Saturday, January 10, 2004
IF IT'S TRUE
If the Angels do in fact land Vlad Guerrero, let's take a look at what they have, presuming they don't trade David Eckstein and Garret Anderson doesn't demand a trade if/when his extension talks hit a snag...
C- Bengie Molina
1B- Darin Erstad
2B- Adam Kennedy
SS- David Eckstein
3B- Troy Glaus
LF- Jose Guillen
CF- Garret Anderson
RF- Vlad Guerrero
DH- Tim Salmon
Their starting rotation as it stands right now (assuming they don't trade Wash or Ortiz) still has Jarrod Washburn, Ramon Ortiz, and John Lackey in addition to Bartolo Colon. The bullpen still has Brendan Donnelly, Francisco Rodriguez, that nut Ben Weber, and Troy Percival.
The Mariners?
C- Dan Wilson (let's face it, Davis isn't going to get the playing time he deserves)
1B- John Olerud
2B- Bret Boone
SS- Rich Aurilia
3B- Scott Spiezio
LF- Raul Ibanez
CF- Randy Winn
RF- Ichiro
Rotation: Moyer, Pineiro, Meche, Garcia, Franklin. Pen: Hasegawa, Guardado, Sasaki, Soriano, Jarvis, Mateo, some others. No second lefty though. They haven't gotten it done yet, so why get a second lefty now?
Okay, take the parks out of consideration. Which team has more power? The Angels' lineup is stacked. Their rotation is decent. Their bullpen is nuts. Their closer is automatic. The only thing the Mariners have over the Angels is a better starting rotation. And there's no way in hell that starting rotation will be healthy all year like it was last year (another reason why last year's deadline was a golden opportunity blown). I'm prepared for Gil Meche's inevitable stint on the 60-day DL as they put Kevin Jarvis in for spot starting and try to convince us that Raf Soriano and Julio Mateo are more valuable to us in the bullpen. Also, there's no way Anaheim will have the huge rash of injuries they did last year.
We were all hoping as Mariner fans that the rest of the division would suck so that the Mariners could win 88 games or so and sneak into the playoffs for the first time in three years. The Mariners didn't get Miguel Tejada, but he went out of the division to Baltimore, so they don't have to face him 19 times next year. Rafael Palmeiro followed Tejada to Baltimore, which again is good for the Mariners because Raf won't have 19 games to belt the ball at the Safe. But Palmeiro and Tejada leaving may be more than negated by Vlad joining the Angels. I know what the net result here is, and I'm sure it doesn't have the Mariners ending up in first place eight months from now. The Mariners would not only have to face Vlad, they would have to face Vlad WITH THE REST OF THAT LINEUP.
Ladies and gentlemen, the AL West is Anaheim's to lose, with or without Vlad. Especially with him.
C- Bengie Molina
1B- Darin Erstad
2B- Adam Kennedy
SS- David Eckstein
3B- Troy Glaus
LF- Jose Guillen
CF- Garret Anderson
RF- Vlad Guerrero
DH- Tim Salmon
Their starting rotation as it stands right now (assuming they don't trade Wash or Ortiz) still has Jarrod Washburn, Ramon Ortiz, and John Lackey in addition to Bartolo Colon. The bullpen still has Brendan Donnelly, Francisco Rodriguez, that nut Ben Weber, and Troy Percival.
The Mariners?
C- Dan Wilson (let's face it, Davis isn't going to get the playing time he deserves)
1B- John Olerud
2B- Bret Boone
SS- Rich Aurilia
3B- Scott Spiezio
LF- Raul Ibanez
CF- Randy Winn
RF- Ichiro
Rotation: Moyer, Pineiro, Meche, Garcia, Franklin. Pen: Hasegawa, Guardado, Sasaki, Soriano, Jarvis, Mateo, some others. No second lefty though. They haven't gotten it done yet, so why get a second lefty now?
Okay, take the parks out of consideration. Which team has more power? The Angels' lineup is stacked. Their rotation is decent. Their bullpen is nuts. Their closer is automatic. The only thing the Mariners have over the Angels is a better starting rotation. And there's no way in hell that starting rotation will be healthy all year like it was last year (another reason why last year's deadline was a golden opportunity blown). I'm prepared for Gil Meche's inevitable stint on the 60-day DL as they put Kevin Jarvis in for spot starting and try to convince us that Raf Soriano and Julio Mateo are more valuable to us in the bullpen. Also, there's no way Anaheim will have the huge rash of injuries they did last year.
We were all hoping as Mariner fans that the rest of the division would suck so that the Mariners could win 88 games or so and sneak into the playoffs for the first time in three years. The Mariners didn't get Miguel Tejada, but he went out of the division to Baltimore, so they don't have to face him 19 times next year. Rafael Palmeiro followed Tejada to Baltimore, which again is good for the Mariners because Raf won't have 19 games to belt the ball at the Safe. But Palmeiro and Tejada leaving may be more than negated by Vlad joining the Angels. I know what the net result here is, and I'm sure it doesn't have the Mariners ending up in first place eight months from now. The Mariners would not only have to face Vlad, they would have to face Vlad WITH THE REST OF THAT LINEUP.
Ladies and gentlemen, the AL West is Anaheim's to lose, with or without Vlad. Especially with him.
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