The World Series has started and for the teams in the AL West it means nothing other than the fact that the offseason will be beginning soon. Each team is looking at their eligible free agents and which club options they will be picking up. Before they know it the winter meetings will be here again and the wheeling and dealing will begin. The following is a look at the free agents of each team in the division and who they may add to fill the holes in their rosters.
Houston Astros
The Astros were bad, and they were bad for one big reason, because they were young. Thanks to how young they are the team will not have to worry about losing people to free agency. In fact, the only player I kind find of note that is hitting free agency is starting pitcher Erik Bedard. They will also lose Trevor Crowe, a right fielder who played 60 games with the team. Losing Bedard is not something the Astros are going to worry about too much, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they bring him back or a veteran presence like him to help lead the young starting rotation.
In free agency it would be surprising if they make much of a splash. Other than possibly retaining Bedard they could look at Jason Marquis or, in my opinion the best move they could make, bring back Roy Oswalt. Another place they could use improvement would be in the bullpen. They traded away their closer in the middle of the season and picking up a guy like Kevin Gregg or Joel Hanrahan could not only fill that role but help them with an additional veteran presence. The Hanrahan move could potentially be the best move for not only just the team, but Hanrahan as well. After coming off a season where he couldn’t get right on the mound, and then lost the rest of the season due to injury, a season closing for a team like the Astros could help him build his cred back up and possibly get traded midseason.
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels, much like the Astros, aren’t losing much via free agency. For them, though, this is a bad thing. The Angels were a bad team this season with a lot of bad contracts and could afford to have a few of those contracts go away via free agency. What the Angels will lose is starting pitcher Jason Vargas. Of all the people the Angels could afford to see go away Vargas isn’t one of them. Although his season was plagued with injuries the biggest issue with this team right now is all around pitching, and losing a solid left hander in the rotation is going to expand that problem further. The Angels will also lose Ryan Madsen which is sad for the career of Madsen but a good thing for the Angels, and both are for the same season, because Madsen never threw a pitch.
What the Angels could bring in in free agency is a real unknown. It is unknown because no one has a clue how much more money the team is willing to spend or if they will try to make the moves needed to fix the pitching staff via trade. Assuming they go about it strictly in free agency and continue to ignore any kind of payroll it is likely they go after one of the three big closers out there and move current closer Ernesto Frieri into the setup role. The big money bet would be that the Angels bring in Grant Balfour because he already knows the division well after spending the last three seasons with the Athletics, but a return of Fernando Rodney could be in the cards as well. In the starting rotation, with the loss of Vargas, the Angels have two spots to fill and there are plenty of starting pitchers out there to fill the void. Look for the Angels to go after one of the big free agents like Ubaldo Jimenez or Matt Garza to slot into the number three spot and move Garrett Richards back to the four slot and then to take a chance on someone to fill that fifth spot. The Angels did something similar when they went out and got Joe Blanton last season, but guys like John Lannan or Colby Lewis could be much safer bets, if of course they can stay healthy.
Oakland Athletics
The A’s have set themselves up in the long terms and are only losing a few players via free agency. The issues is these players had pretty big roles on the team. Bartolo Colon is the biggest loss via free agency, both literally and figuratively, but it is highly assumed that he will be brought back. Balfour has been closing out games for the last two seasons and broke an Oakland record for consecutive saves during his span as closer. His loss will be a tough pill to swallow, but Ryan Cook was an All-Star in 2012 thanks to his short time as closer and can step right in. They also lose catcher Kurt Suzuki who came over via waivers late in the season and helped stabilize the pitching staff, but the A’s retain three catchers even with the loss of Suzuki. On top of those two they have three players with options in Coco Crisp, Brett Anderson and Chris Young and two of the three should be maintained with Young being the odd man out. The loss of Young will not be a big loss as the A’s believe they can slot Michael Choice in that right handed outfielder spot and be fine.
So you would expect the A’s to be relatively quiet this offseason with most of the team being retained, but if you think that you do not know General Manager Billy Beane. With Beane no one is safe, and with the sudden popularity of Yoenis Cespedes he could be taking offers on the Cuban which may sound silly, but knowing Beane he’d do it in a heartbeat. While I doubt Cespedes is in danger of being traded, you can always expect Beane to do something that you won’t expect. As far as free agency goes, the only true need the team needs may be filled if/when the A’s resign Colon. In addition to Colon the A’s could bring in someone via free agency via free agency, but they feel confident that they pieces they have in place right now can continue to succeed even with the loss of Balfour. If they do go out via free agency expect it to be an underrated veteran like Jamey Wright to fill the veteran leadership role and be a solid arm out of the pen.
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners really want to win now, and they appear ready to go out and surround their young talent with solid veterans. They gave it a shot last season when they acquired both Michael Morse and Kendrys Morales via trade, but now both are gone, one via trade and one is now a free agent. The team also went out and got Jason Bay and took a shot on Raul Ibanez who will both be leaving via free agency.
If the M’s stay the course they tried in the 2013 offseason then you can expect the M’s to go after two power type free agents that can fill the void of veteran leadership and the DH/first base/left fielder spot. Players that fit that role and could be in the M’s payroll could be Marlon Byrd and Delmon Young. Both have the ability to go yard and have experience that the rest of the team doesn’t have. Those two are just the beginning, though, of a long list of veteran leaders that could fill these voids including bringing back the aging Ibanez. The AL West is a tight division right now and the M’s are ready to make that move but the young guys need young leaders to get them to the next level.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers are a rarity in this division that is losing a lot of big pieces, and it is for the second season in a row. They may be losing closer Joe Nathan as he has the option to void his option, and he is expected to do just that and they will lose catcher A.J. Pierzynski, designated hitter Lance Berkman, left fielder David Murphy, right fielder Jeff Baker, right fielder Nelson Cruz and starting pitchers Colby Lewis and Garza. That’s seven players, three of whom filled big roles for the team, that could leave the team. They could talk Nathan into staying and not voiding his team option and retaining Cruz as the primary designated hitter, but otherwise the rest of the players are probably on their way out.
In free agency the team will have a lot of holes to fill and after four straight years of failing the front office is going to look to fill those holes with players who can take the team to the next level. Look for them to go hard after catcher free agent Brian McCann to be a leader behind the plate and fill a much needed power hitting role. As far as the closer role goes, the team has internal options if they cannot convince Nathan to stay with Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando and could keep that in house instead of going out into free agency. The hole left by Cruz, if he indeed leaves, could be a little harder to fill in the designated hitter spot. The Rangers could be scared off by ageing free agents after the Berkman experiment failed, but could fill that void with someone like Morse or Morales who filled similar roles for the Mariners in 2013. The final piece the Rangers will be looking to fill will be in the rotation. The top of the rotation will still be solid if Matt Harrison returns to form after his injury plagued season and they could look to retain the services of Garza but could also look for someone like Ervin Santana who has a lot of experience in the AL West and is coming off of one of the best seasons of his career.
In the end, you can expect all the of the teams in the division to do whatever they can to get better. For two seasons now the underpaid Oakland A’s have ruled the west and that does not sit well with any of the teams in the division, except maybe the Astros who don’t seem to care right now. Moves will be coming soon and they will be rolling in left and right to try and get their teams in the right position before spring training.