Who will win the AL West???

[slomo007]

Well let's analyze this by position:
1B Teixeira vs. Hatteberg (Teixeira)
2B Soriano vs. Scutaro (are you kidding?)
SS Young vs. Crosby (Young)
3B Chavez vs. Blalock (Tie)
LF Delucci/Mench vs. Byrnes (Tie)
CF Nix/Matthews vs. Kotsay (slight edge to Oakland right now, but once Kotsay cools down I'd give the edge to Texas)
RF Jordan/Mench vs. Dye (Oakland)

I'd say the Rangers have a significant offensive edge, not to mention the bullpens are not even comparable. The A's still don't have a decent setup man, and Dotel is still a streaky closer. Yes, the A's have a better rotation, but the Rangers just need a pitcher to go out there and allow about 4 ERs or less and they'll win most games. I think this race will come down to the end, with the Rangers winning the division and Oakland winning the wild card.

[Kingsac]

Well let's analyze this by position:
1B Teixeira vs. Hatteberg (Teixeira)
2B Soriano vs. Scutaro (are you kidding?)
SS Young vs. Crosby (Young)
3B Chavez vs. Blalock (Tie)
LF Delucci/Mench vs. Byrnes (Tie)
CF Nix/Matthews vs. Kotsay (slight edge to Oakland right now, but once Kotsay cools down I'd give the edge to Texas)
RF Jordan/Mench vs. Dye (Oakland)

I would agree with your ranking if they were based on offensive stats alone, except for the byrnes one. In which case they are 3-3.
Defensively I would say
1 Hatt
2 Scutaro
3 Young
4 Chavez
5 Byrnes
6 Kotsay
7 Dye
8 Miller

So Oakland has a better defense, better pitching, and a good bullpen, (Duke is good, and Rhodes will be a good 8th inning guy) If oakland gets four runs they have the pitching and defense to hold for the win, especially since Texas isn't mentally ready for a playoff push. Texas isn't built for today, in two years they will be awsome offensively, but still have a crap rotation.

[Bloody Nipples]

Well let's analyze this by position:
1B Teixeira vs. Hatteberg (Teixeira)
2B Soriano vs. Scutaro (are you kidding?)
SS Young vs. Crosby (Young)
3B Chavez vs. Blalock (Tie)
LF Delucci/Mench vs. Byrnes (Tie)
CF Nix/Matthews vs. Kotsay (slight edge to Oakland right now, but once Kotsay cools down I'd give the edge to Texas)
RF Jordan/Mench vs. Dye (Oakland)

I would agree with your ranking if they were based on offensive stats alone, except for the byrnes one. In which case they are 3-3.
Defensively I would say
1 Hatt
2 Scutaro
3 Young
4 Chavez
5 Byrnes
6 Kotsay
7 Dye
8 Miller

So Oakland has a better defense, better pitching, and a good bullpen, (Duke is good, and Rhodes will be a good 8th inning guy) If oakland gets four runs they have the pitching and defense to hold for the win, especially since Texas isn't mentally ready for a playoff push. Texas isn't built for today, in two years they will be awsome offensively, but still have a crap rotation.

First of all, the 3-3 score doesnt matter at all. The spots Texas is better in are WAY better than the spots the A's are better than. There is no question the Rangers have a far superior lineup.

Second, where are you getting those defensive rankings from?

Third, the A's still dont have a great bullpen. Its ok, but not as good as the Ranger's. The Rangers also dont have a terrible rotation. Obviously, the A's have a better one, but if Zito keeps struggling, its a lot closer than you think.

I still think the Rangers will pull away at the end of the year when the A's hot hitters such as Byrnes cool down.

[Kingsac]

I made my rankings based on errors. I was wrong about Kotsay he has 4 errors this year. Overall though the rangers have many more errors compared to the A's (soriano is at 18, scutaro 2). So if you have a weak pitching staff with a weak defense, especially your infield you are going to lose close games. Plus our bullpen is less of a concern because our pitchers go deeper into games. Zito is back and on track so no worries there, harden is comming through. Our bullpen is fine to finish at MAX 3 innings.

