Guerrero finally has more offense to protect him in the lineup. (PV Bruin/flickr)
With the 2008 season opener upon us I figured it would be as good a time as ever to give my exciting 2008 division, playoff and award winner picks! We'll start off by covering each division (one division per day) with the order they will finish along with some brief statements about each team and the standout players from that division. Once all of the divisions are done we will talk playoffs and then finally the 2008 award winners. As always, let me know your opinion on each one!
1.) Los Angeles Angels: If Lackey is healthy, Escobar (18 wins and 3.40 ERA in ’07) is for real and Weaver steps up (needs 15+ wins) I love this rotation. The lineup now has a lot of speed and power to protect Vlad. Overpaid for Hunter (but not as badly as they did Matthews Jr. the year before) and caused a rift of who will play left vs. DH but strengthened the lineup in the process. They will have to fend off the M’s all season but should prevail.
2.) Seattle Mariners: Sure the addition of Bedard was fantastic but they mortgaged their future with what they gave up. Silva was a huge waste of money and has shown it this spring. “King Felix” needs to take his throne. Lineup should be solid again with Ichiro, Vidro and Beltre. Need Sexson to improve at the plate and for Ibanez to start hitting right away in the season. If not they won’t compete with the Angels.
3.) Texas Rangers: Addition of Hamilton and Bradley will help protect Young a little more in the middle of the lineup. Rotation and bullpen is as shaky as ever. This team has been stuck in limbo for a long, long time and management needs to either (excuse the crude metaphor) piss or get off the pot. They just never seem to do anything to improve this team other than sign bad players to long contracts.
4.) Oakland Athletics: Not sure why I picked them to finish last as they seemingly always find a way to win with virtually nothing. The Haren trade brought in some solid young prospects. The best of the group was Gonzalez who will soon be crushing homers for the A’s until he reaches a contract year and leaves/gets traded just like every other successful player (Giambi, Hudson, Zito, Mulder, Tejada, Haren, etc). Chavez (who didn’t leave) needs to be healthy to give A’s fans someone to cheer about. Watch Barton as he will emerge as an on-base machine.
2008 AL West Standout Predictions
Star Bat: Vladamir Guerrero
Star Arm: Felix Hernandez
Biggest Flop: Carlos Silva
Starburst: Adam Jones Daric Barton
Best Rookie: Daric Barton
Check out the AL East and AL Central predictions and check out the NL East tomorrow!
With the 2008 season opener upon us I figured it would be as good a time as ever to give my exciting 2008 division, playoff and award winner picks! We'll start off by covering each division (one division per day) with the order they will finish along with some brief statements about each team and the standout players from that division. Once all of the divisions are done we will talk playoffs and then finally the 2008 award winners. As always, let me know your opinion on each one!
1.) Los Angeles Angels: If Lackey is healthy, Escobar (18 wins and 3.40 ERA in ’07) is for real and Weaver steps up (needs 15+ wins) I love this rotation. The lineup now has a lot of speed and power to protect Vlad. Overpaid for Hunter (but not as badly as they did Matthews Jr. the year before) and caused a rift of who will play left vs. DH but strengthened the lineup in the process. They will have to fend off the M’s all season but should prevail.
2.) Seattle Mariners: Sure the addition of Bedard was fantastic but they mortgaged their future with what they gave up. Silva was a huge waste of money and has shown it this spring. “King Felix” needs to take his throne. Lineup should be solid again with Ichiro, Vidro and Beltre. Need Sexson to improve at the plate and for Ibanez to start hitting right away in the season. If not they won’t compete with the Angels.
3.) Texas Rangers: Addition of Hamilton and Bradley will help protect Young a little more in the middle of the lineup. Rotation and bullpen is as shaky as ever. This team has been stuck in limbo for a long, long time and management needs to either (excuse the crude metaphor) piss or get off the pot. They just never seem to do anything to improve this team other than sign bad players to long contracts.
4.) Oakland Athletics: Not sure why I picked them to finish last as they seemingly always find a way to win with virtually nothing. The Haren trade brought in some solid young prospects. The best of the group was Gonzalez who will soon be crushing homers for the A’s until he reaches a contract year and leaves/gets traded just like every other successful player (Giambi, Hudson, Zito, Mulder, Tejada, Haren, etc). Chavez (who didn’t leave) needs to be healthy to give A’s fans someone to cheer about. Watch Barton as he will emerge as an on-base machine.
2008 AL West Standout Predictions
Star Bat: Vladamir Guerrero
Star Arm: Felix Hernandez
Biggest Flop: Carlos Silva
Starburst: Adam Jones Daric Barton
Best Rookie: Daric Barton
Check out the AL East and AL Central predictions and check out the NL East tomorrow!
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Comments
Re: 2008 Division Predictions: AL West
by
Anonymous
on Sat 22 Mar 2008 02:36 AM EDT | Permanent Link
did you just put the words "Vidro" and "solid" in the same sentence?
Re: Re: 2008 Division Predictions: AL West
HA! Good point, but you have to admit, despite his ability to hit for power, the guy did a decent job at getting on base last year. He hit .314/.381/.394 in 2007 and that's pretty much what you expect the guy to do.
But I still have to admit that your point has validity.
But I still have to admit that your point has validity.