S9 AL West Preview

Los Angeles Anteaters of Irvine

Season 8 Record: 94-68, AL West Champ

Key Additions: Harry Cora, Wesley Cook

Key Losses: Glenn Simmons, Raul Trevino
The four-time reigning AL West champs and now 2 years removed from the franchise’s first World Series appearance, the Anteaters are in a position of having reached their likely peak and now hope to contend for as many years as possible with much of the same roster from the last few seasons. While they have remained steady (92, 93, and 94 wins in S6-S8), the rest of the division is showing signs of strength and it will likely be difficult to improve on their win total.

The strength of this team remains its pitching, with Pablo Jose coming back from a horrific injury, defending Cy Young Darwin Martin, and former Cy Young winner Adam Ducey. With Felipe Machado rounding out the normal 4-man rotation, this is still one of the best staffs in baseball. The bullpen welcomes the aforementioned Cook along with team veteran and fellow stamina-starved stud Gerald Ward. Unfortunately, the defense is average at best, especially with iron gloved Edgar Mesa at SS. All things considered, last year’s team 3.55 ERA/1.29 WHIP should be within reach.

The lineup returns with minor changes, the most notable with new addition and likely leadoff man Harry Cora replacing the departed Glenn Simmons in LF. This team led the Majors in HR’s last year (277 to the Bloggers’ 263), but its issue remains getting on base, with the team posting a.257/.318/.439 line last season. Signing Barry Peterson to a 4-year $42.7M contract helped them solidify 3B for the future, and they still have lineup anchors Moises Martin and Philip Wolf. Patrick Osbourne delivered a phenomenal performance last season in his platoon role against LHP, but it will be hard to repeat. This season LA is relying on their investment in Cora (2 yrs $8.2M) to improve their OBP, but it will likely be more of the same…relying on the long ball to give their pitching enough to work with.

Outlook: They could make another run at the World Series and are a likely playoff team, but the competition will be thick in the AL this season. Worst case is 85 wins and just missing the wild card.

Predicted division finish: 1st

Cheyenne Morning Star

Season 8 record: 82-80, 4th in AL West

Key additions: Pascual Roque, Carlos Valentin, Miguel Alcantara

Key losses: Don Murray, Cliff Carter, Edgar Bautista, Al Baerga

Cheyenne hit a lull last year, seeing their win total fall from 86 and just barely missing the playoffs in S7 to 82 in S8. They’ve made up huge ground throughout the last few years as they were a 61-win team as recently as Season 6. The last couple of offseasons have featured some heavy free agent investments that coincide with the arrival of some of the team’s promising young stars. The last two offseasons they committed an astounding $242.5M over 17 seasons to 8 different players (an average of $14.3M/season per player), with another $55M/3 yrs contract that began in S7. So they are playing with $300M of FA’s and some pretty decent youth…does the math finally add up to a playoff appearance?

The staff is led by inning-eaters Steve Barrett and Brady Murray, the aging but effective Andrew Burks, and Alex Donahue. A 2-year $36M deal brought S8 Fireman of the Year Roque into the bullpen to join Del Cubillan to round out a squad that should improve on the 4.00 ERA/1.33 WHIP from last year. With the experienced rotation, this team could fare well in what would be the franchise’s first playoff series.

Slugger Albert Ortega anchors the lineup, and Cheyenne is hoping for a bounce back season from Steve Coleman and still boast RHP platoon slugger Walt Kelly. They are trying to replace Baerga and Bautista’s production with Valentin and Alcantra, and it’s probably a push. Cliff Carter and his .888 OPS will be missed the most, and Ed Howell has seen his best years. They won’t set any scoring records, but if Coleman and Valentin rediscover themselves they could overcome the .261/.326/.431 team batting stats from last season. Or perhaps the biggest question is how soon we’ll see future stud Kelly Johnson or fellow prospect Miguel Padilla. Is their time now?

Outlook: This is very likely the season they break through for their first playoff berth, and the promotion of Johnson could help ensure that. Cheyenne has certainly opened their wallet to try to buy success, so anything short of the playoffs would be a major disappointment.

