever going to live up to that potential. I'm not sure about Logan Morrison at first, either. They should've been more aggressive in trying to re-sign Kendrys Morales. I have a feeling that they'll be in the market for a bat at the trade deadline. Maybe more than one. Because, as good as their pitching is, the Mariners aren't going to be able to get away with scoring three runs a game. Not in a division with the Angels. Regardless, their offense will be better than it was in 2014, and that should result in a playoff spot.
Projected Lineup: Austin Jackson-CF, Dustin Ackley-LF, Robinson Cano-2B, Nelson Cruz-DH, Kyle Seager-3B, Logan Morrison-1B, Mike Zunino-C, Seth Smith-RF, Brad Miller-SS
Projected Rotation: Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, J.A. Happ, James Paxton, Taijuan Walker
Closer: Fernando Rodney
Projected Record: 93-69
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Orange County, California: What does Mike Trout, the consensus best player in baseball, have up his sleeve for year four? And is the real Albert Pujols finally back? Based on what we saw at the end of last season, it sure looks like it. But beyond the two of them, I'm not sure the Angels have another run like last year in them. Especially since no one knows when they'll get Josh Hamilton back. You've gotta figure he's due for a pretty lengthy suspension after his drug relapse. Anaheim's been without Hamilton for extended periods before, but there's no question he makes them better. Does Matt Joyce take over left field until Hamilton's back, or is he the starting DH? And they don't really have another first baseman on the roster, which could be problematic if Albert either isn't healthy or just needs a day to DH. And for all the crap the Angels get about their pitching staff, I don't think Jered Weaver gets anywhere near enough credit. He's been the ace of this team for years, and he's good for 30 starts, 200 innings and at least 15 wins every year. They're still waiting for C.J. Wilson to be the type of pitcher he was while leading the Rangers to consecutive World Series appearances, and it's vital that Matt Shoemaker back up a season where he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting with another solid campaign. Should Shoemaker keep up his 2014 form and Garrett Richards returns from injury sooner rather than later, the Angels have four solid starting pitchers. The Angels won a Major League-high 98 games last season, but were three-and-out against the Royals in the playoffs, becoming the first team ever to finish with the best regular season record and go winless in October. If they get back this year, that probably won't happen again. Because the AL West is much more competitive. It'd be a surprise to see the Angels finish with the best record again. If they do, they'll be in a much better position come October.
Projected Lineup: Kole Calhoun-RF, Erick Aybar-SS, Mike Trout-CF, Albert Pujols-1B, David Freese-3B, Chris Iannetta-C, Matt Joyce-DH, Colin Cowgill-LF, Johnny Giavotella-2B
Projected Rotation: Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Hector Santiago
Closer: Huston Street
Projected Record: 90-72
3. Oakland Athletics: I say every year that I don't think Oakland's going to be any good and every year they surprise me. You would think I've learned my lesson by now, but once again, I'm not sure I see the A's finishing higher than third in the division. This year's makeover included trading their best player, Josh Donaldson, and trading for Mr. Versatility, Ben Zobrist. Zobrist is Billy Beane's type of player. You can put him literally anywhere on the field. Except the difference is Zobrist is actually capable of playing all those positions. He won't just be standing out there like when they had Brandon Moss in the outfield. They also added Billy Butler, which was an interesting acquisition in that Oakland isn't the type of team to utilize a full-time DH. Then there's Ike Davis at first base. Hopefully his third team in a year and a new league can lead to a fresh start for a guy I still think has a lot of upside. Except without Yoenis Cespedes, I'm not sure where they're going to get any power from. They're also without a leadoff hitter. Coco Crisp had elbow surgery and is out for two months. They'll probably rely on their pitching to win games, which is their usual M.O. But seeing as they made their push for the playoffs last season with three guys they knew were going to leave as free agents, it's back to guys you've never heard of starting for Oakland. Jarrod Parker will be returning from Tommy John surgery around midseason. Until then, it's all on Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir's shoulders. Since my projection for Oakland is always below .500 and I'm always wrong, I'm going to change things up a little this year. I think the A's hover around .500 and are in the mix for the wild cards. Except this year they won't fall into the Wild Card Game after blowing a June division lead. Seattle and Anaheim are both better than the A's. But Oakland's better than both Texas teams. That's why I'm saying third place.
