This will be my last division wrap-up, just not going to do the National League division by division. I'll mention who I feel should win the NL awards in a post with my AL wrap up.
Also, if you're wondering where the Orioles-related posts have gone....I just need a break. It's been really, really frustrating watching them lately, and taking the time to write about them just gets me even more frustrated. Don't worry...this off-season I will be all over every move, with plenty of suggestions myself. (Are you ready for Mark Teixeira-mania? Or as a friend called it, Tex-Mania! There will be like, a million Teixeira related rumors this off-season. Just be ready for them.)
Anyways, on to the AL West.
Most Encouraging Team: Los Angeles Angels
I'd say you are the most encoouraging team when you wrap up the division in, like, June. OK, not quite, but didn't it feel that way? This has been the Angels year, simple as that. And how crazy is it that they will have to open the playoffs with either Tampa or the Red Sox? Congrats on running away with your division and dominating the league, boys...enjoy Boston! This year has been about the pitching for the Angels mostly. All you hear about is K-Rod breaking the saves record. Look. I know it's a great accomplishment. Good for K-Rod, and he has been very good this year. But he alone can't get saves. His team has to put him in lots and lots of save situations for him to....you know what, I'll rant about this later. Let's get to everyone else. The rotation missed Kelvim Escobar for the entire season, but they showed they didn't need him. Ervin Santana had a breakout year and Joe Saunders was very solid. John Lackey was injured early on but may have been their best pitcher late in the season. When you throw in around average seasons from Jared Weaver and Jon Garland, you have the best staff in the AL. The offense was very blah earlier in the season, but the addition of Mark Texeira has been huge. Will he be the boost to their offense in October that Tony Reagins (Angels GM) hoped? We'll see soon enough...
Most Disappointing Team: Seattle Mariners
Adam Jones, George Sherrill Chris Tillman, Tony Butler, Kam Mickolio for Erik Bedard. That was bad enough for Seattle. Then a season where you are the worst team in baseball, your GM and Manager get canned, and I'd say you are a shoe-in for disappointment of the year in your division. Bedard was injured almost all season, and Felix Hernandez (while still having a solid season) battled injuries as well. Richie Sexson was so bad they cut him. Kenji Johjima was worse, and big time prospect catcher Jeff Clement wasn't much better. Jose Vidro was their DH for a good part of the season. I think that sentence right there just about sums it up.
AL West MVP:
5- Vlad Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels
Sure, Vlad hasn't been as good as he usually is, but he still had a very solid season. He hit over .300, and slugged over .500. He isn't nearly the same player in the field as he once was, but he still has a rocket for an arm. Certainly not a "Classic Vlad" season, and we won't win it like he did in '04, but he is in the Top 5 in the West.
4- Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers
The Texas guys have huge numbers, a lot is because of the park they play in, but a lot is just because this team had a ton of good hitters on it. Kinsler, before he got injured, was slugging over .500 and had an OBP at .375. He also stole 26 bases and was only caught twice. He was the perfect leadoff hitter for the top of Texas' order. His defense is still pretty bad (that's an understatement), but he certainly makes the Top 5.
3- Raul Ibanez, Seattle Mariners
You might be doing a "HUH?" right now, but Ibanez was one of the few bright spots in Seattle this season. Slugging over .500 before a bit of a recent slump, he also has an OBP near .370. He has driven in over 100 runs, which is really saying something considering he had Jose Lopez and a 320 or so OBP hitting in front of him most of the year (although he did have Ichiro at the top of the lineup). Ibanez is solid in left field, and is really one of the few things Mariner fans had to cheer this season.
2- Milton Bradley, Texas Rangers
I know, I know. Bradley's 318/435/561 "slash" line is incredible. He has been great this year, no doubt. However, there are two reasons I am giving the West MVP to Hamilton. First off, Josh has played in just about every game this year, while Bradley has missed about 30 games or so. Secondly, Hamilton plays a very good center field, and Bradley is a DH.
1- Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
Hamilton certainly has the counting stats in his favor. 31 homers and 121 RBI's. His slash stats are also nothing to sneeze at, with a .370 OBP and a .530 slugging. Throw in his defense and how many games he has played, and I'll take Hamilton as the West MVP.
Apologies to: Torii Hunter, Mark Teixeira, and Ervin Santana, Los Angeles; Jack Cust, Oakland.
AL West Cy Young:
5- Brad Ziegler, Oakland
How about this guy? He came up and threw like 38 straight scoreless innnings. How incredible is that? Can you imagine if a guy from Boston or New York had done that? ESPN would have had live-look in's everytime the guy went out there. But even after giving up a run, his ERA is still under 1 and he's pitched almost 60 innings.
4- John Lackey, Los Angeles
He was banged up at the start of the season, but has pitched great recently. His ERA is at 3.35, and has great K/BB numbers (129/38). I'd fully expect him to dominate in the postseason. He could be a free agent at the end of this season, but the Angels have an option for him and they would be crazy not to pick it up.
