AL West

The Los Angeles Angels entered the 2011 season with a lot of unanswered questions.

When will Kendrys Morales return to the lineup? Will Scott Kazmir keep his spot in the starting rotation? Can Vernon Wells live up to his enormous contract?

A week into the season, these questions have yet to be answered.

According to multiple sources, the A's and opening day starter Trevor Cahill have reached an agreement on a multiyear contract extension.

Everyone knew coming into this season that the A's would have the same setup as the team across the Bay, the San Francisco Giants. The A's pitching has been hyped up from the get go, and rightfully so. The starters are young and very good, and the relievers are a major improvement over last years.

The A's lineup looks a bit different from last years as David Dejesus, Josh Willingham, and Hideki Matsui now sit in the 3-4-5 spots. 

With the team headed to Safeco Field for the home opener against the Cleveland Indians Friday, hopes and expectations were high.

Sure, the M’s had won just two of their first six games. Sure, they had gone into Arlington and gotten their behinds handed to them by the Rangers.

But it was Opening Night, and somehow all was momentarily forgotten. Ichiro and King Felix were set to receive their awards in front of a sold-out crowd.

The old baseball cliche is that pennants are not won in April, but they most certainly can be lost.

In an AL West that is expected to be tight all season, the A's can not afford to continue losing games in which their starting pitching puts them in a position to win.

Friday afternoon the A's dropped another close game, 2-1, to the Minnesota Twins in the weekend series opener. With the loss Oakland is now 2-5 on the season and 4.5 games out of first place.

It's Opening Day, which means it's time to put the spreadsheets away and head out to the ballpark for pampered grass, the smell of garlic fries and a rousing nine innings of pure bliss.

What better way to enjoy this event than sharpening your pencil and getting lost in a baseball game by keeping score?

That may not be for everyone. Perhaps you're more into chatting, watching the Hydro Races and anticipating the start of The Wave.

Dating back to their first season in 1977, the Seattle Mariners have had their share of disappointments.

It may be hard to stay loyal at times, but these wily M's have a knack of sprinkling in some magic moments that help fans keep the faith.

The Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim is the first club to ride the closer carousel, promoting Jordan Walden to the close position after veteran Fernando Rodney’s shaky performance against the Royals. 

The Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins enter this weekend's three-game series with identical 2-4 records. Both teams are currently tied for last in their respective divisions (the A's are tied with Seattle and Minnesota is tied with Detroit).

The Athletics salvaged one game of their three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon with a 2-1 victory behind a solid pitching performance by Trevor Cahill.

The Texas Rangers have looked unstoppable while sweeping the Boston Red Sox under the mat in opening weekend. People were still skeptical and said the bottom half of the Rangers rotation consisting of Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando would falter. The duo stunned everyone and had arguably better outings than C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis.