AL West

The Red Sox and Angels game took a brief respite today in the second inning. With speedy Chone Figgins on second and one out, Red Sox SP Josh Beckett had the Angels' Bobby Abreu behind 1-2 in the count.

With the threat of a Figgins steal Beckett looked back at second four times, leading to Abreu calling time, which was granted just as Beckett began his delivery, as you can see above.

What happened next led to four Angels ejections.

According to the LA Times, rookie pitcher, Nick Adenhart of the Anaheim Angels died in a car crash after last night’s game versus the Oakland Athletics.

A driver ran a red light, killing three people, including the blue-chip prospect. Adenhart, 22, made his season debut last night pitching six innings, striking out five with no earned runs.

That’s what he claims, at least.

“Once they traded [ex-closer] J.J. [Putz]…I kept going back and forth and back and forth,” Morrow was quoted as saying.  “I  just felt like a big relief when I went back to the bullpen, because I feel that’s like my home now.”

Projected starter:

Kenji Johjima.

Bench:

Jamie Burke, Rob Johnson.

Fighting for a spot:

Burke, Johnson.

40-man roster players in the minors:

Jeff Clement.

Analysis:

What started out as a rumor that Seattle Mariners’ right fielder Ichiro Suzuki might miss the rest of spring training took a wrong turn Thursday.  As it turns out, Ichiro will be making a full-blown trip to the DL with Opening Day just a weekend away.

Talented youth is nothing new for the Oakland Athletics. So coming into the 2009 season, it is not surprising that they will be relying on youth once again to lead the team. The only difference this time is that the youth is all in the pitching staff.