The 2011 All-Division Team, Part 5: AL West

AL West C: Mike Napoli

Part 5 of 6: American League West


These teams have it easy.  Each NL Central winner had to be compared against each of the other five teams' player at that positon.  In the AL West, however, there are only four teams, meaning the odds of winning are increased.  Last season, six Rangers (Micheal Young, Elvis Andrus, Vladimir Guerrero, Josh Hamilton, Neftali Feliz, and Nelson Cruz) all took home awards.  Will the Rangers sweep through the division again?  Time to find out!

C Mike Napoli, TEX (2nd, first with Rangers)
The Angels are probably regretting trading Napoli away within their own division.  Wait a minute...they didn't!  In what has become a footnote now, Napoli was a part of the Vernon Wells trade to Toronto, but the Jays turned around and swung him to Texas for Frank Francisco just a few days later.  Playing for the Texas Rangers and against his former team 18 times a year now, Napoli had one of the best offensive seasons ever for a catcher.  If he had gotten a full season's worth of at-bats, it easily would have rivaled any of Mike Piazza's best campaigns.  Instead, Napoli, playing in just 113 games due to injury, hit 'only' 30 homers and 75 RBIs.  His .320 average and .414 OBP are unheard of for a catcher, and his .631 slugging percentage would have led MLB, however he does not have enough at-bats to qualify.  No wonder the fans chant his name so much in Arlington.
Competition: Jeff Mathis (LAA), Kurt Suzuki (OAK), and Miguel Olivo (SEA).

1B Mark Trumbo, LAA
The big Trumbo came out of nowhere and took on the AL while manning first base in Anaheim, much like teammate Kendrys Morales did two years ago.  The only difference is Morales can and does walk with any regularity whatsoever.  Trumbo and his 25 walks?  Nope.  Luckily, his 29 home runs got the Angels going and kept them in the shadows of contention all season until a late surge fell short.  The fan favorite got AL Rookie of the Year voting and has an impressive power swing, but will need to make adjustments if he was to continue to have success.
Competition: Mitch Moreland (TEX), Justin Smoak (SEA), and Daric Barton (OAK).

AL West 2B: Ian Kinsler
Don't try this at home, kids.

2B Ian Kinsler, TEX
In the healthiest season of his career, Kinsler put together his best season yet.  Returning to 30-30 form that eluded him in an injury-riddled 2010, he walked 27 times more than he ever had in a season.  It's hard for me to quantify how great of an overall player Kinsler really is.  I mean how often do second basemen hit 30 home runs?  Most importantly, though, Kinsler is still one of the longest tenured on these championship contending Rangers teams and is a definite team leader, representing his entire state (the Astros don't count).
Competition: Jemile Weeks (OAK), Howie Kendrick (LAA), and Dustin Ackley (SEA).

3B Adrian Beltre, TEX (2nd, first with Rangers)
As if offense was ever a problem for the Texas Rangers, GM Jon Daniels swept in during the offseason and snatched Beltre, a big surprise to many who thought he'd go to the Angels or back to the Red Sox. The freeswinger landed in Arlington and earned every penny in his first season there, hitting 32 homers and 105 RBIs in about 4/5 of a full season.  Sure the ballpark and lineup protection help, but that shouldn't take away from his .296 batting average.  With an offense this great, you could almost imagine them not needing any pitching.
Competition: Chone Figgins (SEA), Alberto Callaspo (LAA), and Scott Sizemore (OAK).

SS Erick Aybar, LAA
In the past two seasons, the Angels have not been the same team they were for almost all of the 2000s.  During that time the Angels were known for effectively using smallball mechanics and playing the game fundamentally well, as directed by manager Mike Scioscia.  Recently, though, they haven't had the same strong fielding and baserunning skills.  Aybar, though, was a holdout of the issue.  Erick Aybar is fast and agile which allows him to play shortstop well.  I've seen an improvement in his hitting skills for average, and he was 30-for-36 in steal attempts; clearly he's running on the right counts.  Oh, and now he gets to play with Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson.  
Competition: Elvis Andrus (TEX), Cliff Pennington (OAK), and Brendan Ryan (SEA).

