AL West Baseball

If you want to know what the deal is with the American League West, you need to look at the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels. Those are the teams that define this division. The Seattle Mariners had a couple of good years in the recent past but never really took on a character of their own except for having Ichiro in their lineup.

No matter how often you count out the Athletics, they find a way to bounce back with gusto. They are always very keen on kicking butt in the regular season. But have trouble keeping that momentum going well into the playoffs. This is because they have no knockout punch. They have stability. They have hard work. They have decent guys. And they are motivated to win every game. They beat up on the weak teams. But when it comes down to the playoffs and the stakes get higher and the good players play well. It is clear to see that the Athletics are clearly no where near as good as the upper echelon teams.

But the Athletics will be at the top of the AL West again. There is no doubt about it. The Angels are struggling to find an identity after losing the likes of Eckstein and Molina. They are one of baseball's worst offenses and can easily be considered in a perpetual state of rebuilding. The Mariners and Rangers have poor pitching ballparks. This keeps good pitchers from joining their team. And although, they do fine at home, their horrible pitching puts them in a funk on the road.