Future of the AL West

The future of the A.L. West lies somewhere between the Major League rosters and low A ball in the minors. Of course future drafts could come into play as well as free agent signings and trades. Yet we cannot predict much of that. What we can look at is the top 10 prospects of each A.L. West team to find out who is stacked and who just sucks.

Wow that sounded cliché or at least very lame.

I have shown you a top 10 for the Mariners before. Here it is updated with help again from the ussmariner.com.

1. Carlos Triunfel, SS (A) - .298, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .684 OPS
2. Adam Jones, OF (AAA) - .310, 1 HR, 9 RBI, .801 OPS
3. Jeff Clement, C (AAA) - .217, 2 HR, 15 RBI, .682 OPS
4. Ryan Feierabend, LHP (AAA) – 1-1, 2.84 ERA, 25 1/3 IP, 1.46 WHIP
5. Tony Butler, LHP (A) – 0-2, 5.14 ERA, 14 IP, 1.93 WHIP
6. Alex Liddi, 3B (A) - .177, 2 HR, 7 RBI, .672 OPS
7. Chris Tillman, RHP (A) – 1-1, 2.61 ERA, 20 2/3 IP, 0.97 WHIP
8. Matt Tuiasosopo, 3B (AA) - .365, 1 HR, 10 RBI, .957 OPS
9. Greg Halman, OF (A) - .263, 2 HR, 12 RBI, .600 OPS
10. Wladimir Balentien OF (AAA) - .376, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 1.067 OPS

Triunfel, Liddi, and Halman all play in a horrible hitters ballpark and the league in general doesn’t allow for much power in April. That is especially true this season as the Midwest has been so cold and rainy.

Also, Triunfel is only 17 years old so the power will come as he gets older. Hopefully Jones or Balentien will get a shot to play some in the Show this season. Clement may be a full time DH next year.

The Oakland Athletics have pushed some of their prospects into major league action this season due to injuries. Other prospects simply did not have very good years last season. Here is their list:

1. Daric Barton, 1B (AAA) - .235, 1 HR, 12 RBI, .649 OPS
2. Kurt Suzuki, C (AAA) - .300, 1 HR, 10 RBI, .786 OPS
3. Matt Sulentic, OF (A) - .138, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .369 OPS
4. Jermaine Mitchell, OF (A) - .279, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .716 OPS
5. Javier Herrara, OF (A) - .217, 0 HR, 7 RBI, .582 OPS
6. Jason Windsor, RHP (AAA) – 1-2, 7.33 ERA, 27 IP, 1.85 WHIP
7. Marcus McBeth, RHP (AAA) – 1-0, 1.80 ERA, 10 IP, 5 SV, 1.00 WHIP
8. Justin Sellers, SS (A) - .213, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .598 OPS
9. Richie Robnett, OF (AA) - .256, 4 HR, 16 RBI, .793 OPS
10. Kevin Melillo, 2B (AAA) - .305, HR, 14 RBI, .859 OPS

The stacked pitching prospects are a thing of the past for the A’s. The strength lies more in position players now, specifically among outfielders. The issue is that none are above the AA level and aside from Robnett, none are doing particularly well.

The Angels seem to be the team to beat in the A.L. West this year and they look good for years to come. Take a look:

1. Brandon Wood, 3B (AAA) - .278, 3 HR, 15 RBI, .838 OPS
2. Nick Adenhart, RHP (AA) - 3-1, 0.80 ERA, 33 2/3 IP, 1.01 WHIP
3. Stephen Marek, RHP (A) – 1-0, 2.40 ERA, 15 IP, 1.20 WHIP
4. Hank Conger, C (A) - .250, 2 HR, 10 RBI, .653 OPS
5. Jeff Mathis, C (AAA) - .303, 2 HR, 10 RBI, .802 OPS
6. Sean Rodriguez, SS (AA) - .289, 4 HR, 10 RBI, .939 OPS
7. Sean O’Sullivan, RHP (A) - 1-2, 3.52 ERA, 23 IP, 1.39 WHIP
8. Terry Evans, OF (AAA) - .305, 3 HR, 13 RBI, .873 OPS
9. Hainley Statia, SS (A) - .277, 0 HR, 14 RBI, .703 OPS
10. Jose Arrendondo, RHP (AA) - 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 5 1/3 IP, 2.44 WHIP

The Rangers suffered setbacks and disappointments with some of their top pitching prospects. Nevertheless their top guy is off to a great start. Here is their list:

1. Eric Hurley, RHP (AA) – 3-0, 1.50 ERA, 30 IP, 0.97 WHIP
2. Edinson Volquez, RHP (A) – 0-2, 8.87 ERA, 23 1/3 IP, 1.54 WHIP
3. John Mayberry, OF (A) - .242, 5 HR, 20 RBI, .773 OPS
4. Jason Botts, OF (AAA) - .186, 1 HR, 14 RBI, .578 OPS
5. Marcus Lemon, SS (A) - .218, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .579 OPS
6. Taylor Teagarden, C (A) - .324, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1.099 OPS
7. Chris Davis, SS (A) - .244, 5 HR, 20 RBI, .814 OPS
8. Wes Littleton, RHP (AAA) – 0-0, 0.73 ERA, 12 1/3 IP, SV, 0.81 WHIP
9. Chad Tracy, OF (A) - .262, 1 HR, 10 RBI, .716 OPS
10. John Rupe, RHP (AAA) – 1-1, 4.24 ERA, 17 IP, 1.47 WHIP

Keith Law of ESPN.com rates the top farm systems in MLB and at the beginning of the season, the Angels were #8, Oakland #21, Seattle #25, and Texas #26.

The Angels definitely deserve to be that high in my opinion as they already have C Mike Napoli, 2B Howie Kendrick and SS Erick Aybar in the majors. Wood is the 2nd best prospect in baseball this year behind Delmon Young of Tampa Bay. Aybar and Kendrick were top 10 on the Angels list before this season. It is possible that as soon as next year the Angels will be starting Napoli, Aybar, Wood, Kendrick, Morales (another prospect who is being shuttled up and down from AAA), and Ervin Santana, John Lackey, Jered Weaver, and Adenhart in the rotation.

Just Weaver, Wood, and Kendrick alone put them at the top of the A.L. West farm systems.

The Mariners players are all too young to have impact soon. Granted Betancourt and Lopez will be the middle infield for years to come and Felix plus Morrow makes a good top of the rotation. The problem is that Jones and Clement are really the guys closest to the majors and Clement is not doing well.

The Rangers still build around Teixera. Now add Ian Kinsler too that, but nobody knows about Hank Blaylock. What happened to him? OF Nelson Cruz will be part of the future, but their pitching still isn't great. They traded prospect Jon Danks for Brandon McCarthy, but I am not sure Tejada or Loe is a real answer.

The A's usually have a great pitcher to come up and start each year, but they may be a few years away for that now. Dallas Braden pitched well in his first start (not so much in the 2nd one), but he was sent down the other day. Jason Windsor looks bad in AAA and who else is there? McBeth may help in the pen. Those outfielders aren't ready. Suzuki and Melillo may be starters next year, but they don't exactly evoke the images of Grieve, Chavez, Tejada, Swisher and even Crosby.

Oh and I hate the A’s.