This is the first of a week-long series previewing the upcoming seasons divisional races:

1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2. Seattle Mariners
3. Oakland Athletics
4. Texas Rangers
 

We're looking at a two horse race in the west that has tightened a bit since the first of the year, with Eric Bedard's trade to Seattle, John Lackey down for the first month of the season and Kelvim Escobar possibly missing the year. Seattle has a potentially lethal 1-2 punch with Bedard and Felix Hernandez, but the back end of the rotation is more suspect. The Angels have some very underrated pitchers in John Lackey, Jered Weaver and Joe Saunders with Nick Adenhart potentially on the way at some point. Both have good closers, but the Halo's pen is much deeper as a whole. Vlad Guerrero is a great anchor, Torri Hunter should help for a few years and they have some interesting young players up and down the lineup. The Mariners are still tied down to the big contracts given Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre a few years back and the rest of the lineup is unremarkable. Ultimately, the Mariners almost certainly over-performed last year and are due to fall to earth a bit this year. The Angels will get some reinforcements from the minor leagues that the Mariners just can't match.

Fighting it out on the bottom end of the division are two teams undertaking very interesting rebuilding efforts. The Athletics will start the year with the pitching to be a fringe contender, at least until injuries or trades take their toll. Joe Blanton, Rich Harden and Huston Street are all capable, though are all candidates to be traded should the right deal come along. If Beane does find someone making him an offer he can't refuse for one of them, they could well fall into the cellar of the division. The hitting is more suspect, though Travis Buck, Daric Barton, Ryan Sweeney and Kurt Suzuki have a chance to be part of a long term future and Jack Cust, Bobby Crosby and Eric Chavez have their positives, when healthy. The Rangers have given themselves some interesting options on the hitting side, though they may be fielding offers for some of them come mid year. Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Josh Hamilton could be long term solutions somewhere and the farm should help fill some gaps. But alas, the Rangers never ending quest for pitching continues on. Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla are usually thoroughly average and after that it gets scary. 4th place will probably be determined more on injuries and trades than talent, but these teams both have interesting futures.

This has been edited into a format I was happier with after the original post.