All Entries in the "AL West" Category
Around The Horn in MLB News
Image by JudeanPeoplesFront via Flickr Here are a few links to the trades and signings this Hot Stove Season from teams who are either not currently covered here or haven’t been covered in a while…in alphabetical order and from the blogs currently on my blogroll. If you want to be added to my team blogrolls [...]
Mariners Griffey Present, Hernandez the Future
If this was the end, what an end it was. Two eras could end in Seattle very soon as both Felix Hernandez and Ken Griffey Jr. may have set foot on the grass at Safeco Field for the last time. The two players are on very opposite ends of the proverbial candle that represents their [...]
10 Reasons the Angels will be in the ALCS
The Angels are headed to the ALCS, after they finally defeat their traditional post season nemesis, the Boston Red Sox. Bet the house on it. Granted, it’s hard to come up with a solid baseball-based argument to support that bold statement. The Red Sox have owned the Angels in the post season since Dave Henderson [...]
Thoughts On The Trade Deadline: The Angels
Another trade deadline passed, another swirl of rumors connecting the Angels to nearly every premium player out there, and disappointingly but not unexpectedly – another stretch run in which the Angels have decided to sit on their hands and stand pat. Last year’s acquisition of Mark Teixiera not withstanding, the Angels have been quiet more [...]
The Rangers Still Have Hope For A Playoff Chance
The Texas Rangers have traditionally had a rough time with the second half of the season, but this season seems to be a little different. While they are winners of 7 out of 10 games, they do have hit a bump in the road with the AL-worst Oakland Athletics. The Rangers were quiet during the [...]
Baseball Reflection’s MLB Keychain Raffle
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be [...]
Reflections on the Mariners in July
It’s been 10 days since the All-Star break, the Mariners have been 5-3; 51-45 overall, 25-19 at home, and .500 on the road. The momentum is good. Since the All-Star break Felix Hernandez won his 50th game, becoming the 15th-youngest to reach that mark since 1919. The Mariners won the series against Detroit. Ryan Rowland-Smith [...]
The Rangers Struggled in June
“The Rangers have lost the lead in the AL West with the Angels taking the spot that they have been so familiar with over the last four years. Texas has lost steam, but ironically, the pitching has kept them afloat and the offense has let them down. The Rangers have finished the past two seasons [...]
Oakland Still Sitting In Last Place
Although they were originally looked at as the number one contender to knock off the two time reigning American League West champions, the Oakland Athletics find themselves ten games under .500 and in last place in the division. General Manager Billy Beane deviated from his usual plan this past offseason by adding aging veterans and [...]
I still have hope for the Mariners
Filling in this month with our Reflections on the Mariners is Lori Thompson who helped us out before when she gave us a review of Alyssa Milano‘s Touch line of MLB apparel “from a woman’s point of view”. So, without further ado, he’s Lori’s take on her beloved Mariners… It was tough to lose JJ [...]
The Texas Rangers Are In First Place Still!
The surprise Rangers are sitting in first place in the AL West! This time it’s their pitching that’s carrying them. Unlike last season, the Rangers are relying more on balance from the starting pitching and offense to win games. Last season, the Rangers lost many close games (3 runs or less) and this season, they’re [...]
Rangers Reflections: The First 3 Weeks
One month into the season and we know two things about the Rangers: their offense is picking up where it left off last season and their pitching has drastically improved from last season’s horrendous output. Though both facets of the team are virtually the same as last season’s mark, the team has managed to stay [...]
Reflections on the Mariners
So what’s been happening in Mariner land over Spring Training? Not a lot of good. With frontline pitchers John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Kelvim Escobar and Justin Durocher out for significant amounts of playing time for the Angels and Athletics, the Mariners had an increased opportunity to steal the AL West out from the baseball world’s [...]
Baseball Reflections on the Rangers
The Texas Rangers finished the 2008 season with a 79-83 record, finishing second in the AL West behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. During the season, the Rangers finished first in all offensive categories, while finishing last in all but one category in pitching. It is no secret the Rangers need to focus on [...]
Reflections on the Mariners Part 2: Pitching
Starting rotation 2008: Felix Hernandez, Erik Bedard, Carlos Silva, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, R.A. Dickey, Ryan Feierabend, Ryan-Rowland Smith 2009: Hernandez, Bedard, Silva, Washburn, Brandon Morrow, Rowland-Smith This time last year people were talking about the M’s rotation being one of the best in baseball until everything went haywire. Felix stagnated, Bedard gave a career-low [...]
Reflections on the Mariners
Last October, Jack Zduriencik was anointed Seattle’s next GM after a ton of success in Milwaukee as Special Assistant to the GM for Player Personnel and Director of Amateur Scouting (and you thought his name was a mouthful, whew!). He may come in with a scouting background to bolster Seattle’s already-strong scouting department, but his [...]
Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim off Season Report
Season Wrap Up The Angels no doubt have the blue print for making the playoffs memorized. The only problem is that in the past few seasons, when they get there, they are unable to get out of the Divisional round where they were the victim of the Boston Red Sox this season in just four [...]
Texas Rangers off Season Report
Season Wrap Up Despite finishing under .500, the Rangers still finished second in the American League West, although they were about a mile behind the Angels at the top of the division. Their 79-83 record was not by any means impressive, but with the expectations that were in place for the Rangers before the season, [...]
Seattle Mariners off Season Report
Season Wrap Up Despite having the ninth ranked payroll in the major leagues at $118 million (and bringing the face of their franchise, Ichiro Suzuki, back in the off season), the Mariners still managed to lose 101 games and finish in last place in 2008. Prior to the season, many believed that the Mariners had [...]
Oakland Athletics off Season Report
Season Wrap Up It seems that general manager Billy Beane has no problem finding pitching for his team and even when he trades away his best pitchers, he always has some waiting in the wings. The problem for Beane is finding proven hitting that can produce on a daily basis without needing much in the [...]
Sleepless in Seattle: MLB Style
West W L PCT GB HOME PCT ROAD PCT RS RA DIFF Los Angeles 66 40 .623 – 31-21 .596 35-19 .648 480 437 43 Texas 55 52 .514 11.5 26-22 .542 29-30 .492 601 633 -32 Oakland 53 53 .500 13 32-28 .533 21-25 .457 446 404 42 Seattle 40 66 .377 26 20-32 [...]
Pete’s Picks: AL West
AL West 1. LA Angels of Anaheim : In the long run, I like the Angels overall in this division. I like their bullpen especially with K-Rod, Scot Shields and Justin Speier. The additions of CF Torii Hunter & SP Jon Garland help put them over the top and Garland helps ease the pain of [...]
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