AL West

Angels catching prospect Hank Conger had a tremendous first start on Sept 15th. Not only did the rookie come through with a big two-RBI opposite field single (his first MLB hit) in the first inning, but he caught a gem.

You don't have to be a fan of the Seattle Mariners to be a fan of Ichiro Suzuki. After all, Ichiro is approaching his record tenth 200-hit season, and also his 10th season leading the league in singles. No one else has more than four.

He's even been known to toss out the occasional funny quote.

In the past two entries in an attempt to repair a broken team, we looked at Chone Figgins and Dustin Ackley. The two make up a reasonably probable combination of second and third basemen for much of next season.

Perhaps the biggest storyline in the 2011 offseason for Mariners' fans will be the development, and potential big league assignment of Dustin Ackley. The second-overall pick in the 2009 draft has transitioned to second base, and after what seemed to be a lackluster destiny for Ackley in the outfield—likely a corner position with Franklin Gutierrez around—has turned into one where Ackley has a reasonably probability of out producing most players at his position at the plate.

Mike Napoli will be traded this offseason. There is no question about it.

As paradoxical as it seems, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a team severely lacking in power and RBI production this year, are headed down an inevitable and potentially dangerous path toward trading their current team leader in home runs.

When Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia talks, people tend to listen. A distinguished 35-year career in Major League Baseball as a player and manager has given him a sphere of influence, and he utilizes it when called upon.

This past weekend, Scioscia proposed cutting back the MLB regular season schedule to 158 games from the current 162-game format and increasing the divisional playoff series format from five to seven games.

When the Mariners signed Chone Figgins they expected that he’d be an offensive upgrade over Adrian Beltre. Little did the fans know that he’d play second base instead of third base, where he’d made a home in the past two seasons with the Angels.

Los Angeles Angels' starting pitcher Scott Kazmir has been a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

Purchased by the Halos last August for two minor-leaguers and a player to be named later, the Angels honestly thought they were receiving a player who, at 25, was looking ahead at several years of continued maturity and dominance.

In many ways, watching yesterday's game between the Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Indians was akin to watching paint dry.

Jeff Mathis hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Torii Hunter and giving the Angels a 4-3 win over the Indians in 16 innings, averting a sweep against one of the worst teams in the American League.

In a game that lasted 4 hours and 57 minutes, the Angels managed only six hits against eight Indians pitchers, while the Tribe stranded 16 total baserunners.

It's been a sad year for the Seattle Mariners, but their AAA affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers, is getting ready to play the A's AAA affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, for the Pacific Coast League title starting tonight.