AL West

In a move that is quite different from what Neftali Feliz said last week, he now wants to be a starter.

With the resent outing of Tommy Hunter, the Rangers could do worse in the starting rotation.

But why the new change of heart for Feliz? Seems that Feliz has added a new pitch to his already impressive set of pitches—a fast ball cutter.

About a month ago, I wrote about some bold predictions for this upcoming Mariners season. In it, I said that Ichiro will win a batting title.

It really isn't an insanely bold prediction since this is something entirely possible in any given season with Ichiro. That doesn't make it something that is a lock, though, either.

I'll expand on that prediction a bit, and give five reasons that show he can still do it.

The fifth starter competition is now officially without its original favorite.

Over the weekend manager Bob Geren declared Rich Harden officially out of the competition, stating that there was not enough time left in spring training for him to compete with other starters Brandon McCarthy, Josh Outman, Tyson Ross and Bobby Cramer.

"Yeah, there is not time for that," Geren said regarding Harden continuing to compete for the fifth starter spot.

Here it is, a time preview that could eventually end up turning up as a reality throughout the duration of the 2011 MLB regular season.

The starting point is the American League's West Division. The smallest division in all of baseball contains four teams that will jockey for the top position. One of these teams is the defending-AL champion Texas Rangers. A big question mark here regards their ability to bounce back after a World Series defeat. 

It sounds weird, but there is an air of finality about the start of the Oakland A’s 2011 season.

9 Innings Blog will be bringing you previews of every Major League Baseball team for the next 30 days. This is in accordance with our 30 teams in 30 days series.

The second preview we are giving you today is the 2011 preview of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who are looking to climb back on top of the American League West division.

The Angels had a disappointing 2010 campaign, as they were favorites to win the AL West until the Rangers snagged LHP Cliff Lee from Seattle near the middle of the season.

How do you fix a team that has lost 100 games twice in three seasons?

That's the glaring question that general manager Jack Zduriencik and manager Eric Wedge are tasked with in 2011.

After a few nice trades and additions propelled the team a giant step forward in 2009, they took another giant step back in 2010. Though most assumed that '09 team overachieved, the additions to the club last season led those same pundits to believe we'd at least see a similar outcome, perhaps even a better one.

After an award-winning 2010 campaign, with trade rumors constantly swirling around him, Felix Hernandez is set to enter his 10th season of professional baseball in the Seattle Mariners organization. Hernandez has enjoyed several successes in his 10 years in professional baseball, but he has much higher sights for himself.

The offseason additions of Josh Willingham and David DeJesus created a log-jam in the Oakland outfield. The two offseason trade acquisitions joined returning A's outfielders Coco Crisp, Ryan Sweeney, Conor Jackson and Chris Carter, meaning that come the end of Spring Training, there would be one player headed to Sacramento to begin the season.

The American League West looks like it will be a very interesting division this season.

The Rangers made it all the way to the World Series last year, only to come up short and lose to the San Francisco Giants. One of the main reasons that the Rangers made it that far was because of the midseason acquisition of Cliff Lee. 

With Cliff Lee leaving the Rangers, the American League West is now up for grabs.