AL WEST SNAPSHOT

AL WEST

BOISE BROWNCOATS- Evan43 is the reigning AL champ, and he's got the Browncoats off to another good start this year. As of this writing they are 21 games over .500 at 47-26 and leading the West by 3 games. Made a splash by signing 2B Carlton Roosevelt, who has hit 14 HRs but is hitting only .244. FA RP Patrick York(3-0, 1.99 ERA) has bee effective. Boise is in the top 5 in the league both on offense and in pitching. Evan's club is led by a number of hitting stalwarts. Gold Glove CF Clayton Hairston(.322, 15 SB) has moved over to LF, but is still effective. 4 time MVP C Olmedo Rivas(.322, 17 HR) is now the full time DH. Former LF Alfonso Tejera(.304, 15 HR) has a great resume(6 time AS, 4 time Silver Slugger, 3 Gold Gloves) and is still at the top of his game. Trade acquisition 3B Jumbo Neruda(.303, 18 HR, 24 SB) has been a big plus. Staff leader Bobby Stephenson(7-1, 3.29 ERA) has 2 Cy Young awards and 5 AS appearances. Closer Felipe Cairo(18 Svs) has 12 AS appearances and 3 Fireman of the Year awards. Boise took a big hit to it's staff when SP Artie Dimaggio went down with a season ending, career threatening elbow injury. While this team is still one of the best in the league, more than half of it's roster are on the wrong side of 30, with all-time stars like Rivas(34), Hairston(35), Cairo(34), Stephenson(32), and Tejera(31) all logging more than 10 ML campaigns. That may require some attention in the near future, but for this year they are well able to defend their title.

SAN JOSE GIANTS- nzballa has his Giants lurking just 3 games off the division lead. Picked up Darrin Lee(.304, 19 SBs) to man 3B. Also signed Julian Young(.303) to patrol CF. Just traded 3 players to acquire C Sidney Martin(.356) to help handle the pitching staff. SJ has led the league in ERA for 3 years running and they are among the best again this year. I don't think here is a team in the league that can rival their starting staff. Dave Wilkinson(8-3, 2.43 ERA) is a 6 time AS and even won a Fireman of the Year award before becoming one of the league's top SPs. Last year' ROY Phil Corino is 7-6 with a 2.53 ERA. Sean Brown(7-3, 2.44 ERA) is a 2 time AS. SP/LR Shane Rolls is 9-1. Closer Alberto Aparicio has 12 saves but a 6.00 ERA. The Giants are not exactly lacking in offense either. They already have 5 players with double-digit HRs. Slugging rookie 1B Pepe Nunez(.326, 17,60) is a ROY candidate. Harry Owen(.316, 15 HR) mans LF. Darin Watson(.295) is an excellent defensive SS, but is hitting over his head. After missing the playoffs last season, nz is a good bet to return this year.

VANCOUVER VILLAINS- jvburns club won this division last season, but is hovering just over .500 at 37-36, 10 games back. Trade acquisition SP Andres Cabrera(7-4, 3.13) has been good. David Clark(2-4, 4.53) not so much. The pitching is in the top 1/3 of the league, but the offense is decidedly average. There are some offensive bright spots. 3B Al Canseco(.324, 23,64, 17 SB) is a 5x AS with 5 Silver Slugger awards. RF Alton Buckley(.321,17,60) is a former ROY and 7x AS, with 2 Silver Sluggers and a Gold Glove. Speedy CF Alton Buckley has 20 SB. DH Bump Sabel has 16 HRs, but is hitting well below his career average. SPs Johnny Richardson(8-4), Shane Coffman(6-5, 3.51), Andres Cabrera(7-4, 3.13), & Harry Seneca(4-3, 3.74) are all doing a good job. Closer Willie Alarcon(2.16 ERA) is 14-15 in saves. This is still a talented team, but it's going to be hard to make up 10 games in this tough division.

SCOTTSDALE SUNNY- mdtiger showed improvement last season in his 2nd year at the helm, but seems to have taken a step back this year. Currently, the Sunny is 20 games out at 27-46. Signed a few FAs, the best of which are LF Ronn Hall(.287, 15 HR) and closer Carson Hoffman(3.06 ERA, .227 OAvg, 10-11 Svs). Rule 5 pickups Willie Alexander and Roland Douglass have played sparingly. The pitching ranks last in the league with a 6.04 ERA. Team BA of .263 ranks 14th. The team does have some power(109 HR, 5th). DH Jumbo Flores(.339, 11 HR) leads the offense. 1B Wayne Smalley(.281, 21,59) leads the club in HRs. SP Jesus Benitez is 7-4. Highly paid FA Placido Hernandez($13M+) is 1-9. With 14 players on the roster 30 or older, it may be time to sell off some older talent to contenders for some prospects.