2014 American League West Projections

After three consecutive seasons of making the playoffs the Texas Rangers fell one game short of the postseason in 2013. It came down to a one-game, winner-take-all game and the Rangers fell to the Tampa Bay Rays. The past few off-seasons have seen the Rangers miss out on being able to retain key players as they departed via free agency. In the last few years The Rangers were unable to retain Cliff Lee (Phillies), Josh Hamilton (Angels), and C.J. Wilson (Angels). Rangers general manager Jon Daniels rolled up his sleeves this off-season in the effort to improve this ball club.

When Daniels traded Kinsler to the Tigers, he parted with a player that averaged a .349 on-base percentage, 24 home runs, 82 runs batted in, and 26 stolen bases in an eight-year MLB career. But the Rangers organization is high on 21-year old Jurickson Profar. In 94 career games with the Rangers, Profar only has a .231 batting average, but Daniels and Rangers manager Ron Washington are hopeful that he is ready for a breakout season in 2014.
After signing an eight-year, $120 million extension last season, Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus stole a career-high 42 bases in 2013. With Kinsler no longer with the Rangers it will be vital for Andrus to get on base and be the table setter for Beltre, Fielder, and Rios. Outfielder Shin Soo-Choo received $130 million from the Rangers for the next seven years to join Andrus as far as a getting on base in front of Beltre, Rios, and Fielder. For his nine-year MLB career, Choo has averaged a .389 on-base percentage to go along with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases and this Rangers team may be the deepest team that he has ever been affiliated with.

Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish has been as good as advertised in his two seasons with the Rangers as he is 29-18 with a 3.34 earned run average in his two seasons in Arlington. Darvish led the American League in strikeouts with 277 last season and if he flirts with the 20-win plateau this season it will more than likely symbolize a good season for the Rangers. The Rangers 3.62 earned run average last season was fourth in the American League, but they did not have a pitcher win more 13 games.

The last few seasons have seen the Rangers run out of gas down the stretch and Washington will look to manage this team more in the summer to preserve them for a stretch run into October.

The past two seasons have seen the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim presented with hefty expectations that they have been unable to meet. Following the 2011 Major League Baseball season Angels owner Arte Moreno went out and spent big money in free agency to sign first baseman Albert Pujols and starting pitcher C.J. Wilson. What Moreno received in return was 89 victories and no playoff berth. After that season Moreno went out and signed outfielder Josh Hamilton to a five-year, $125 million deal. For his second consecutive huge dip into free agency Moreno and his Angels endured another season without a playoff berth and their first losing season since 2010. Now Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto and longtime manager Mike Scioscia must find a way to work together in getting this team back to the postseason.

In his two seasons with the Angels, Pujols has hit 47 home runs while he hit 37 in his last season as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. Pujols missed 63 games last season as he was hampered by a foot injury. Pujols is expected to enter 2014 healthy for the Angels, but he is 34-years old and his best years in Major League Baseball appear to be in the rear-view mirror.

Last season Hamilton hit 21 home runs with 79 runs batted in and a .250 batting average. Scioscia moved Hamilton up and down the Angels lineup throughout the season, but he just appeared to be lost at the plate as his timing was gone. Like Pujols, Hamilton is a player that can get hot and put a lineup on his back for several weeks and the folks in Southern California are hopeful that he can get on one of those tears this season.

The engine that has made the Angels offense go the past few seasons has been outfielder Mike Trout. In just 336 games in the Majors, Trout has stolen 86 bases, hit 62 home runs, and drawn comparisons to some of the best to ever play baseball such as Mickey Mantle. Trout is Mr. Five Tool as there isn’t anything that he cannot achieve on the baseball diamond. After winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2012 and finishing as the runner-up in the AL MVP voting last year, you can expect Trout to once again be in the MVP mix this season.

The Angels organization has a thing for former Cardinals as third baseman David Freese was acquired from St. Louis this off-season. Freese is the 2011 World Series MVP who will always be remembered for his heroics in helping the Cardinals come back and win the World Series in 2011. Freese is a lifetime .286 hitter that has averaged 15 home runs per season during his five-year MLB career (all with the Cardinals), but was he simply just another player that excelled in the system that is in St. Louis?

The Angels had one of the top offenses in the American League last season, but they were undone by their pitching that was 11th in the AL in earned run average at 4.23. Angels pitchers allowed opponents to have a .261 batting average against them which was tied for 12th in the American League last season. In 2013, C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver were the only two Angel pitchers that recorded double-digits in victories as the two combined to win 28 games. Injuries slowed Weaver down in 2013 while Wilson picked up the slack for him. For the Angels to remain in contention, the duo of Wilson and Weaver must combine to win at least 35 games as the Angels are very thin in their starting rotation.

Scioscia was able to survive a tough 2013 season, but if this Angels team is on the outside looking in as far as the playoff go in 2014 you can expect Moreno to make changes to this team.

The Seattle Mariners have not had a winning season since 2009 and for the most part they have become irrelevant in the American League West. The Mariners have not made the playoffs since 2001 as they are now second class citizens to the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics within the AL West. Seeing that this team needed to become relevant again, Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik went out and explored the free agent market this off-season. First off, Zduriencik crossed paths with second baseman Robinson Cano.

After spending the first nine years of his Major League Baseball career with the New York Yankees, Cano decided to leave the Bronx once the Mariners offered him a 10-year deal worth $240 million. For his MLB career Cano has averaged 24 home runs along with 97 runs batted in and a .309 batting average. Cano primarily did this at Yankee Stadium, but now he will be calling Safeco Field home which has not been inviting to hitters over the years. Cano didn’t play on the best Yankee team last season as he lacked protection and the Mariners were last in the American League for batting average in 2013 as they only hit .237 as a team.

Zduriencik also signed former Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Corey Hart to give Cano some protection in the lineup. For his nine-year MLB career Hart has averaged 26 home runs and 87 runs batted in per season along with a career batting average of .276 and a .334 on-base percentage.

In spite of having one of the best starting pitchers in baseball the Mariners team earned run of average of 4.31 was 13th in the American League last season. Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez was 12-10 last season with a 3.04 earned run average while striking out 216 batters, but he has lacked run support for the majority of his career. If the Mariners are unable to score some more runs for the one-time AL Cy Young Award winner in Hernandez then they will continue to waste his electric stuff on the mound. Hernandez and starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma give Mariners first-year manager Lloyd McClendon a good combo at the top of the rotation as they both have the potential to win 17 games this season, but they cannot do it all by themselves. Mariners 2010 first round pick in pitcher Taijuan Walker has entered spring training looking to earn a spot in the starting rotation which could give the Mariners three power arms in their rotation to combat some of the big bats in the American League West.

The Mariners were fourth in the AL last season in blown saves with 23. To combat this Zduriencik signed closer Fernando Rodney to a two-year deal worth $14 million. In his last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Rodney saved 85 games, but you always have to be wary when players leave the Rays as they are not quite the same and you have to wonder if Rodney will fall under that spell?

The Astros pitching staff did not fare any better as they were also near the bottom of every statistical category for pitching in the AL. The Astros did not have a single pitcher throw 160 innings last season and manager Bo Porter enters this season still searching for answers with this team.

The rebuilding process is in full effect as the Astros payroll currently stands at $41 million. Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow is hard at work trying to rebuild the minor-league system in Houston, but unfortunately for his sake there is no one coming down the pipe that can help this team win in 2014.