AL West LF: Josh Willingham

LF Josh Willingham, OAK
Willingham was GM Billy Beane's biggest move last winter, and he gave the A's pretty much everything they could've asked for.  Although his one season in Oakland proved a 'one-and-out' as Willingham has signed with Twins now, his run production skills were not lost on a team that seems to always be in search of such skills.  His 29 home runs, including 15 at the dreaded O.co Coliseum (their new corporate naming rights deal is a website?  Really?  Who are these guys, the Phoenix Coyotes?), were the only major power source on the team.  In fact, his 15 homers at home were more than any other teammates' total - home or road.  Oh, and Willingham also had 26 RBIs more than anyone else on the team.
Competition: Vernon Wells (LAA), Trayvon Robinson (SEA), and David Murphy (TEX).

CF Josh Hamilton, TEX (2nd)
It wasn't quite MVP quality like 2010 was, but J-Ham's 2011 season was notable again for significant success but also the continued abundance of injury.  This time injury struck almost right away, as Hamilton was injured in Detroit during the second week of the season.  He still batted .298 and slugged .536 with 94 RBIs in only 121 games, but I still get the feeling that Hamilton has not achieved his full potential in any of his four 'full' seasons with the Rangers.  Even so, he hit what should have been one of the biggest homers in World Series history with his extra-inning blast in Game 6 to take the lead.  However, the Rangers - much like Hamilton - came up short again.
Competition: Peter Bourjos (LAA), Franklin Gutierrez (SEA), and Coco Crisp (OAK).

RF Nelson Cruz, TEX (2nd)
Nelly!  Cruz hit 29 homers in about 4/5 of a full season, playing in 124 games (it seems like every Ranger only played 4/5).  More notably, however, was that he collected 14 hits in 17 playoff games.  Eight of those 14 hits were home runs.  The October power came at Reggie Jackson levels this season. In the regular season, Cruz gave the Rangers an alternative, low-key power threat.  He's an undoubtedly freeswinging slugger; Cruz is going to hit the ball hard somewhere.
Competition: Ichiro Suzuki (SEA), Torii Hunter (LAA), and David DeJesus (OAK).

AL West DH: Michael Young
The best player in franchise history,
Michael Young is Mr. Ranger.

DH Michael Young, TEX (2nd)
Finally, a fully healthy Ranger!  If there is anyone on the Rangers invincible to injury, it has to be Young; he has missed significant time in only one year in the last decade.  He also silenced critics who suggested his batting skills were declining in 2010 with another career year, collecting over 200 hits for a .338 batting average.  You also know a guy is clutch and a key run producer when he gets over 100 RBIs with only 11 homers, as did Young in 2011.  And instead of being traded to a mediocre Rockies team, Young got to lead his franchise to another World Series.  Not too bad, I'd say.
Competition: Bobby Abreu (LAA), Casper Wells (SEA), and Hideki Matsui (OAK).

SP C.J. Wilson, TEX
Wilson must be the Angels' revenge for watching Napoli burn them in 2011.  After only his second full season as a starter in the Majors, Wilson jumped ship for the Angels in a mega deal.  Before you jump on the overrated bandwagon like I did at the time of the signing, consider that Wilson had an ERA on the road nearly a run better than at home.  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is one of the worst ballparks for pitchers to pitch in in the entire league, and the move to Angel Stadium should feel nice and spacious.  Ignoring his awful postseason, Wilson struck out over 200 in over 200 innings and kept his overall hits allowed total low.  I think these factors add up to a good, although not great, first season in Anaheim.  If he can't shake off that postseason in which is WHIP was over 1.7, he's going to have some major problems.
Competition: Jered Weaver (LAA), Felix Hernandez (SEA), and Trevor Cahill (OAK).

CP Brandon League, SEA
This 28-year-old doesn't come off as your typical shutdown closer, but he gave the Mariners some real value out of the bullpen, for whatever it's worth on that team.  League saved 37 of Seattle's 67 wins last season and walked only 10 in over 60 innings pitched.  He struck out a decent amount and kept his WHIP low, putting together a decent season in a place where no one will appreciate it.  But he's definitely the best in the division, especially when you consider that he played a full season (unlike Andrew Bailey), kept his blown saves in the single digits (unlike Jordan Walden), and didn't blow a World Series (sorry, Neftali Feliz).  Nothing personal guys....
Competition: Walden (LAA), Feliz (TEX), and Bailey (OAK).


