MLB 2008 Season Preview: American League West

For the latest installment of my preview of the 2008 Major League Baseball season, I’ll take a look at the American League West.

Last season the Angels were fourth in runs scored in the American Leauge but 10^th in total bases and 12^th in home runs. They have done an amazing job since Mike Scioscia has been running the team of getting on base and doing the little things to score runs: they hit and run, steal bases and take the extra base whenever possible. There inability to strike quickly manifested itself in the playoffs against the Red Sox last year when they were unable to come of with the quick strikes to score runs in bunches and keep up with a high powered offense that was firing on all cylinders. If Vlad Guerrero wasn’t able to come up with that hit, then no one would. Garret Anderson showed some pop in the last couple months of the season, but injuries are clearly beginning to take their toll on him and even when he is in the lineup, he is not nearly as dangerous as he once was.

Torii Hunter was signed in the offseason to provide another power bat to help Vlad shoulder the load after a season in which he hit 28 home runs and drove in a career high 107. Prior to that, Hunter has only one other season with at least 100 RBI. He has never been one to carry and offense and in Minnesota he was relieved of that burden the last couple years by Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. I am skeptical that at 32 he is going to be able to sustain the numbers that he put up for the first time last season. On the other hand, if Casey Kotchman and Howie Kendrick (who will both be 25 this season) can develop into the hitters they are expected to be, and Juan Rivera can return to the form he showed before missing nearly all of last season due to an injury, the Angels offense instantly boasts more pop than they demonstrated last year.

And to follow up on that question, if they are healthy, will they still be in Oakland at the end of the season?

When he’s health harden is easily one of the most dominant pitchers in the game. Unfortunately he has not been able to put in a full season since 2004. That same season, Bobby Crosby hit 22 home runs and won rookie of the year. In subsequent years, he has been touted as a preseason MVP candidate, however he has been unable to play in more than 96 games in any of those seasons and even when he is in the lineup, his numbers have been unimpressive, though all the injuries could easily play a factor there.

With Oakland into a long term rebuilding project, they do not even have much interest in players who will be free agent eligible in the next few years. Even though Dan Haren is affordable now, they didn’t hesitate to trade him because he will demand too much money by the time the team is ready to compete. Since not much is expected the team this season, Joe Blanton will surely be traded before the deadline, and if Harden and Crosby can stay healthy and produce this season, they would also make very tempting trade bait (especially Harden for a contender in need of pitching) and could potentially bring a decent haul of prospects. Given their track records, that remains a pretty big if.

Seattle ended up a surprise contender last season despite a pitching staff that ranked 10^th in the American League in both ERA and strikeouts. To fix that, they went out and traded for Erik Bedard who could team with Felix Hernandez to be the best front end of a rotation in the entire Major Leagues this season. This is all contingent upon Hernandez taking the next step in his development as a pitcher.

Still only 21, Hernandez is already miles ahead of most pitchers his age, the best of which are still probably starting the season at Double A. The past two seasons, Hernandez has been expected to anchor the pitching staff; pretty lofty expectations for some one who cannot legally drink a beer after the game. Anyone who saw Hernandez steal the spotlight from Daisuke Matsuzaka in his Fenway debut last April by nearly no-hitting the eventual World Champs is well aware of what his potential is capable of. Hernandez has still dealt with bouts of wildness and learning to be more reliant on his secondary pitches. Most Major League pitchers see a substantial improvement from there second to third years in the big leagues as they finally begin to make the adjustments necessary to be a quality pitcher and not just a thrower. With Bedard heading up the rotation and taking a lot of the pressure off of him, I think is going to be the season we see Felix Hernandez really show that he is going to be a star Major League pitcher.

The answer to this question will be the difference between the Rangers beings a respectable team or one of the worst in the American League. Once again they will have absolutely zero pitching and will pin their hopes of respectability on their offense. The Rangers will pin these hopes on Josh Hamilton and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Hamilton had a spectacular comeback year last year for the Reds hitting 19 home runs in only 300 at bats. It’s hard to make any kind of projections for him given that he was completely out of baseball for so long but one could reason that with a year under his belt to knock the rust off, he should improve on his numbers from last season provided he can stay healthy. Saltalamacchia was the top prospect in the Braves organization but was stuck behind Brian McCann on the depth chart. The big catcher proved he could hit Major League pitching when injuries gave him the chance to play. The biggest question with Salty is getting him settled into a position. Gerald Laird will get most of the time behind the plate (though teams have often inquired about his availability via trade) and Ben Broussard is the likely first baseman, Saltalamacchia will get time at both positions as well as DH. Both Hamilton and Saltalamacchia should combine to put up very solid offensive numbers, neither is likely to provide the presence in the middle of the lineup that Teixeira did.