AL West

The bottom line of Game One in Detroit: Justin Verlander continued his dominance of the A's offense.

The Tigers won 3-1, largely on Verlander's powerful right arm. But in a series that could very well be a matter of Oakland needing to win the three games he doesn't start, there was a positive to take away—the poise of rookie starter Jarrod Parker.

Coco Crisp boosted the Oakland A's early on, giving them a lead four pitches into the game. Then, the A's couldn't do anything right on offense.

Apparently, Chone Figgins is sick of playing for the Seattle Mariners. At the risk of stating the obvious, the feeling is definitively mutual. Does Figgins have a suggestion on how to end this relationship?

Pitching:

Detroit: A-

The Texas Rangers completed their late-season collapse by losing 5-1 to the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Wild-Card Game Friday night.  They now have a decision to make that will alter the course of the franchise.

Are they better off with or without Josh Hamilton?

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are hanging around the playoff picture. They do not have a spot in the dance yet with 15 games to go. But ask current Angels' first baseman Albert Pujols about how a team can make a late run.

If you were the Texas Rangers and had a choice between OF Josh Hamilton and SP Zack Greinke, who would you choose? This is the dilemma the Rangers could have in the coming 2012-2013 offseason.

In an ideal world, Texas would be able to re-sign Hamilton and still sign free-agent ace Greinke. The Rangers do have a payroll of about $120.5 million in 2012, and success in the playoffs would bring in more revenue.

Going into Tuesday's action, the Oakland A's have found themselves losers of their last three games and six of their last 10.

They're trending downwards at the wrong time of the season.

In what has been a surprising season to say the least, Oakland sits 5.5 games behind the Texas Rangers for the lead in the American League West and just a half game out of Wild Card contention.

Of course, yesterday they owned one of those Wild Card playoff berths.

The Seattle Mariners' recent seven-game winning streak may be over, but it sure was nice to enjoy a week's worth of winning baseball in an otherwise disappointing season.

The biggest question now is whether some of the encouraging signs found within this stretch will have any long-lasting meaning.  Over the course of this week and next, I hope to tackle a few of these questions in search of answers.

It is certainly a bit of a misnomer to use the term "underpaid" when discussing professional baseball players. With a new league minimum salary of $480,000, even the sixth outfielder and the lefty specialist make more annually than the President of the United States.