TEXAS RANGERS: The Rangers definitely bolstered their roster this off-season by signing Shin Soo Choo and trading Ian Kinsler to the Detroit Tigers for Prince Fielder. That gives the Rangers an on base machine to lead off and a big left handed bat in the number 3 hole...one that hasn't been there since Josh Hamilton left after the 2012 season. The moves also gives the Rangers a very good outfield defense of Choo, Martin, and Rios. Those 3 are a big upgrade from what the team fielded last season. Pitching-wise the Rangers took a hit when Derek Holland messed his knee up playing with his dog back in December, but as of today (3-3-14) some veteran guys like Colby Lewis seem to be throwing very well. Another free agent the team signed in the off-season is former Atlanta Brave and Los Angeles Angel Tommy Hanson. Hanson hasn't had a good couple of years, but so far in spring training he looks to like he might be back to the form that made him a big time prospect with the Braves. The bullpen will be pretty good. Jason Frasor re-signed, Neftali Feliz seems to be completely healthy after his Tommy John surgery, and Joakim Soria is throwing the best he has since he had his TJ surgery too. Yes it hurt when Joe Nathan signed with the Tigers, but when you got Feliz and Soria as your options to be your closer, you are in good shape. If the Rangers break spring training with a starting rotation of Yu Darvish, Martin Perez, Colby Lewis, Tommy Hanson,and Alexi Ogando I'll be a happy Rangers fan. Then when Holland comes back, Ogando can go back to the bullpen. All in all I feel the Texas Rangers will win a lot of games in 2014.
LOS ANGELES ANGELS: The Angels come into this season with a lot to prove after one of the most disappointing seasons in team history last year. Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton definitely didn't live up to their expectations, ace Jared Weaver was injured a lot of the season, and they were very shaky in the back end of the rotation. The only constant positive person on that team was CJ Wilson, who was 17-7 with a 3.39 ERA in 33 starts. The Angels traded away a big bat in Mark Trumbo to Arizona as part of a 3-team trade in the off-season, but they got back in return starting pitchers Tyler Skaggs from the Diamondbacks and Hector Santiago from the Chicago White Sox. Skaggs was 2-3 with a 5.12 ERA in his first time in the big leagues. He is still considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. Santiago 4-9 with a 3.56 ERA on a very bad White Sox team. Both pitchers are expected to have much better seasons for the Halos. If Santiago and Skaggs can step up, the Angels will have a very good starting rotation. Despite blowing 4 saves last season, the Angels have said that Ernesto Frieri will be their closer. Their bullpen got better when they signed Fernando Salas from the St. Louis Cardinals. If the Angels' bats can get back to form and the pitching staff can step up, this will be a team to reckon with in 2014.
SEATTLE MARINERS: The Mariners were the most talked about team in the off-season when they signed prized free agent Robinson Cano to a 10-year, $240 million deal. The Mariners haven't had a solid bat in their line up for the last several years, but they do now. To go along with Cano, the Mariners traded for Logan Morrison from the Miami Marlins and signed free agent outfielder Cory Hart. Morrison is coming off a down year, where he hit .242 with 6 home runs and 36 RBI. But Morrison is known for having a good bat and is expected to bounce back under Mariners' new manager, Lloyd McClendon. Hart is somewhat of an unknown as he missed the 2013 season due to injuries. When healthy, Hart was one of the National League's premiere home run hitters. It'll be interesting to see if Hart can come back to form this season. On the mound, there isn't hardly a pitcher better than Felix Hernandez. He is one of the most dominating pitchers in all of baseball. Another big name pitcher that showed baseball how good he is was Hisashi Iwakuma. The problem is that Iwakuma has some serious problems with the middle finger on his pitching hand. The official word from Seattle is that he won't attempt to throw for another 3 weeks and that he will miss the start of the regular season. Unofficially this injury looks very similar to Adam Eaton, who the Texas Rangers traded Adrian Gonzalez to San Diego for. Eaton pitched only in a handful of games for the Rangers and never lived up to the hype because of the injury. This injury worries me for the Mariners. Seattle did solidify the 9th inning by signing Fernando Rodney, who was 5-4 with a 3.37 ERA and 37 saves for the Tampa Bay Rays last season. But getting to Rodney will be the issue for the Mariners in 2014.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS: The Oakland A's didn't do much this off-season to improve their team. They traded outfield prospect Michael Choice to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Craig Gentry. So in that aspect, they gained speed in the outfield. They traded Jemile Weeks to Baltimore for All-Star closer Jim Johnson while letting Grant Balfour go in free agency. They do have the same starting rotation coming back that led the A's to the division championship last season and for the most part they will have the same line up. I don't see the A's winning the division this year only because they didn't do anything to really improve themselves and other teams in the division improved majorly.
HOUSTON ASTROS: The Astros did in fact get a lot better this off-season. They signed free agent pitcher Scott Feldman to lead their young staff and brought in Jesse Crain and Chad Qualls to help lead the bullpen. My fear for the Astros is their lineup. Their lineup led the American League last season by striking out 1,535 times...and they didn't add anything to their lineup to improve. Now there are a few free agent bats out there that Houston as been linked too...aka Kendrys Morales. If the Astros sign Morales, then their lineup will be much better. However, I don't see Houston making a big play for him considering they would lose their first round draft pick in order to sign him. Houston has built up one of the best, if not the best, minor league system in baseball. And Nolan Ryan has agreed to be a consultant for the team. 2014 probably won't be the year for the Astros, but the AL West better be on the lookout for them in the near future.
My AL West 2014 Prediction:
1. Texas Rangers 94-68 -- GB
2. Los Angeles Angels 90-72 4 GB
3. Seattle Mariners 84-78 10 GB
4. Oakland Athletics 78-84 14 GB
5. Houston Astros 62-100 32 GB
So there's my AL West prediction for 2014. I do think the Texas Rangers will win the division, but I think it'll come down to the final week of the season. What do you think? Later on this week I'll take a look at the NL West and what I think about the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the rest of the NL West division. Find me on facebook by searching "The Line Drive Report" and follow me on Twitter @linedrivereport.
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