Why, yes, the Rangers get seven awards this year.  Perhaps more notably, though, was that I was able to find a winner out of those 95-loss Mariners.  Way to go, Brandon League!
    

Pitching and Defense Reign

First, congratulations to the 2010 San Francisco Giants on winning their first World Series since moving from New York in the 1950s.  Second, how?  I'm not a believer in the phrase 'pitching and defense win championships.'  I guess it worked for the Giants, though, who shut down the Rangers offense in this Series probably making that more important than anything either team did offensively.  Once in Texas, the Giants allowed only five runs in the three games, and the Giants won two of three of those.  The Giants also won the last two games, allowing only one run and scoring seven.  After being shut out only once in the regular season at home (to Dallas Braden of the Oakland A's) in 81 games, Madison Bumgarner shut out the Giants for eight innings before giving way to the bullpen.  The very next night was between Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee and a pitching duel that ensued was supposed to happen in Game 1, but didn't.  Lincecum beat Lee for the second time thanks the Series MVP Edgar Renteria's three-run homer in the 7th inning which put the Rangers away.  The Rangers got one run back, but the bullpen contained the Texas offense that was so key against the Yankees.  Brian Wilson, the closer, came on and struck out Nelson Cruz on a high fastball to end it, doing his trademark cross hand finger pointing before celebrating on the mound with his mobbing teammates.

Main thought about this series and the Giants run: it came out of nowhere.  I didn't feel like the Giants were a serious contender to win it all in the beginning of the postseason, but they did win it with pitching.  This feeling can be compared to the 2006 Cardinals, a team that was awful late in the season and still squeezed into the playoffs.  Somehow, they beat San Diego, New York, and Detroit that fast and won the World Series, although they probably deserved it less than anyone else in the playoffs.  I didn't expect them to win but once they did they were off and running and the sports media swirled and swirled around them, much like the Giants.  They just kept winning and testing everyone's judgment to see how long this thing would keep going.  The Giants beat the Braves in what wasn't an upset, but a series with a lot of historical significance due to Bobby Cox retiring and such.  The Giants certainly upset the Phillies in six games and that was just incredible.  Sports analysts didn't give anyone else in the National League a chance because of the 'Big Three' of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt.  However, this Giants team proved that a team doesn't need big names to pitch well; what they did using Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner was just incredible.  And to that I salute them.  Something else the Giants did really well is come through late in the game in clutch at-bats.  San Francisco scored 12 in the 8th inning combined through the Series, tying the Rangers total output through all innings.  The Giants put up runs in the 7th and/or 8th in every game.  And while the Giants certainly have no stars on offense like the Rangers do in Josh Hamilton and more, it's just a great bunch of guys put together who have talent and give the team great at-bats and do their best to put something together.  It is an all-team production, also known as teamwork.  Plenty of teams in baseball should be taking notes on this, as the wisdom is clearly abundant.

Nolan Ryan Philosophy

It's hot in Texas.  The summer weather wears on the players, as Arlington hosts Rangers games regularly over 100 degrees in the summer.  The 'cool summer nights' are only about 80 degrees, which is no breeze.  The position players get to stand around and wait for something to happen, but the pitchers exert the most energy of anyone on the field on every play.  They sweat like dogs, but can't relax because a loss of intensity and focus will result in the hitters watching meatballs in one of the best hitters park in the league.  The obsession of the 2000s in the starting pitching world was one varying statistic: pitch counts.  Pitch counts have come to develop theories for pretty much everything from injury to sophomore slumps.  Nolan Ryan, however, isn't buying into any of that.  He walked and struck out many hitters resulting in high pitch counts early in his starts, but he didn't think that he was done just because he had thrown a lot of pitches.  This concept is called, "back to the future on the mound."  Ryan didn't try to make every at-bat perfect, he just scrambled to get outs as fast as possible.  In his words, he "had to develop stamina because my intent was to pitch a lot of innings."  Mike Maddux, brother of pitching great Greg Maddux and former major league pitcher himself, endorses the idea and has implemented it the last two seasons when Ryan first made headlines with this statement.  "The ceiling is off," said Maddux. "This is a mental thing we have to overcome. We have to change the attitude of the starters to want to go deep and believe they can."  He also thinks a pitch count is not what tells a pitcher he is finished, saying instead that "the hitters will let you know that."  The Ryan theory has pitching doing well, and the dramatic turnaround can be seen in the stats.  Not pitch count stats, but ERA.  The Texas Rangers have long been notorious for a high powered long ball offense with no pitching, a problem that plagued them eternally.  The offense finally paid off earning three meaningless trips to the playoffs in the late 1990s, but they had yet to overcome their issues pitching in the 2000s.