[CubsFan7724]

I would rather have Texas win the wildcard and totally embarass Boston . Im sure Boston fans would be calling for the heads of Francona and Epstein. Teixiera is heating up again and hit for the cycle a few days ago. He has a chance to break 40 and thats after being on the DL and starting terribly. Only 11 more with 6 weeks in the season. Hes brought up the average to .270 and I think he'll finish at .280-.290 by the end of the year. Texas is hot, hot, hot. 6 games won in a row. What is with the get rid of ARod, all of a sudden become good theory. Its worked twice now. Maybe if the Yanks trade them they'll win a world series

[Pogotheostrich]

It is obvious that Texas has the bats and Oakland has the pitchers. The thing is that the Rangers pitching and the A's hitting isn't as bad as everyone thought. I'm taking the A's cause they have been in the playoff race before.

[GSes]

o noez! mad

The A's bats stink?

If the A's bats stink? How is Mulder 16-4 w/ 3.80 ERA????????

Last year Zito wen 14-12 with an ERA of 3.30. Thats .50 LOWER and Mulder is going to win 20+.

chavez is doing exactly wut u expect
durazo is making Beanne look brilliant
hatteberg is having a career year
damian miller thinks he is posada (he been real good for us)
Dye has cooled, but he is still to be feared
Byrnes is hitting
Kotsay is setting the table and has been great leading off
scutaro is hitting 270..... He leads the majors in avg for a 9th place hitter
crosby has really cooled, but he should figure it back out soon

Honestly the reason why the A's are winning and are in 1st is because of our offense.

Mulder has been horrible since the all star break
Zito is inconsitent
Redman just plain sux
Harden has been the #1 SP since the break

Now, FINALLY we got OUR ACE tim Hudson back and he pitched a CG shutout the other nite.

Dotel scary? inconsistent? all yes. but he can also be dominate, and he is the guy, the rest of the pen is tryin to get healthy, thats been the main concern.

Defense? A's have the BEST defense in the AL. PERIOD



The Rangers flat out DO NOt have the pitching to take the AL west. A's and Rangers are gonna lock up in september and the a's will own them b/c pitching wins. If you think Kenny Rodgers and Dresse are going to be carrying your team into october, well thats just plain nuts.

Dresse & Rodgers? 7 weeks left. they are bout to burst.

So offensively the Rangers win
Pitching the A's win
Bullpen Rangers win
Defense A's win
Experience A's win

I think the a's are about to distance themselves from the angels and rangers.

My projection:
1. Oakland 96 wins
2. Anaheim 89 wins
3. Texas 88 wins

[Madison]

chavez is doing exactly wut u expect
durazo is making Beanne look brilliant
hatteberg is having a career year
damian miller thinks he is posada (he been real good for us)
Dye has cooled, but he is still to be feared
Byrnes is hitting
Kotsay is setting the table and has been great leading off
scutaro is hitting 270..... He leads the majors in avg for a 9th place hitter
crosby has really cooled, but he should figure it back out soon

That's still not scary and quite a few are playing over their heads. I doubt that it continues.

A's have the pitching, Rangers have the hitting. I'd bank on the Ranger's hitting over the A's pitching. That's what I've said all the way through.

Oh, and yes, I'm completely sold on Drese. Have you seen him pitch this year? He will be good for the rest of the year. Rogers is old, but keeps us in games and that's all it takes.

I know that most A's fans don't really understand what it's like to actually have a good offense, but you don't have to have a staff of aces in order to win when the guys know how to hit. You only need guys to keep you in the game and that's exactly what our staff is doing.

The bullpen has been the biggest key though. They have really come through in a big way. Almanzar, Shouse, Frankie Francisco, and Cordero.

We'll see how it ends up, but I'm taking my Rangers in this one.

[Kingsac]

No way the Rangers bats take over the A's. Everyone is making like the A's don't score? Please they have a good line-up, no its not as powerful as Texas but its still good. The A's rotation is so much better than Texas's and they have a much better defense to aid that superior pitching. Rhodes is not a closer. He is however a good set-up man, for an inning or so. With him returning and playing his true role, our bullpen strengthens. We also have the duke, who can come in and pitch 3-4 innings if need be. But more importantly our rotation goes 7 innings, with little strain on our pen, which Texas can't say. Out side of a better offense, and currently better pen, Oakland is superior. Plus were playing with the lead!

[DK]

I'm going to go ahead and say the A's get the division title. Drese is playing over his head. I predict a 4+ ERA the rest of the way.