Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners

The A's have added pieces to the offense this year that can improve on what they had from last season. These pieces being David DeJesus, Josh Willingham, and Hideki Matsui. To go along with this there is Mark Ellis, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Daric Barton. They have names but no power. The most homeruns from a single player on this roster is 21 by Matsui but that was with the Angels. If the A's are going to get anywhere they have to get big run productivity from somewhere. Recognizable names but nothing solid. No consistency will hurt the A's and it will show in the end.

Dallas Braden will attempt to prove that his perfect game and 2010 season was not a fluke. He'll want to come back strong and try to lead this team. He will be the number one. Behind him is Rich Harden and some lofty young guns will be out to show something. This will be the weakness for this team beyond all the rest. The bullpen picked Brian Fuentes who has been moved around lately but will be a good setup man for Andrew Bailey. Bailey has been a strong closer his two years ans could become even better if he can stay healthy.

Overall there is too much inconsistency with this team to really strive for a playoff push. With that said that A's will not get far: 4td in the AL West

Lineup
1. CF Coco Crisp
2. LF David DeJesus
3. 2B Mark Ellis
4. 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff
5. DH Hideki Matsui
6. RF Josh Willingham
7. 1B Daric Barton
8. C Kurt Suzuki
9. SS Cliff Pennington


Ichiro is the staple to the Seattle Mariners. One of the only reasons that people even know that they still exist. The Mariners have had a lot of talent in recent years but hasn't been able to capitalize on any of it. The offense was awful last season. They couldn't score runs. Acquiring Jack Cust should bring a little more productivity but it won't be enough to move much. Justin Smoak was acquired in the Cliff Lee trade and he has loads of potential. Ichiro is going to get you 200 hits but that is the only consistent part in the lineup. This team doesn't need to score 6 runs but at least 3 would be good.

Pitching: King Felix. Enough said. 24 years old and he is already called a king. The interesting thing will be the rest of the staff behind him. Erik Bedard is a respectable 2 or 3. With Hernandez you don't need much behind but something has to do. The pitching revolves around him and we'll see how it turns out.

Overall this team is still growing but it needs something fast, especially if they want to keep Felix around. Look for improvement but not enough to break through: 3rd in the AL West

Lineup
1. RF Ichiro
2. 3B Chone Figgins
3. DH Jack Cust
4. 1B Justin Smoak
5. CF Franklin Gutierrez
6. SS Jack Wilson
7. LF Michael Saunders
8. C Miguel Olivo
9. 2B Brendan Ryan