The American League West- Pitching 2009

The pitching in the American League West is in one word…………Abysmal! A train wreck is a prettier site. The 2007 Yankee pitching was a better group of dysfunctional talent. Yankee & Boston fans shouldn't waste time staying up when the teams go on the road to the West, road trips will be predictably successful.

ERAs are high and pitching staffs consist of aging veterans with issues and youngsters with something to prove. Starters have lots of mileage and no one has a real closer. If I had to guess right now who would win the West, I couldn’t say. One thing for sure, the Wild Card is unlikely to come from the West this year. It will be a fight of the worst to win the Western Division.


Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:
My parents said if you can’t say something nice, say something positive, Kelvim Rodriquez will make NY Mets fans ecstatic. As to Angels fans, gone are the good ole days.

The Angels starters are aging. I hope for a glimmer of light in the minor league invitees, otherwise Angel games with AL East and Central times will just result in even higher ERAs. The brightest hope is Jose Arredondo who could be the up and coming closer.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.757; relief is 0.616 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.710 or 115 games. That would work fine if they confine play to the West, but they have to face the East and Central, making them a 92 game winner and the probable champ.

If you live in LA, just root for the Lakers or Dodgers.

Oakland Athletics:
The Oakland Athletics consist of a lot of kids recently brought up from the minors. This team could end up with the best pitching. They have youth and leadership on t heir side. The pitching staff reminds me of the 1996 Yankees. Justin Duchscherer and Josh Devine have great potential and are the best starter and closer in the West, despite their youth.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.443; relief is 0.601 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.513 or 88 games.


Seattle Mariners:
The Mariners have a problem, they have plenty of starters, but no one can get out of the fifth. What makes that worse is they have some solid relief, but not enough to cap the gap and give the bullpen rest. They too will have to experiment with the youth o fill in the holes. I like Carlos Silva, I think he will be in Seattle a while.

While the pitching is shaky, pitching instruction even shakier; Rick Adair has taken over from Mel Stottlemyre. Adair didn’t do much as a pitcher, he never made it out of the minors, and did less at Texas. There will be crying over baseball in Seattle this year.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.323; relief is 0.327 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.354 or 53 games.


Texas Rangers:
The worst pitching in the division! Texas will be a good place for Boston and Yankee road games. The cowboy in the white hat will be Mike Maddux. Maddux came to Texas this year with a proven track record. If anyone can rope in those ERAs it will be him. But he has his work cut out for him.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.478; relief is 0.357 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.424 or 69 games.


AL East Winner: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (90 wins or better)


Also rans: Oakland (85 wins or better), Texas (70 wins or better), Seattle (60 wins or better).
Up next, offense.............