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After an off season that saw Seattle trade their young and talented future CF Adam Jones, a 5-tool player, to Baltimore in a package for 29-year old Left-handed SP Erik Bedard, Seattle now finds itself with the second worst record in baseball (2 wins more than the Nationals). Although Bedard is 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 15 starts so far this season, but he’s been hurt and not as effective or dominant as they had hoped. Up to the All Star break, Seattle has fired their GM and team manager, then released 1B Richie Sexton (now a member of the Yankees in a reduced role). They are admitting their mistakes and even Bedard is now trade bait either via waivers in August or at the end of the season. Their ace closer JJ Putz has been hurt as well, but on the bright side, set up man Brandon Morrow filled in well in his extended absence. To add insult to injury, when a team allows 74 more runs to score than they produce, the odds of that team having a winning record diminishes. Better luck next year! Hopefully we can solicit some comments from the USS Mariner bloggers.

Oakland A’s

First there was Dan Haren to the Diamondbacks prior to this season, then there was Nick Swisher to the White Sox earlier this year and more recently there was Rich Harden to the Cubs. In the early goings, the A’s sat on top of the AL West, but that didn’t last long. Not with the injuries to the Sweeney’s and newly acquired Frank Thomas. Now, they’re barely above .500 and trade talks are abound as GM Billy Beane retools for the future while somehow fielding a team that is not the push-overs most people saw them as being. Now if they make a few more trades they just might be! In my opinion, they are out of the running in the west this year, but watch out in 2010 and beyond. They do, however, own the lowest runs allowed than anyone in the division and that alone is what kept them in the hunt for as long as they were early on. Hopefully, someone at the blog, Athletics Nation can provide us with more insight into the A’s.

Texas Rangers

If they only had more good pitching… Then again, how many other major league teams are saying that very same thing (the Phillies, Braves, Astros, Cardinals, Orioles, etc., etc., etc.)? But like the Phillies in the NL East, the Rangers have become an offensive powerhouse, winning games by their offense alone in spite of their limited pitching staff. For proof of this, just look at the difference in their runs allowed to their runs produced. They do have some highlight reel caliber young players in CF Josh Hamilton, SS Michael Young and a bevy of young talent at the most elusive catcher position, which might bag them more talent in trades both this year and in years to come. The good thing is that they produce an insane amount of runs! The bad news is that they also give up an insane amount of runs, too. Hopefully, someone at the blog, Lone Star Ball can provide us with more insight into the Rangers.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

This just in…The Angels have completed a deal that sends 1B Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek to Atlanta for 1B Mark Teixeira to further solidify their offense around RF/DH Vladimir Guerrero (one of the games best hitters). Not only is their pitching solid with starters like Joe Saunders, John Lackey and John Garland, then add to that set up man Scot Shields and closer K-Rod who is closing in on the single season saves record which he is a shoe in to break (barring injury). On top of all that, in a year that is seeing widespread poor play on the road, the Angels are one of the few teams in baseball to have a winning record on the road this year. Not only do they possess a winning road record, but their road record (.648) is better than their home record (.596). They also boast the best runs scored/allowed differential in their division (43). They are fast and play a NL style games due to that speed, but with the acquisition of Teixeira to go along with Guerrero, they now have added enough pop to make that speed really effective. They are my favorites to win this division and I know I am not going out on a limb with this one either. For more insight on this intriguing AL West team, maybe we can entice someone from Halos Heaven to comment here.

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