AL West

A partial tear in Jake Peavy’s ankle ligament may cause experts to shred their perception of the starting pitcher trade market as the baseball season nears the trade deadline, and it’s possible that the Mariners could become the beneficiary.

Peavy’s injury, initially expected to keep the righty out for a month, could keep him out for 8-12 weeks according to recent reports.

Pssst.

GAME SUMMARY:

• Final Score:  Detroit 2  Los Angeles 1
• WP: Edwin Jackson (6-3): 9 innings, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 5 K, 109 pitches
• LP: Kelvim Escobar (0-1): 5 innings, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 ER, 5 K
• HR: None

For the second night in a row, the Tigers and Angels played a 2-1 game at Comerica Park.  Tonight, the Tigers came out on top.

I had no idea that a series win in Anaheim could be this depressing. Nevermind the fact that the Mariners should have completed a three game sweep though, let's look at exactly how they were able to take two out of three from their division rivals, the Angels.

Game One: 5-2 Mariners

After scoring three early runs, the M's took this game pretty easily. Jason Vargas showed once again that he's got the poise to be a Major League starter, and the Mariners offense was able to tally a respectable five runs against the formidable John Lackey.

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The Mariners started off the 2009 red-hot and gave us all a glimmer of false playoff hope when they were a top the AL West at one point with a 15-10 record. We seemed to forget this was a team that was supposed to be in a full-blown rebuilding mode.

It’s all but obvious that the Mariners will draft Dustin Ackley in the upcoming amateur draft with the second overall pick. However, the team also holds picks 27 and 33.

Jack Zduriencik has been diligent in acquiring left-handed power hitters, speedy outfielders, and middling starting pitching prospects, so the bottom of the first round could be a field day for the GM.

Ackley has high value because he may be able to play center field, and recently some have begun to project him at second base. Supposedly Zduriencik likes the idea of Ackley at second.

When Jack Zduriencik signed the veteran Russell Branyan this off season, he and the rest of the organization were probably expecting a solid defensive first baseman who could put up some decent power numbers in the middle of the order. It appears that what they got was a lot more.

Everyone already knew that Branyan had a great power upside, but he has performed well above expectations over the first two months of the season. Not only is he doing a bang-up job at first base, but he's near the top of the league in homers with a batting average above .300.

Joe Torre needs to reconsider his bullpen usage before he has no arms left in October.

Torre has the Dodgers (31-15) keeping a steady pace ahead of the surging San Diego Padres. Even with the aid of a 10-game winning streak, the Padres (23-22) have only crept within 7 ½ games of the Dodgers.

The general consensus is that the American League West is the weakest division in baseball. I would have to agree with this. 

Not only does the division have just four teams, but it is also lacking a powerhouse team that most other divisions possess.

In a lot of ways, this is a good thing. Namely, it gives average teams like the Mariners a chance to compete. It's rare for anyone to walk away with the division in dominating fashion, with the exception of the 2008 Angels.