In 2008, led by staff ace Vicente Padilla's 4.74 ERA, the Rangers finished last in baseball with a 5.37 team ERA.  Closer C.J. Wilson had a 6.02 ERA and led the team with 24 saves, while five others also recorded saves.  While Josh Hamilton had an MVP caliber season, the Rangers were unable to hold any lead given and struggled to a 79-83 finish.  In 2009, the Rangers stayed in contention most of the season only to be beaten out by the Angels.  The pitching, however, finished with an MLB rank of 18th, a big improvement over that 30th in 2008 and 24th in 2007.  In 2010, the Rangers won the division and now head to the World Series having ranked 10th in ERA.  The transformation is complete.  For the first time in franchise history they will play for it all having allowing the sixth-fewest runs in the regular season since moving to Texas 39 years ago, and the 687 runs they did allow was the fewest since 1983.  So with pitching as a strength of the Rangers, finally, watch them in this series because we are watching history in the making.

Postseason Preview: World Series

After a one year absence, baseball fans will get their Cinderella team in the World Series again.  Actually, two.  Both the Giants and Rangers weren't given big consideration for the World Series heading into the playoffs, especially considering both were serious underdogs playing for the pennant against the Phillies and Yankees, respectively.  But for the media, the unthinkable has happened.  The 'Big Three' of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels has been beaten in a series nobody foresaw.  The invincible Yankees with their high priced bats and arms fell as the bats were silenced and the arms didn't silence anyone on the Rangers.

On to this World Series.  It will begin in San Francisco on Wednesday night, playing there again the next night before heading off to Texas for three games.  Unfortunately, the schedule just works out so that the Giants barely miss a home game on a Friday, which would have had them wear the orange uniforms in the World Series.  No team has worn an alternate uniform in the World Series since the 2007 Rockies, most teams elect not to for whatever reason.  The first game was a great pitching matchup of Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee, probably not much of a better matchup could be asked for.  The two combined have gone 47.1 innings allowing just seven runs and striking out 64 with six walks.  The key for Cliff Lee is to control the tempo of the game like he usually does and to cool down Cody Ross.  He barely walks anyone so he needs to stick to his gameplan with men on base to avoid a flurry of hits resulting in a momentum shift.  Such momentum shifts, especially in the World Series, often decide the game.  The key for Tim Lincecum is to stay ahead of hitters and beware of the bottom of the lineup.  With these Rangers there are no easy outs except when Cliff Lee will have to bat in Game 1.  Bengie Molina has been huge for Texas batting out of the eight hole so Lincecum needs to control the likes of him and Mitch Moreland, another bat in the bottom who has been hitting well so far in the playoffs at .389.  There is no big bat to be scared of on the Giants, but there are so many guys who can beat you slapping big hits like Freddy Sanchez, Aubrey Huff, Buster Posey, Juan Uribe, and Pablo Sandoval.

Here is my pick.  TEX in 7.  This one will be very back and forth, but here's the order of wins I have: Game 1 is Texas, Game 2 is San Francisco, Game 3 is San Francisco, Game 4 and Game 5 are Texas, Game 6 is San Francisco, and Game 7 is Texas.  Neither team is afraid to win on the road, with both teams combining to go 4-2 in New York and Philadelphia.  The series MVP I believe will be Josh Hamilton, but that is nearly impossible to guess.