Projected Lineup: Sam Fuld-LF, Ben Zobrist-2B, Josh Reddick-RF, Billy Butler-DH, Brett Lawrie-3B, Ike Davis-1B, Stephen Vogt-C, Craig Gentry-CF, Marcus Semien-SS
Projected Rotation: Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Jesse Hahn, Kendall Graveman, Drew Pomeranz
Closer: Tyler Clippard
Projected Record: 83-79
4. Texas Rangers: So which Texas team will finish ahead of the other? Last year, I was very high on the Rangers, picking them to win the AL West. Boy was I wrong. Injury after injury resulted in a lost season in Texas, as the big trade for Prince Fielder didn't pay off at all in 2014. Fielder missed practically the entire year and Jurickson Profar, the guy they traded Ian Kinsler to make a place for, joined him on the DL. The only good thing about that was the emergence of Rougned Odor at second base. With Profar out yet again, second base is officially Odor's job without question. Assuming they do have Fielder in the lineup, the power combo he forms with Adrian Beltre is almost as good as the one he and Miggy formed in Detroit. They are missing a big piece, though with Alex Rios now in Kansas City. Instead, rookie Ryan Rua joins Lenoys Martin and Shin-Soo Choo in the outfield. They also get DH Mitch Moreland back. The Rangers' offense will be better in 2015 simply because it has to. They get all of their starters who were on the DL last season back. However, one big injury has already hit the 2015 Rangers. Yu Darvish is this year's first Tommy John casualty. That creates a big hole in the Texas rotation that each of their other starters need to fill. Starting with Yovani Gallardo, who was brought over to be a No. 2, but now has to be the guy, which means matching up against Weaver and King Felix on a regular basis. That's easier said than done. The AL West isn't the NL Central.
Projected Lineup: Shin-Soo Choo-RF, Elvis Andrus-SS, Adrian Beltre-3B, Prince Fielder-1B, Mitch Moreland-DH, Ryan Rua-LF, Roughned Odor-2B, Robinson Chirinos-C, Leonys Martin-CF
Projected Rotation: Yovani Gallardo, Derek Holland, Colby Lewis, Ross Detwiler, Nick Martinez
Closer: Neftali Feliz
Projected Record: 73-89
5. Houston Astros: We're probably about a year or two away from the Astros being the next 2013 Pirates or 2014 Royals. Houston's definitely on the way up, and I don't think the 100-loss thing is a guarantee this year. They've got one of the best players in the game in Jose Altuve and a rising star in George Springer. I also give them credit for going out and actually getting some veteran free agents to go along with all those young guys. Colby Rasmus gets a fresh start after things didn't quite work out in Toronto, Jed Lowrie gets a chance to be the everyday shortstop he wasn't in Oakland, and Evan Gattis was rescued from the National League so he can finally have a chance to play his natural position of DH. The bullpen actually looks decent, too. Luke Gregerson will close, while they've got two legitimate setup guys in longtime Astro Chad Qualls and Pat Neshek, who made the All-Star team last year with the Cardinals. Of course, the last piece of the puzzle is the starting rotation, and in Houston, that's the missing piece. Dallas Keuchel is a legitimate No. 1. He actually finished above .500 last season, going 12-9 in 29 starts. Scott Feldman's a decent No. 2. But behind them, the rotation is questionable. It'll come around. The predictions called for the Astros to be contenders in 2016, 2017. I think that's right around where we'll see it. Houston's no longer the worst team in baseball. They're not even the worst team in the American League. Hell, they might not even be the worst team in Texas. I give the Rangers a slight edge, but it's close.
Projected Lineup: Colby Rasmus-LF, Jose Altuve-2B, George Springer-RF, Chris Carter-1B, Jason Castro-C, Evan Gattis-DH, Luis Valbuena-3B, Jed Lowrie-SS, Jake Marisnick-CF
Projected Rotation: Dallas Keuchel, Scott Feldman, Asher Wojciechowski, Collin McHugh, Roberto Hernandez
Closer: Luke Gregerson
Projected Record: 70-92
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