AL West after the Deadline: Still Mediocre and Still Exciting
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by user Andersed
The Oakland A's were the clear losers at the trade deadline in the AL West. It's funny: the two teams at the bottom (by three games) of the division are those that improved themselves the most. The Angels weren't able to trade Ervin Santana and Erick Aybar for Miguel Tejada, a move that would've one-upped the Texas Rangers' acquisition of Carlos Lee.
Rangers: Gave up Francisco Cordero, Laynce Nix, Kevin Mench, and minor prospects for Carlos Lee, Matt Stairs, Kip Wells, and a stud prospect from Milwaukee. They improved themselves, though Kip Wells isn't the type of pitcher who will thrive in Arlington, if there are any. They cleared out space for Lee by giving up Mench, but Mench killed the Mariners and was a reliable hitter with a huge head, as every story about him notes. He was also named the "average" baseball player, salary-wise, by Sports Illustrated. Lee has been clutch already. In my opinion, he was a bigger prize than Bobby Abreu.
Athletics: Absolutely nothing. Billy Beane had been on a run of minor deadline deals that ended making huge impacts. Jay Payton last year. This year, nothing. When you're last in several offensive categories, that's not a good thing.
Mariners: They made two minor trades, acquiring the Cleveland Indians' DH platoon of Eduardo Perez and Ben Broussard. In return, they gave up Shin-soo Choo, a prospect with little future in Seattle. And they lost Carl Everett, which has been proven addition by subtraction. Broussard plays harder than Everett, has two years left on his contract, and is the perfect bat for this lineup. Perez hits lefties very well and respects and knows the game, thanks to a childhood spent around the Big Red Machine.
Angels: The biggest news was the deal that they didnt make, because Miguel Tejada didn't want to move to third base. Ervin Santana is a fine young pitcher who will be valuable down the stretch, so it doesn't kill them. Besides, they have an endless supply of prospects to fill holes. I'm not sure if the blend of rooks and aging vets and Vladimir Guerrero will hold up.
The verdict? The Rangers won the deadline sweepstakes, even though they didn't improve their pitching. It was almost by default, actually. The Mariners improved themselves more subtly, while the Angels and A's stood pat, a "decision" that will help the Angels more than it will the A's.
It appears that this race will be tight to the very end, which should make September a very exciting month. Because the division only has four teams, division play features two concurrent head-to-head matchups. Everyone in the division is facing a rival, and this year, all of those games should matter.
Date
Tue 08/01/06, 10:45 am EST