Predicted division finish: 2nd (Wild Card)


Colorado Springs Eternal

Season 8 record: 85-77, 2nd in AL West

Key additions: Bob Gilmore, Lee Cone

Key losses: Yamid Felix, Bill Castillo, Bob Walbeck

You’ve got to tip your cap to what jnewfry has accomplished in the first 8 seasons – his team has never been worse than .500. The continued competitiveness has helped keep this division so strong through the years, but has the success helped or hurt this team? 3 of the last 4 years Colorado Springs has won between 81 and 85 games, which hasn’t gotten them in the playoffs and hasn’t quite allowed them to rebuild either. This team is getting older (17 players are older than 30) so it will be decision time very soon…do they make another run at the playoffs or hit the rebuild button?

The rotation is anchored by veterans Cole Perkins, Josh King, Antone Hill, and Alex DeSoto. None of them are shutdown starters, but they are also pretty consistent. Delino Holt is one of the better relievers in the league, but there is not a lot of depth here. The team’s 4.04 ERA/1.32 WHIP from last year will likely be delivered again as there hasn’t been a lot of movement in the staff overall.

The loss of Bob Walbeck looms large…he’ll be difficult to replace in CF. The addition of Lee Cone (5 yrs, $40.6) is the biggest change, and if he can return to his career .817 OPS rather than the .697 of last year, he could help improve on the team’s overall .261/.326/.417 line. All-Star SS Eric Montgomery also returns, and Billy Karnuth is a dependable DH. However, I’m not buying Earl Mulholland ever doing anything better than the .733 OPS he posted last season, and at 1B and 3 yrs/$13.2M he’s probably been overextended with this latest contract. And Ricardo Rincon’s last season is not likely to be repeated again, either. All things considered, this offense looks to be in for a year of decline.

Outlook: Colorado Springs will be competitive, but unless they get career years out of some of their key players they may struggle to stay in the playoff race the entire season. It still seems like extending the streak of winning seasons to 9 is a good possibility, but the aging roster and lack of prime prospects means these days may be numbered.

Predicted division finish: 3rd

Albuquerque From "Life Goes On"
Season 8 record: 84-78, 3rd in AL West

Key additions:None

Key losses: Luis Cruz, Paul Jackson, William Tamura, Junior Spencer

It appears that Albuquerque is heading into a transition, which is clearly evident by the lack of any key signings in the offseason while letting a few major contributors from last year’s team walk in free agency. Star slugger Paul Bang is on the Trade Block along with Peaches Washington and SP Peter Larson. How long will each of them remain with the team? It always seems that Robot gets the most out of his players, as this team was counted out in each of the last few years but remained in contention the whole way through, so while this team review may come off as negative, you never know what this owner can pull off.

The starting pitching is definitely the worst of the AL West. The team put up a cumulative 4.37 ERA/1.36 WHIP last season, but the fact that it wasn’t worse is attributable almost entirely to the bullpen. With Junior Spencer and Luis Cruz gone from the rotation, the only bright spots the aforementioned tradeable Larson, and younger pitchers Hamlet Donovan and Alberto Ontiveros. All-Star closer Travis Lewis returns, but with guys like Cesar Piedra on the roster, will he even be necessary?

As for the lineup, if Bang and Washington get traded, this team will struggle to score runs, and it will signal the official countdown starting to the day stud prospect Lou Lindsey arrives in the majors. The returning J.T. Timlin helped this squad hit a combined .267/.324/.413 – they can hit for average, but there’s not a lot of pop. Being conservative in the FA market has meant that while there isn’t a lot of talent here, it’s relatively young and inexpensive, which will allow for some flexibility in the coming years. And if the aforementioned trades occur, this team could find itself with a sub $40M roster quickly.

Outlook: Count these guys out for contention this season – I think Robot has already squeezed as much as he could out of these guys. But they are positioned well for a rebuild with some valuable veterans and plenty of cap room. We probably won’t see the entire AL West at or above .500 this year, but this team won’t embarrass the division either.

Predicted division finish: 4th