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OOTPRealTime · 12-02-2013, 06:04 PM

OFF-SEASON OUTLOOKS: AL WEST
MLB.com - by: Matthew Lurch

This is the fifth of six installments of our off-season outlooks piece in which we delve into each of the thirty franchises to recap their 2013 season and preview the off-season. These are the American League West profiles.

HOUSTON ASTROS

2013 Recap: The youth movement is in full effect in Houston and GM Jeff Luhnow is rebuilding the entire roster from top to bottom. As expected, the youthful Astros limped to a 66-win season in 2013, ranking near the bottom of the pile in most offensive and pitching categories in the American League. The one outlier in that was home runs, the Astros clubbed 192 of them over the wall, ranking 5th in the AL. That power was supplied by veteran Carlos Pena who belted 30 homers, Justin Maxwell hit 26, Chris Carter chipped in with 22 and Jason Castro hit 19. Many of these players did this at the expense of their batting averages. Maxwell hit just .298 and Carter finished at just .216 on the year. The bright spots included their catcher, Castro, who hit .289 with the 19 homers and 69 RBI. It’s also never a good sign when your team leader in ERA is Brad Peacock at 5.36. The pitching was bad all year long and that’s the area that will warrant the quicker and swifter upgrades. The Astros have climbed up to No. 6 on the MLB.com Farm System rankings and are most excited about first baseman Jonathan Singleton (23rd), center fielder George Springer (24th) and former first overall pick shortstop Carlos Correa (40th). They also turned one of the better arms in their bullpen this year, Wesley Wright, into a top pitching prospect from the Giants in Kyle Crick at the deadline. The future is bright for the Astros but they will need a few more years before all of these talents will be contributing to wins at the big league level.

Off-Season Outlook
Free agents: P Joba Chamberlain; OF Rick Ankiel; P Erik Bedard; P Jose Veras; 1B Carlos Pena

It’s unclear where Luhnow will go this off-season with so many holes. He’ll likely continue to bring in veterans to play for a year to bide time for the youngsters to develop and have a positive influence upon their arrival. You’d have to think the rotation can use an upgrade and they don’t appear to have a pitcher on the 40-man roster worth of closing.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

2013 Recap: The Angels were disappointed after another spending spree and no playoffs to show for it. The Josh Hamilton signing was a disaster, he hit just .227 with 12 homers and 50 RBI in 441 at-bats. The offense as a whole was porous as the pitching actually overachieved. The result was a respectable 84 wins, but again, not enough to play in October. This doesn’t sit well with ownership, who have invested heavily in this roster but aren’t seeing the returns on the field or at the gate. An aging Albert Pujols had a decent season (.249-25-95) but he still has eight full seasons on that mega-deal and he doesn’t get any cheaper. Phenom Mike Trout took a step back after a crazy rookie season, hitting .260 with 25 homers and 72 RBI, hitting primarily in the three-hole in the lineup. Mark Trumbo hit 29 bombs, but hit just .243 for the season. Their 681 runs scored was 13th in the American League and they hit just 157 long balls (12th). Meanwhile, the starting pitching (5th) and bullpen (4th) did very well. Tommy Hanson had a comeback season, going 13-12 with a 3.95 and Joe Blanton stepped up big with 14 wins and a 3.37 ERA. During the season, the Angels traded prospect C Hank Conger to the Yankees for veteran third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who struggled to a .200 average in 265 at-bats with eight homers and 24 RBI. Fans weren’t happy with the result of that one, especially since the Angels farm system is known to be in complete disarray. Conger ended up hitting 16 homers for the Yankees in just 198 at-bats while hitting .293 in 2013. Owner Artie Moreno is sticking with GM Jerry Dipoto and manager Mike Scioscia moving forward but you better believe that 2014 is a make-or-break year for the current regime in Los Angeles.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: P Jason Vargas; C Chris Snyder; 3B Kevin Youkilis; P Ryan Madson; P Scott Downs

