If the Major League Baseball season continues to shake up like it has we could be in for a very special treat. Many Major League teams are adding to the excitement that we see night in and night out, but it remains to be seen what teams will have enough to withstand the tough month of September and stay alive. Let’s take a look at this year’s pretenders and contenders for the upcoming dramatic playoff race.

A.L. Pretenders:
Tampa Bay Rays- I feel really bad for putting the Rays in this spot, but I don’t see them making it out alive in the A.L. East. The Red Sox will find some way to make this thing close before September comes. If stud third baseman Evan Longoria and closer Troy Percival can get off the DL sooner rather than later the Rays could have a chance, but putting everything on Carlos Pena and Australian Grant Balfour is a tough thing to ask.

Minnesota Twins- Tip your hat to the Twins for staying in it this long. Losing Santana and Hunter gave the image of a losing year back in Spring Training, however the emergence of young pitchers such as Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey have kept the Twins floating. The main problem with the Twins lies with the lineup outside of All-Stars Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. The Twins will take on the Mariners and Oakland this week in a 7 game west coast swing; games in which they need to play well in to stay on top of the division.

N.L. Pretenders:
Philadelphia Phillies- The Phillies leader in wins is Jamie Moyer. Ouch. This squad has no pitching outside Cole Hamels and Moyer. And please don’t sit here and tell me that fat ass Joe Blanton was the answer to the Phillies pitching problems. They made a weak push for Rich Harden and are quickly learning that Blanton’s cheese curd fastball can’t hold much to Harden’s dominance. Their lineup is stacked, but their rotation isn’t. Balanced teams make the playoffs. The blue collar working class of Philadelphia will once again have to hope the Mets collapse in a New York minute (or seven games in seventeen days like last year).

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Hosts: Sonny, Ryan and Rich: This episode focused solely on the American League West. With Erik Bedard now in Seattle, have the Mariners done enough to put an end to the Angels’ divisional dominance? Or will Torii Hunter spark this team to another AL West crown and more importantly, postseason success? Also, we debate about who the better team is between the A’s and Rangers

 

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Great Team Isn’t Great Enough. The California Anaheim Los Angels Angels of Anaheim have won the AL West three of the last four seasons. Unfortunately for owner Arte Moreno, those division crowns haven’t translated to much postseason success. Since the Halos’ improbable 2002 World Series championship, they’ve won just one postseason series. In that same timespan, they’ve been swept twice by the Red Sox and throttled in five games by the White Sox in the 2005 ALCS. The question, as always for this team, is whether or not they’ve done enough to go from a great team to an elite one.

Bats. This lineup revolves around the sickening ability of outfielder Vladimir Guerrero. Despite a refusal to take pitches and hobbling around the field, Vladdy was his usual great self. With a .324 average to go with 27 homers and 125 RBIs, Guerrero remained a model of consistency. The problem with the Angels over the past few years has been a refusal to acquire a big stick to pair with Guerrero. After missing out on Miguel Cabrera, the Angels may have found that player in Gold Glove outfielder Torii Hunter, who went .287-28-107 in his final year with the Minnesota Twins. Hunter doesn’t strike fear into pitcher’s hearts the way Guerrero does, but he’s really stepped up his offensive performance in the last couple years.

The Angels have a pair of speedsters that, when healthy, could turn the Angels offense into a potent attack. Super utility man Chone Figgins and 2nd baseman Howie Kendrick both hit over .320 in 2007. Unfortunately, neither of them appeared in 120 games, with Kendrick appearing in just over 80. If they can both stay healthy, the Angels should have plenty of ducks on the pond for Vlad and Hunter. Don’t forget Garret Anderson, who has been around the Anaheim area for longer than Goofy or Pluto. Anderson hit nearly .300 with 16 homers and 80 RBIs, but had another horrific postseason.

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We’ve been waiting a couple weeks for the first big free agency splash. With big names like Alex Rodriguez, Curt Schilling and Mariano Rivera staying put, things were getting a bit dull. That changed early Thanksgiving morning when the Angels announced they had signed star outfielder Torii Hunter to a five year deal worth $80 million.

For the past couple years, I’ve been waiting for the Angels to sign a big bat with the ability to protect freakish Vladimir Guerrero. Finally, they have that guy. How’s this for an outfield? Vlad The Impaler, Torii Hunter and Gary Matthews Jr. Good luck hitting the gaps or taking the extra base on that trio.