I am in the process of making an article for both teams, about what uniqueness has gotten them here.  So come back to read that!

Note: Bengie Molina can't be too disappointed with being traded from a contender.  His former team, the Giants, plays his current team, the Rangers in this World Series.  He earns a World Series ring either way, so it's a literal win-win.  Of course, the ginger ale celebration with his Rangers would be nice, so there's a bonus to that side of the win-win.

Bold Predictions: Start of Summer

This is my first in the Bold Predictions segment, but I plan to do this occasionally.  I am definitely not going to get all of these right, but they're out there for you to chew on.  Some are kind of surprising, others not as much.

Personal Predictions:
-Ubaldo Jimenez, ERA (0.93) and Wins (11) leader of the NL, continues his dominance to win 20 games and win the Cy Young just like Zach Greinke did in surprising fashion in the AL last year.
-Josh Beckett, now injured and frustrated with a 7.29 ERA in eight starts, returns and becomes slightly effective although he never completely gets his stuff back.    He finishes with an ERA in the mid 4s. 
-Paul Konerko (17 HR) fades after the All-Star Break or possibly sooner, but still finishes with about 30 home runs. 
-Jose Bautista (18 HR) of the Jays does the same.
-Aramis Ramirez (.169 AVG, 22 RBI) who has been arguably the most disappointing hitter in the NL, recovers in the summer and catches fire in July.  He cools off at the end of the year, but finishes around .260 with 25 HR and 75 RBI.
-For the second time in three years, Miguel Cabrera leads the AL in HR and throws in a nice 125 or so RBI.
-Alex Rios (12 HR, 17 SB) continues resurrect his career with his 25-25 talent.

-Stephen Strasburg, the most overhyped big league prospect of all time, finishes 2010 with around 2.50 ERA after hitters make the adjustments to hit that 103 mph fastball.  He throws about 100 innings in the Nationals' rotation.

-Jason Heyward, another guy who had a lot of hype around him, gets 25 HR and 100 RBI.

I hope you're chewing that good.  Because at the All-Star Break, you might just look back and go, "How did he know that???"  Also, I'm introducing a new series call Wrap-Ups.  The two forms of the series are 'Road Trip Wrap-Up' and 'Homestand Wrap-Up'.  These will appear after each road trip and homestand and will go over some stats and review the games, including analysis and discussion.  Then, I'll get you set for the next opponents.  The first issue of 'Road Trip Wrap-Up' will appear after this current trip to Pittsburgh, Houston, and Milwaukee is over this Thursday.  Also, look forward to special coverage of the Crosstown Classic.

Team Predictions:
-The Rangers (30-26, 1st in AL West by .5 games), behind the continued hot hitting of surprising Vladimir Guerrero and regular Josh Hamilton, extend their lead in the division to at least three by the All-Star Break.  The Angels stay in the race, but finish near 85 wins as the Rangers win the division by at least five.
-The Rays (37-20, 1st in AL East by 2 games) lose their division lead to the Yankees although they continue to win all year and the Rays will be right there with them at the Break.
-The Red Sox (33-25, 3rd) stop getting so lucky with guys like Clay Buchholz and see a big gap in the division appear between them and the Yankees and Rays.
-Amazingly, the Blue Jays (33-25) hang in there and take 3rd while the Red Sox fade.
-The Braves (33-24, 1st in NL East by 2 games) keep winning with Troy Glaus' hot bat, putting the pressure on the Phillies.
-The Mets (30-27, 3rd) keep winning as well to pass the Phillies, in 2nd place by the All-Star Break.
-The Phillies (30-25, 2nd), who stop pitching when Roy Halladay isn't on and still can't hit, prove to everyone that they aren't the team 'that we thought they were.'
-I shouldn't do this, but the Cubs (25-31, 3rd in NL Central by 8 games) start winning a bit and pass up the Cardinals on their way down.  The Reds and Cubs battle it out beginning after the All-Star Break.
-For the first time since 2006, the Padres (33-23) and Dodgers (33-24) reunite a geographical rivalry as they fight for the NL West down the stretch.  The Rockies and DBacks hang around .500, but can't muster a big winning streak enough to catch up.