They’ll need to replace Jason Vargas (13-15, 3.84, 1.30 WHIP) in the rotation next year. Not a huge loss, but worth noting. Other than that, everybody is back – not that it’s necessarily a good thing. Dipoto will need to find some players who focus more on getting on base and manufacturing runs in front of Trout-Pujols-Trumbo. The bullpen needs some work also after they’ll lose Madson and Downs.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS

2013 Recap: The A’s struggled their way to an 80-82 record in 2013 and despite breakout offensive performances from Josh Donaldson and Yoenis Cespedes, the team has plenty of holes in the lineup. A lineup that featured an on-base percentage of .318 (8th ranked in AL) but a batting average of just.247 (12th) – a formula that actually spit out 729 runs (6th). The “Moneyball” philosophy is still in effect in Oakland. With the young two-headed monster of Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin atop the rotation, the A’s will look to supplement around them and veteran Brett Anderson to improve upon the 4.39 starters ERA. The bullpen was terrific all season and Sean Doolittle emerged as their closer with 37 saves on the season. They traded outfielder Chris Young to the Mariners for first baseman Kendrys Morales, who hit .299 with six homers and 31 RBI in his 251 at-bats with the A’s. Both players were free agents to be and neither appears to be staying with their new clubs. Morales is looking for $13 Million-plus and the A’s aren’t in that market. The aforementioned Griffin provided big news this year when the tossed a perfect game against the Cardinals in Oakland on June 29th. Billy Beane and Bob Melvin are at a crossroads as they try to get over the hump in the ultra-competitive (sans Astros) AL West.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: 1B Kendrys Morales; CF Coco Crisp; P Grant Balfour; 1B Daric Barton; P Bartolo Colon; P Carl Pavano; P Hideki Okajima; P Pat Neshek; OF Seth Smith; P Chris Resop; 1B Brandon Moss

As mentioned, the A’s will let Morales walk and will have to replace do-it-all Coco Crisp. They will also be missing Bartolo Colon from the rotation. As of right now, it appears that they may hand over that first base job to 26-year old Nate Freiman, who got his cup of coffee after pounding AAA pitching to the tune of a .984 OPS. Though, there have been rumors that they are interested in Justin Morneau. They could also be in the mix on 2B Chase Utley this off-season.

SEATTLE MARINERS

2013 Recap: The M’s were much like their AL West rival A’s – not much hitting; good pitching and 80 wins. The Mariners were led again by their ace starting pitcher Felix Hernandez who mowed down the competition on the way to 16 wins and a 2.94 ERA. He was joined by youngster Erasmo Ramirez as one of the better one-two punches in the division – they just weren’t given that run support. They expect catcher Mike Zunino to grow into his role as an everyday catcher at just 22 years old. He is their future and somebody they plan to build around. But don’t think the Mariners and GM Jack Zduriencik think this is a rebuilding project. They definitely feel they have the pieces to compete right away with the right moves. Their total team ERA (3.59) ranked third in the American League and they limited the long ball and the free passes to help garner that number. There was some buzz this season that included a 10-game winning streak in July and ticket sales actually spiked over 3,000,000 for the first time in a while. The team eventually eroded and missed the playoffs, but it was a step in the right direction. Manager Eric Wedge fully expects his team to compete for a division title in 2014.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: OF Chris B. Young; SS Brendan Ryan; SS Willie Bloomquist; P Kameron Loe; P Oliver Perez; C Kelly Shoppach; OF Mike Morse; P Joe Saunders; 1B Raul Ibanez; OF Franklin Gutierrez; IF Robert Andino

The Mariners were quick to move this off-season, landing prized outfielder Carlos Beltran to begin their off-season. He’ll replace Mike Morse and then some. They’ll be turning to Nick Franklin at shortstop and hope to get Justin Smoak back in time for Spring Training to play first base. This lineup isn’t far away and the 2013 M’s showed they can throw it. If Zduriencik can piece together a few more pieces, the Mariners could be the surprise team of 2014.