We know the Angels have a stranglehold on the American League West. But with the signing of Hunter (for a relatively decent price), are they ready to seriously challenge the Evil Empires of the Atlantic Northeast? They have the pitching, the bullpen and now, a couple big bats in the middle of that lineup. And they might not be done yet.

Earlier this week, the trade to acquire Jon Garland in exchange for solid shortstop Orlando Cabrera had me scratching my head for a couple reasons. One is the fact that Cabrera is a good shortstop. The other? Jon Garland isn’t very good. You don’t just trade one of the American League’s best shortstops unless you have a plan to replace him.

How about Miguel Tejada? We all know he’s unhappy in Baltimore and we all know the Angels have a logjam in the outfield, with Reggie Willits and Juan Rivera on the outside looking in. There’s plenty of young pitching in that Angels minor league system. It’s a move that makes sense. For the sake of not having to hear about the Red Sox and Yankees for a week, let’s hope it’s a deal that gets made.

Apparently Shea Hillenbrand doesn’t like success. Hillenbrand, who is currently finding ways not to produce as the Angels DH, wants to be traded. With the injuries to Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman, the Angels can’t afford to trade the underachieving pile of shit Hillenbrand.

In case you may be having a deja vu moment, Hillenbrand did the same thing last year in Toronto. He wasn’t pleased with the situation so he got dealt to the Giants. Hey Shea, did you ever think it might be because you suck? Maybe you should learn how to hit higher than .254 with three freaking home runs. Maybe you should focus your attention on your hitting skills because, oh wait thats right, you don’t have to play the field. Maybe you should call up this guy and get his instructional DVD. It’s the same DVD that won back to back to back AAU National Championships!

Is there an outside chance that Hillenbrand will throw down with Mike Scioscia? Sure. Hillenbrand is the one who is the cancer in the clubhouse. Just ask John Gibbons. And besides, when did a guy who was barely hitting enough to stay on the roster get to call shots and demand trades? Rumors are flying that he might end up going to the Yankees. That’s just what New York needs, an overpriced underachieving pile of shit who is only going to cause problems in the locker room. The Yankees don’t need another ego, they have enough of those already.

There are a lot of baseball players who are worth the price of admission to watch play. Off the top of my head, I’m talking about Man-Ram, A-Rod, Pujols, and Johan Santana just to name a few. I’ve come to the realization though that nobody, and I mean nobody, is more impressive and exciting to watch play than Vladimir Gurerrero.

When you talk about the best hitter in the game, I think the answer is relatively simple. It’s Vlad. Honestly, it’s impossible to pitch to this guy. Throw it in the dirt, he’ll golf it over the right field fence. Throw it at his eyes and Vlad will somehow turn on it and yank it down the left field line. Throw it five feet outside and Vladdy Daddy will flick his bat at it for a double. Every time Vlad swings at a pitch, he has full intention of putting a flat side on the baseball.

In case you missed it the other day, Vlad hit a shot off Zach Greinke that nearly went into orbit. I’d say that the ball still hasn’t landed yet, but it actually did…wedged on the scoreboard of Kauffman Stadium. Yes, the freaking scoreboard. Kauffman Stadium officials measured the shot at 435, but if you ask me, that ball flirted with 500 feet. Clearing the fountains and jamming up the scoreboard? Are you kidding me? Say what you want about Pujols and A-Rod, and you’ll probably have very good arguments as far as them being the most pure swingers in the game. Vlad swings to impail. Vlad swings and human corkscrews himself into the ground. I’m not saying he’s the only one who violently swings like that, in fact there are a lot of guys who swing with every intention of falling on their ass. The difference is that when Vlad does it, the ball ends up in a different area code.

He doesn’t have the speed that he used to, and in fact its really funny to watch him run because his legs are so damn long that he looks like he’s hobbling down the first base line. Make no mistake though, even though he can’t move like he used to he still has an RPG attached to his right arm. And as for his bat, well, lets just say that when Vlad is hitting, it’s literally impossible to pitch around him. I guess it’s easy to toy with hitting .400 through April if you take the most gnarly of hacks at anything that is thrown your way. If you ask me, the best hitter in the game is an easy argument to settle; he plays for the Los Angeles Angels near Glendale adjacent to Tustin off Gene Autry Way of Anaheim.