AL West

Year after year, fans seem to really dig the long ball and completely forget about the players who will pitch almost half of the game, the bullpen.

The bullpen is home to some and a foot into the door (AKA starting rotation) to others. As for the 2010 Seattle Mariners, they have three stud closer prospects in the same bullpen.

If I remember correctly, the last team to have only two stud closers was the 1998 New York Yankees, and one wasn't even a prospect. They were John Wetteland and Mariano Rivera.

Projected Starters: 1B Russell Branyan; 2B Jose Lopez; 3B Adrian Beltre; SS Yuniesky Betancourt.

Bench: 2B/SS Ronny Cedeno.

Fighting for a spot: 1B Mike Sweeney; 1B Chris Shelton; 2B/SS Reegie Corona.

Not only did Michael Young have to spend his Spring Training learning an entirely new position, but now he is dealing with a left quadriceps injury that continues to nag him.

This past weekend he missed back-to-back games after feeling some tightness in his left quad.  On Tuesday he returned to the lineup, but was only able to last one inning.

After singling in the top part of the first inning and then playing the field in the bottom part, he was pulled from the game. 

Just two years removed from signing a 5 year/$50 million dollar deal with the Angels, Gary Matthews Jr. probably will start the season on the Angels' bench. Matthews has been a disappointment for the Angels, who are loaded with quality outfielders and suddenly have no room for the once prized acquisition.

The Mariners have way too many starters. It includes young guys (Felix Hernandez, Brandon Morrow, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Garrett Olson) and veterans (Jarrod Washburn, Carlos Silva, Erik Bedard). Also, non-roster invitees like Chris Jakubauskas are also in the contension. But there are only five spots on the rotation. Who will make it?

The Oakland A's, with some new faces, most likely will tie with the upstart Rangers for second in the American League West division. Oakland brought back Jason Giambi, and traded young center fielder Carlos Gonzalez to Colorado for the powerful Matt Holliday.

Their pitching staff will need to come through behind Justin Duchscherer and Dana Eveland. The bullpen will have Joey Devine and Brad Ziegler in the late innings.

Keep and Eye on: Gio Gonzalez, sp

The Mariners have a very young staff stepping forward. Felix Hernandez is the sure-fire ace but people have to watch out for Brandon Morrow is the key youngster that could make a name for himself in the rotation. Also Erik Bedard is lurking in the shadows as the number two on the staff. The Mariners also get a blast from the past with Ken Griffey Jr. who will more than likely play outfield.

On Sunday, Rangers GM Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington sat down with 11-time Gold Glove outfielder Andruw Jones to talk about his future with the team.

During the offseason, Jones signed a minor league contract that would pay him a base salary of $500,000 and up to $1 million in incentives. 

In that contract, Jones had an opt-out clause if he was not placed on the Rangers 25-man roster by today, then he could get out of the contract in hopes of making another major league team.