TEXAS RANGERS

2013 Recap: Well, it finally happened. After suffering through two straight World Series defeats – 2011 being especially heart-breaking – and then a dismal 2012 season, the Rangers finally broke through and won it all. And they did it despite a rather ho-hum regular season. They backed into a one-game divisional win and then caught fire at the right time. Manager Ron Washington, who was having his head called for in early May – got his troops in line and made a run for the ages. Trailing three games to two and heading back to Cincinnati in the World Series, he told the traveling secretary to not book a flight back home until the day after a Game 7. This signified to the team that they would be in Cincinnati no matter what and they might as well play a baseball game. It worked. They won Game 6, 1-0 and then cruised to a Game 7 win to bring home the title. Their numbers – both hitting and pitching – during the regular season were much like their record, just uninspiring. Yu Darvish dominated his way to a 14-5 record with a 2.75 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 278 K’s to post a league-leading 9.7 WAR. Mitch Moreland broke out and appears poised to take over the first base duties full time after hitting .305 with 25 homers and 84 RBI. It was a good time for the Rangers to break through after a tough run – they are going to go through some roster turnover this off-season but manager “Wash” will get his guys to band together and play good baseball.

Off-Season Outlook
Free Agents: OF Nelson Cruz; SP Colby Lewis; 2B Ian Kinsler; SP Roy Oswalt; 1B Lance Berkman; OF David Murphy; P Evan Meek; C Geovany Soto; P Joe Nathan; P Jason Frasor; IF Jeff Baker; P Derek Lowe

As mentioned, the Rangers will be losing quite a bit from their 2013 lineup. Including 62 homers and three starters in Cruz, Berkman and Kinsler. They have been aggressive and landed CF Shin-Soo Choo already and plan to continue to restructure the lineup. The loss of Colby Lewis (Cleveland) will hurt the rotation, but Darvish is still there to dominate every fifth day. They’ll need to replace him and do some work on the bullpen. Don’t let the end result fool you, the Rangers know they have some work to do to return to the playoffs in 2014.

12-02-2013, 06:04 PM	#41
OOTPRealTime Minors (Double A) Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 147	AL West Outlooks OFF-SEASON OUTLOOKS: AL WEST MLB.com - by: Matthew Lurch This is the fifth of six installments of our off-season outlooks piece in which we delve into each of the thirty franchises to recap their 2013 season and preview the off-season. These are the American League West profiles. HOUSTON ASTROS 2013 Recap: The youth movement is in full effect in Houston and GM Jeff Luhnow is rebuilding the entire roster from top to bottom. As expected, the youthful Astros limped to a 66-win season in 2013, ranking near the bottom of the pile in most offensive and pitching categories in the American League. The one outlier in that was home runs, the Astros clubbed 192 of them over the wall, ranking 5th in the AL. That power was supplied by veteran Carlos Pena who belted 30 homers, Justin Maxwell hit 26, Chris Carter chipped in with 22 and Jason Castro hit 19. Many of these players did this at the expense of their batting averages. Maxwell hit just .298 and Carter finished at just .216 on the year. The bright spots included their catcher, Castro, who hit .289 with the 19 homers and 69 RBI. It’s also never a good sign when your team leader in ERA is Brad Peacock at 5.36. The pitching was bad all year long and that’s the area that will warrant the quicker and swifter upgrades. The Astros have climbed up to No. 6 on the MLB.com Farm System rankings and are most excited about first baseman Jonathan Singleton (23rd), center fielder George Springer (24th) and former first overall pick shortstop Carlos Correa (40th). They also turned one of the better arms in their bullpen this year, Wesley Wright, into a top pitching prospect from the Giants in Kyle Crick at the deadline. The future is bright for the Astros but they will need a few more years before all of these talents will be contributing to wins at the big league level. Off-Season Outlook Free agents: P Joba Chamberlain; OF Rick Ankiel; P Erik Bedard; P Jose Veras; 1B Carlos Pena It’s unclear where Luhnow will go this off-season with so many holes. He’ll likely continue to bring in veterans to play for a year to bide time for the youngsters to develop and have a positive influence upon their arrival. You’d have to think the rotation can use an upgrade and they don’t appear to have a pitcher on the 40-man roster worth of closing. LOS ANGELES ANGELS 2013 Recap: The Angels were disappointed after another spending spree and no playoffs to show for it. The Josh Hamilton signing was a disaster, he hit just .227 with 12 homers and 50 RBI in 441 at-bats. The offense as a whole was porous as the pitching actually overachieved. The result was a respectable 84 wins, but again, not enough to play in October. This doesn’t sit well with ownership, who have invested heavily in this roster but aren’t seeing the returns on the field or at the gate. An aging Albert Pujols had a decent season (.249-25-95) but he still has eight full seasons on that mega-deal and he doesn’t get any cheaper. Phenom Mike Trout took a step back after a crazy rookie season, hitting .260 with 25 homers and 72 RBI, hitting primarily in the three-hole in the lineup. Mark Trumbo hit 29 bombs, but hit just .243 for the season. Their 681 runs scored was 13th in the American League and they hit just 157 long balls (12th). Meanwhile, the starting pitching (5th) and bullpen (4th) did very well. Tommy Hanson had a comeback season, going 13-12 with a 3.95 and Joe Blanton stepped up big with 14 wins and a 3.37 ERA. During the season, the Angels traded prospect C Hank Conger to the Yankees for veteran third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who struggled to a .200 average in 265 at-bats with eight homers and 24 RBI. Fans weren’t happy with the result of that one, especially since the Angels farm system is known to be in complete disarray. Conger ended up hitting 16 homers for the Yankees in just 198 at-bats while hitting .293 in 2013. Owner Artie Moreno is sticking with GM Jerry Dipoto and manager Mike Scioscia moving forward but you better believe that 2014 is a make-or-break year for the current regime in Los Angeles. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: P Jason Vargas; C Chris Snyder; 3B Kevin Youkilis; P Ryan Madson; P Scott Downs They’ll need to replace Jason Vargas (13-15, 3.84, 1.30 WHIP) in the rotation next year. Not a huge loss, but worth noting. Other than that, everybody is back – not that it’s necessarily a good thing. Dipoto will need to find some players who focus more on getting on base and manufacturing runs in front of Trout-Pujols-Trumbo. The bullpen needs some work also after they’ll lose Madson and Downs. OAKLAND ATHLETICS 2013 Recap: The A’s struggled their way to an 80-82 record in 2013 and despite breakout offensive performances from Josh Donaldson and Yoenis Cespedes, the team has plenty of holes in the lineup. A lineup that featured an on-base percentage of .318 (8th ranked in AL) but a batting average of just.247 (12th) – a formula that actually spit out 729 runs (6th). The “Moneyball” philosophy is still in effect in Oakland. With the young two-headed monster of Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin atop the rotation, the A’s will look to supplement around them and veteran Brett Anderson to improve upon the 4.39 starters ERA. The bullpen was terrific all season and Sean Doolittle emerged as their closer with 37 saves on the season. They traded outfielder Chris Young to the Mariners for first baseman Kendrys Morales, who hit .299 with six homers and 31 RBI in his 251 at-bats with the A’s. Both players were free agents to be and neither appears to be staying with their new clubs. Morales is looking for $13 Million-plus and the A’s aren’t in that market. The aforementioned Griffin provided big news this year when the tossed a perfect game against the Cardinals in Oakland on June 29th. Billy Beane and Bob Melvin are at a crossroads as they try to get over the hump in the ultra-competitive (sans Astros) AL West. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: 1B Kendrys Morales; CF Coco Crisp; P Grant Balfour; 1B Daric Barton; P Bartolo Colon; P Carl Pavano; P Hideki Okajima; P Pat Neshek; OF Seth Smith; P Chris Resop; 1B Brandon Moss As mentioned, the A’s will let Morales walk and will have to replace do-it-all Coco Crisp. They will also be missing Bartolo Colon from the rotation. As of right now, it appears that they may hand over that first base job to 26-year old Nate Freiman, who got his cup of coffee after pounding AAA pitching to the tune of a .984 OPS. Though, there have been rumors that they are interested in Justin Morneau. They could also be in the mix on 2B Chase Utley this off-season. SEATTLE MARINERS 2013 Recap: The M’s were much like their AL West rival A’s – not much hitting; good pitching and 80 wins. The Mariners were led again by their ace starting pitcher Felix Hernandez who mowed down the competition on the way to 16 wins and a 2.94 ERA. He was joined by youngster Erasmo Ramirez as one of the better one-two punches in the division – they just weren’t given that run support. They expect catcher Mike Zunino to grow into his role as an everyday catcher at just 22 years old. He is their future and somebody they plan to build around. But don’t think the Mariners and GM Jack Zduriencik think this is a rebuilding project. They definitely feel they have the pieces to compete right away with the right moves. Their total team ERA (3.59) ranked third in the American League and they limited the long ball and the free passes to help garner that number. There was some buzz this season that included a 10-game winning streak in July and ticket sales actually spiked over 3,000,000 for the first time in a while. The team eventually eroded and missed the playoffs, but it was a step in the right direction. Manager Eric Wedge fully expects his team to compete for a division title in 2014. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: OF Chris B. Young; SS Brendan Ryan; SS Willie Bloomquist; P Kameron Loe; P Oliver Perez; C Kelly Shoppach; OF Mike Morse; P Joe Saunders; 1B Raul Ibanez; OF Franklin Gutierrez; IF Robert Andino The Mariners were quick to move this off-season, landing prized outfielder Carlos Beltran to begin their off-season. He’ll replace Mike Morse and then some. They’ll be turning to Nick Franklin at shortstop and hope to get Justin Smoak back in time for Spring Training to play first base. This lineup isn’t far away and the 2013 M’s showed they can throw it. If Zduriencik can piece together a few more pieces, the Mariners could be the surprise team of 2014. TEXAS RANGERS 2013 Recap: Well, it finally happened. After suffering through two straight World Series defeats – 2011 being especially heart-breaking – and then a dismal 2012 season, the Rangers finally broke through and won it all. And they did it despite a rather ho-hum regular season. They backed into a one-game divisional win and then caught fire at the right time. Manager Ron Washington, who was having his head called for in early May – got his troops in line and made a run for the ages. Trailing three games to two and heading back to Cincinnati in the World Series, he told the traveling secretary to not book a flight back home until the day after a Game 7. This signified to the team that they would be in Cincinnati no matter what and they might as well play a baseball game. It worked. They won Game 6, 1-0 and then cruised to a Game 7 win to bring home the title. Their numbers – both hitting and pitching – during the regular season were much like their record, just uninspiring. Yu Darvish dominated his way to a 14-5 record with a 2.75 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 278 K’s to post a league-leading 9.7 WAR. Mitch Moreland broke out and appears poised to take over the first base duties full time after hitting .305 with 25 homers and 84 RBI. It was a good time for the Rangers to break through after a tough run – they are going to go through some roster turnover this off-season but manager “Wash” will get his guys to band together and play good baseball. Off-Season Outlook Free Agents: OF Nelson Cruz; SP Colby Lewis; 2B Ian Kinsler; SP Roy Oswalt; 1B Lance Berkman; OF David Murphy; P Evan Meek; C Geovany Soto; P Joe Nathan; P Jason Frasor; IF Jeff Baker; P Derek Lowe As mentioned, the Rangers will be losing quite a bit from their 2013 lineup. Including 62 homers and three starters in Cruz, Berkman and Kinsler. They have been aggressive and landed CF Shin-Soo Choo already and plan to continue to restructure the lineup. The loss of Colby Lewis (Cleveland) will hurt the rotation, but Darvish is still there to dominate every fifth day. They’ll need to replace him and do some work on the bullpen. Don’t let the end result fool you, the Rangers know they have some work to do to return to the playoffs in 2014. Last edited by OOTPRealTime; 12-02-2013 at 06:05 PM.