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| Playoff Race: AL West |
| Written by Adam Adkins | |
| Friday, 27 July 2007 | |
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AL West Buyers and Sellers Oakland Athletics/46-52/Third Place AL West Why The A’s Should Worry: Billy Beane has to finally admit that the Rich Harden experiment is over. Yeah, I know, he could be oh-so-good, but turns out, his shoulder is just oh-so-torn-apart-he-can’t-even- throw-100-pitches-without-missing-4-months. (Deep breath.) Their offense isn’t any good, and it’d be truly scary without Jack Cust. Why Else The A’s Should Worry: Dan Haren is a good bet to end up in the 3.15 ERA range, and along with that decline from Chad Gaudin. It’s also entirely possible that the Mariners will stay lava hot the rest of the year. Why The A’s Will Be Fine: Because there’s no chance the Mariners win 90 games. Because they’re playing 3 and a half games below their Pythagorean record, and because the Angels are 4 above theirs. BP’s adjusted standings have the A’s in first. (By the way, Mariners fans…you’re a whopping SIX over your Pytha.) What The Elephants Should Do At The Deadline: Look for a hitter, but playing Kurt Suzuki over Jason Kendall is a victory in of itself. Seattle Mariners/54-39/Second Place AL West Why The Mariners’ Should Worry: Well, for one thing, they’re Runs Scored/Runs Allowed data is scary. The Mariners have scored 460 runs, and allowed 454. That’s not the mark of a 90 win team, that’s the mark of a middle of the pack squad. The truly great teams usually have at least 75 runs difference between RS/RA. Why Else The Mariners’ Should Worry: The Angels and A’s are just better than them. Felix is a stud, and I love him, I really do. But they lack power in their offense, and after Felix, the rotation is kind of dry. What Should The Mariners’ Do At The Deadline: With Bill Bavasi at the helm, it might be best to do nothing. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim/57-40/First Place AL West Why The Angels Should Worry: Well, Ervin Santana is wacked out. Uhh…Shields or K Rod could always break down. If Vlad gets hurt your in trouble… Why The Angels Shouldn’t Worry: Even if the A’s regain the ground they’ve lost, LAA is still probably better. What Should The Angels’ Do At The Deadline: Reserve a #3 seed in the AL Postseason. In Summation: The West isn’t particularly strong. Clearly, the A’s and Angels will be the ones alive in September, and the Mariners, clearly won’t. Rangers? What’s that you say? Oh! They still have a team? To finish, Angels will win the division, and some other team from the Central or East will win the wildcard. You can contact Adam at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . We want to hear your feedback. Feel free to comment on this article here or visit our message board. You can contact Adam Adkins via the writer's Profile or the AHP Staff via the contact form. 
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