2010 AL West Preview

Welcome to year two of our in depth, 100% guaranteed accurate MLB season predictions.

~~~~~~AL West~~~~~~

*Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim*
Strengths: Joe Saunders can be depended upon for around 200 innings, 15-18 wins and a ~3.50 ERA if the year is 2008.
Weaknesses: There is a 75% chance that Howie Kendrick injured himself while you were reading this sentence.
Deciding factor: If Jered Weaver does not repeat last year’s solid performance, the Angels could be in trouble when I fly out and stab him for screwing over my fantasy team.
Fun fact: This is the first year I have managed to avoid a Chode Figgins joke in my Angels writeup.


*Los Angeles Athletics of Oakland *
Strengths: If the other team’s starting lineup doesn’t show up, Oakland might actually eek out a few ties this year.
Weaknesses: Last year, Kurt Suzuki hit 15 homers (2nd on the team) with a .313 OBP. In Oakland, that’s a good argument for batting cleanup.
Deciding factor: The only way this team will have any fire in it is if Raiders fans come to games and actually set **** on fire.
Fun fact: As perhaps the longest standing bastion of sabermetrics in baseball, the Athletics’ idea of fun involves a quiet, romantic night of passionate interactions with an excel spreadsheet.


*Los Angeles Mariners of Seattle *
Strengths: This team will be in great shape if Ken Griffey Jr can return to his “Ken Griffey Jr Presents Major League Baseball” SNES form.
Weaknesses: Chode Figgins’ parents' baby-naming abilities.
Deciding factor: The success of the Seattle season will be determined by how long it takes for Milton Bradley to realize that there are a ****load of white people in Seattle.
Fun fact: More people will go to Washington this year to see the town mentioned in Twilight than to see the Mariners. That’s not as much “fun” as “incredibly, mindblowingly depressing”.


*Los Angeles Rangers of Texas *
Strengths: Vladimir Guerrero is like the Happy Gilmore of baseball. In that he’s really, really good at golf.
Weaknesses: Chris Davis averaged a strike out every other at bat in his last minor league stint. To be fair though, that T-ball league has more pitching talent than the Rangers did in most of the last decade.
Deciding factor: If Texas keeps Rich Harden in a plastic bubble in a padded room between starts, they might be able to get a half dozen starts out of him this year.
Fun fact: If talent were directly proportionate to letters in surnames, Jarrod Saltalamacchia might actually be worthwhile to spell.


==Quick Links==
~~2010 Predictions~~
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2010 AL West Preview
2010 NL East Preview
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~~2009 Predictions~~
2009 AL East Preview
2009 AL Central Preview
2009 AL West Preview
2009 NL East Preview
2009 NL Central Preview
2009 NL West Preview