3- Justin Duchscherer, Oakland
For all the talk that Oakland just gave away their good pitchers (Harden is really good, Blanton is average at best), Duchscherer has been fantastic this year. I know he only threw 140 innings, but they were pretty darn good. He had 95 K's to only 34 walks, and had a WHIP right at 1. With all the great pitching Oakland has in the minor leagues to add to Duchscherer next season, don't expect the A's to be down for long.
2- Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles
OK. Now I can rant. Francisco Rodriguez broke the saves record this season. He had a very good year. His team also played in a TON of close games, thus giving him lots of opportunties to collect saves. He was, by my count, the 5th best closer in the American League this season. I'd take Rivera, Papelbon, Nathan, or Soria over K-Rod this season. His ERA is good at 2.31, but he had 34 walks in 66 innings, way too high a number. The 75 K's are great, but he gave up a ton of baserunners. Look, I know it sounds like I'm trying to hate on him, but I'm not. He had a very solid year. It's just that I get frustrated when people talk about him for AL Cy Young, or (gasp) AL MVP. That's ridiculous. The guy had a good year, played for the best team in the league that happened to play in a lot of close games. That's why he broke the saves record.
1- Ervin Santana, Los Angeles
What a great year from Santana. He threw 213 innigns and had 209 K's, while only walking 46. His ERA was at 3.25. This guy was the best starter for the best team in the league, and he is the Cy Young for the AL West.
Apologies to: Joe Saunders and Scot Shields, Los Angeles; Felix Hernandez and Brandon Morrow, Seattle;
All-AL West Team:
Catcher- Kurt Suzuki, Oakland (Runner-Up: Gerald Laird, Texas)
Not a ton of great choices here, but I'll take Suzuki and a bit better OBP over Laird and his advantage in slugging.
First Base- Mark Teixeira, Los Angeles (Runner-Up: Chris Davis, Texas)
Not close for me. I know Teixeira has only been in LA since the deadline, but he has been on fire. I'm going to predict a Carlos Beltran 2005 type of post-season for Tex, leading him into a huuuuuge contract this off-season.
Second Base- Ian Kinsler, Texas (Runner-UP: Howie Kendrick, Los Angeles)
Solid season for Kendrick, but Kinsler is a monster at the top of the line-up. If he can turn into even an average fielder he could be the best 2B in the league (inlcuding Pedroia).
Shortstop- Michael Young, Texas (Runner-Up: Erick Aybar, Los Angeles)
Weak year for short-stops in the AL West. Is Bobby Crosby ever going to turn into anything? Peter Gammons and myself (I'll bet you didn't know we discussed these things) both thought Crosby would be the MVP pre-season two years ago. At least Peter and myself have one thing in common (being wrong about that. Really wrong.)
Third Base- Ramon Vasquez, Texas (Runner-Up- Adrian Beltre, Seattle)
Beltre hit with some pop but his OBP is disgusting. Vasquez had a really nice year so he gets the nod. Have we seen the last of Eric Chavez, with all the injuries he has had to battle?
Left Field- Raul Ibanez, Seattle (Runner-Up: Garret Anderson, Los Angeles)
Jack Cust would be here instead of Anderson but we're counting him as a DH. As I said earlier, Ibanez had a great season and is really underrated.
Center Field- Josh Hamilton, Texas (Runner-Up: Torii Hunter, Los Angeles)
With as well as Hunter has played this year, don't the Angels wish they didn't have all that money tied into Gary Matthews Jr. so that they could pay for Texieira to stay? They may still anyways, but that Matthews contract keeps looking worse and worse.
Right Field- Vlad Guerrero, Los Angeles (Runner-Up: Ichiro Suzki, Seattle)
I know Ichiro played a lot of center, but I'll put him in right because although he didn't hit to the gaps as much as normal this year, he is a really fun player to watch. He still ended up hitting over 310 this year, and although his OBP was at 365, he is still one of the best leadoff hitters in the game to me because of how much he messes with a pitchers head when he is at first base.
Designated Hitter- Milton Bradley, Texas (Runner-Up: Jack Cust, Oakland)
Oriole fans only remember Cust as the guy who fell flat on his face while trying to score in a game against the Yankees. I'm guessing A's fans will remember him for his 30 homers and .370 OBP.
Well, that wraps up the division round-ups. I'll be doing a complete AL/NL wrap-up with playoff predictions right before the playoffs get going sometime next week. I'll try to do a couple O's posts this week as well, but they'll probably be just related to the younger guys.
For example: Lou Montanez hit another bomb tonight! IF this guy isn't our 4th outfielder on Opening Day next year, with a hope to get him into the lineup a couple times a week on the regular, I'm going to be very upset.
