Is the AL West the New Powerhouse?

balla456 · Post #1 » by **balla456** » Wed Feb 1, 2012 4:18 pm

spam

As a red sox fan...I am a little worried about the wild card.

Post #2 » by **craig01** » Thu Feb 2, 2012 1:09 am

It's going to be interesting, but I'll bet that the east will still hold reign

ccvle · Post #3 » by **ccvle** » Thu Feb 2, 2012 2:18 am

If you consider the entire division then it is the AL EAST and not even close.

Pharmcat · Post #4 » by **Pharmcat** » Thu Feb 2, 2012 3:50 am

is this a joke?

al east is the powerhouse

Post #5 » by **ATL Boy** » Sun Feb 5, 2012 12:48 am

NL East is about to become a serious power house in a couple of years. That is if the Mets get it together

Post #6 » by **TyCobb** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 4:37 pm

Rangers and Angels, then fillers. Nah, I wouldn't say it's a powerhouse. :lol:

In fact, Oakland may be one of the worst teams, even with Cespedes, in all of baseball and the M's won't be good for a few years, although they do have a nice foundation in Smoak, Montero, and Ackley.

Bigdog1 · Post #7 » by **Bigdog1** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:16 am

Al west has 2 very dominant teams...while the other 2 should compete in aaa

Post #8 » by **Da Schwab** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:11 pm

The A's just signed Manny Ramirez.

Watch out world! The AL West is comin for errbody!

Slats · Post #9 » by **Slats** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:35 am

Da Schwab wrote:The A's just signed Manny Ramirez.

Watch out world! The AL West is comin for errbody!

Don't forget Chone Figgins is the new leadoff hitter for the M's!

Apathy · Post #10 » by **Apathy** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:52 pm

blue jays would win the al west

Triple M · Post #11 » by **Triple M** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:36 pm

Early to mid 2000 the Al west was somewhat a power house and probably the best div in the AL. The A's were usually a 90+ win team, The angels won a WS, + numerous 90 win seasons, etc. And Sea/texas had some solid seasons. At that time there wasn't a bad team in the div unlike the East which had the O's/Rays and the Central which had the Royals/Tigers/ even the Twins for awhile. Currently the division is below average with 2 contending type teams,a below avg team and the A's might be the worst team in the league.

Fola314 · Post #12 » by **Fola314** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:53 pm

Rangers have been in the World Series back to back, and all of their players are returning except Wilson, but they added Darvish. Until someone proves otherwise, the Rangers are the best team in the AL IMO. Angels added Pujols, Morales is healthy again, Trumbo is a beast, and they have a legit ace in Weaver and good pitching depth.

After that I agree, not as much depth as the AL East. I am an A's fan, and I'm not expecting much, but we aren't the worst team in the league IMO. It might look like a total rebuild because we traded 2 solid starting pitchers in Gio and Cahill, but the A's have always been able to replace good starting pitching. Problem for the last few seasons has been the offense, which I think they upgraded this offseason. A's probably won't be a playoff team until they move to San Jose due to payroll constraints.

Mariners also have offensive woes obviously, still have Felix. They added Montero and Iwakuma, and they will need Figgins to return to form.

Astros are actually joining the AL West in 2013, yea they are terrible now, but they have a new owner and GM and I like the moves they have made, they are going to be a high revenue team and they will turn it around.

So depth wise the AL East is better this season, but I think its possible the Rangers and Angels could be the two best teams in the AL.

bigboy1234 · Post #13 » by **bigboy1234** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:28 pm

Fola314 wrote:Trumbo is a beast

Griff83 · Post #14 » by **Griff83** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:28 am

Apathy wrote:blue jays would win the al west

I'm not sure they would win but I think they could challenge both Texas and LAA.
The AL East is gonna be so stacked this season with the Jays imo making a step up to around 90 wins.
I think you could legitimately make the case that the 3rd best team in the AL East this season is just as good as any team in the entire NL especially now with the Phillies missing both Howard and Utley.

Fola314 · Post #15 » by **Fola314** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:34 pm

I like the Jays as well, but I am hesitant to make anything out of spring training results. I know they are 20-5 or whatever, but it doesn't always translate. I'm not too up to date on the Jays, but don't they still need protection for Bautista? Rasmus is an upgrade in CF, and I know Lawrie had a good end to last seasn.

My A's went 14-5 in spring training and hit the cover off the ball, I'm optomistic but I don't think it matters much. The Padres and the Mariners have good spring training records.