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Jaydawg
MonkMojo^1283
Re: Who Will Win The A.L. West? <FONT COLOR=BLACK><b>[</font>Reply to #<a href="read.pl?1-2158">2158</a>]</b>
2/19/06, 2:20pm
Excellent Jaydawg.

Even with my Mariners in last. 

They need too many things to go right:

The first glimpses of Johjima, the new catcher from Japan, are encouraging.  He is not the quiet type like Ichiro.  He could add some spark with not only his bat, but his attitude as well.  I see this having a motivating influence on Ichiro as well.

Contract year for Joel Pineiro, and he appears to be tuned in to our new pitching coach Chaves.  Chaves is up from our minor league system and is very familiar with all our pitchers.

Washburn now a couple years out from surgery, tossing in Safeco is promising.

King Felix:  I think is overrated by most in fantasy circles, he is going to have his struggles in his first full year.  But he’ll be respectable.

This will be Grover’s second year managing the club.  I like that.

Beltre shows up to camp 15 pounds lighter, eager to rebound, we’ll see.

I like the idea of our corner guys having a year together under their belt. Sexson / Beltre

No power up the middle from our young guys, Betencourt, Reed, Lopez last year.  This will be better this year, but won’t turn any heads.

Mike Morse, Everet, Lawton I think makes for a better bench this year.

Our pen could surprise with the return of Rafael Soriano, JJ Putz and a healthy Eddie Guardado.

This is a lot to hope for, even for a homer like me.


[MonkMojo from Spokane/WA]
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