Maybe Next Year

I really wanted to pick the Mariners to win the AL West. I live in Seattle now, the idea of heading downtown to the playoffs to watch Erik Bedard or King Felix face off with some AL foe in October baseball is an appetizing thought. Sadly, when presented with the facts I just couldn't make the jump.The M's played above their heads throughout last year, probably outperforming even how they would have projected the season themselves. Yet, 88 wins is nothing to sneeze at and after that they added one of the American League's best pitchers in Bedard. The 1, 2 punch of Bedard and Hernandez, with elite closer J.J. Putz at the back of the bullpen, had me dreaming of the possibility that the M's might take down the Angels to win the crown in the West. This dream will certainly continue throughout the season, but for the purpose of this post I just can't predict it. After the three players listed above, and the perennially amazing Ichiro, the team is simply full of holes. There are plenty of players who might play well this year, but few that can be counted on to perform at a high level.

The Angels on the other hand, while you might not consider any part of their team the best in the League, bring together a strong rotation, bullpen and lineup to create a balanced attack that will probably net them another trip to the playoffs.

Perhaps this offseason, combined with last, will hurt the team in years to come, as the unwise deals with aging OF coming off career years comes back to bite them, but this year that shouldn't factor in, and they'll probably even get some bang out of their buck for a bit.

So, this year I regret to say that my prediction for the AL West Division Champs is not my hometown M's, but instead the geographically confused Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
East: New York Mets
Central: Chicago Cubs
West: Arizona Diamondbacks

AMERICAN LEAGUE
East: Boston Red Sox
Central: Cleveland Indians
West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim