divisiOn preview - AL West

over next seven days wayward O will present "a question for each team" with predicted order of finish for six divisions. and on the seventh day wayward O will give you your '08 postseason predictions. in honor of dead D&D guy, wayward O rolled his trusty six-sided die to determine which division he first shall preview. he rolled a three, which means the AL West goest first.

trust Wayward O, it was fully randOmized.

but first a little message from our sponsor. actually he is not our sponsor, but he is eddie murray, which is, like, even better...



dempsey's army found that one. love how 90s it is. like if spike lee was a baseball fan instead of knicks fan. anyway. sorry. back to AL West & a question for each team:

L.A. ANGELS: Are they still team to best in this division? Answer: With additions of John Garland and Torii Hunter, answer is still yes. Sorry, Seattle. Probably best outfield in MLB.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS: Dan Haren, gone. Nick Swisher, gone. Mark Kotsay & Marco Scutaro, gone. Wow they got rid of everybody. Can they stay out of basement? Only if Jack Cust proves he's the real thing. Doubtful.

SEATTLE MARINERS: They brought in Brad Wilkerson to play RF and upgraded their starting staff with Erik Bedard. But no upgrades at 1B and catcher leave their offense in same gear as last year: good but not Angels good. With Ichiro playing more trying OF position, do his eye-popping offensive stats cool off?

TEXAS RANGERS: The most interesting thing about Rangers is they have two good, young catchers. But with little or no pitching upgrades, look for another less-than-stellar campaign. Can Milton Bradley put together a freakout free year? Doubtful...

Predicted Order of Finish:
Angels
Mariners*
Rangers
Athletics

* wild card contender