The Twins will win the Central, the Red Sox will win the East, and the West will go to Texas. I've already provided analysis for the Central and the East, all that remains is the West. I don't see the West changing all that dramatically. Texas will continue to excel - even without the presence of Vladimir Guerrero and Cliff Lee, Oakland will continue to rock the pitching (and only the pitching), the Angels have the bats but their rotation isn't as strong as it needs to be, and Seattle just sucks.
2010 Records
Texas Rangers: 90 - 72
Oakland Athletics: 81 - 81
Los Angeles Angels: 80 - 82
Seattle Mariners: 61 - 101
1st. Texas Rangers
The Rangers are coming off their first trip to the World Series. Their team is loaded with talent, and now more confident than ever. Feliz is coming off a rookie of the year award, and if he avoids the sophomore slump, look for him to be among the top pitchers in the league. In 2010, the Rangers scored the most runs of any team not in the AL East. Only Oakland and Tampa Bay had a better team ERA. This team will be a contender again this year - with their young guns filling the holes left by Guerrero and Lee.
2nd. Oakland Athletics
The Athletics will be competitive this year. They have a great young pitching staff (top in the AL), and they might see an improvement in their offense. Their pitching staff should only improve - and some of their pitchers could be great trade chips. This team will be good, and may even compete for a wild-card spot, but don't look for any miracles. This year.
3rd. Los Angeles Angels
The Angels won't see a whole lot of change from last year. This organization is getting old, but the management is doing things to improve. Torii Hunter has been moved out of center to give room for top prospect Peter Bourjos. Morales should return soon for the Angels, but I don't see him being enough to add 10+ wins to for the Angels. In what is surprisingly becoming a competitive division (minus Seattle), the Angels won't have the tools to come out on top.
4th. Seattle Mariners
What to say? 101 losses in 2010. The worst run production in the Major Leagues, finishing with 513 runs scored. They scored 74 fewer runs than the next team on the list, the Pirates. They scored more than 200 fewer runs than the American League average. That's just awful. Their pitching did pretty well last year, but with run production this low, they just don't stand a chance. Hope for at least some improvement. They can't get much worse.
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