AL West

Athletics (89 – 73): The A’s didn’t do too much this off-season, but with their young crop of talent, they didn’t have to. They’re also looking pretty smart for wrapping up Loaiza early in the off-season, as the price for starters has skyrocketed. After posting a home ERA under 3.00 in RFK last season, Loaiza should enjoy the even more friendly pitching confines of the virus-free McAfee Coliseum. The real story is how Milton Bradley will fare in Oakland. Will his sometimes harsh nature infect the clubhouse, or will he silence that and let his hustle do the talking for him. Look for Rich Harden to compete for the AL Cy Young and lead one of the best pitching staffs in the game, if not the best with Harden, Barry Zito, Danny Haren, Joe Blanton, and Esteban Loaiza. DIVISION WINNER

Angels (88 – 74): The Halos did a lot of standing pat this off-season as well, save for the swap of over-the-hillers Finley for Alfonso. The rest of the division is catching up with them, and their age is going to let the A’s overtake them this year. They need to infuse this team with the young talent now and let go of the Erstad’s and Anderson’s. Anderson’s OPS the last three years is going in the wrong direction: .885, .789, .743. Is Vlad’s OPS headed in the same direction: 1.012, .989, .959? Erstad is becoming a strikeout machine: 40, 74, 109.

Mariners (83 – 79): This team can’t be as bad as they were last year. They added another Japanese player in catcher Kenji Johjima to keep Ichiro company. It will be interesting to see how he makes the transition to the states as the first catcher to come over from the land of the rising sun. Don’t look for Beltre to be any better than he was last year. His OPS from 2001 to 2005 reads, .720, .729, .714, 1.017, .716. Maybe the M’s should have just signed him to a one year contract instead of that five year cash fest. Odds are he won’t put up numbers like he did in his first free agent year of ’04 until his next walk year in ’09. But the real question is will his contract be the worst one on the books, or will the averageness of Washburn and his bloated salary win the prize.

Rangers (81 – 81): Well they did what they said they would never do, and gave a pitcher a five year contract (well okay, four years with a vesting fifth year). Will the Millwood signing and the Eaton and Padilla trades be enough to boost the Rangers out of the cellar? Not this year, but I have stumbled upon the key. The answer to the Rangers’ quest for a trip to the World Series is to get rid of Buck Showalter, and the next year they’re virtually guaranteed to win the fall classic. After the Yankees got rid of Showalter in ’95, they won the Series with Torre in ’96. After Arizona got rid of Showalter in 2000, they won the Series with Brenly in 2001. They can hire whoever they want, hell, hire broadcaster Josh Lewin, it doesn’t matter just get rid of Showalter and the next year they’re a shoe-in to win it all.