Here's my predicted order of finish:

1. Oakland Athletics
2. LAnaheim Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

The first three teams are pretty evenly matched in terms of front line talent. Oakland's strong on the pitching side, Texas is strong on the batting side, and the Angels are more balanced.

The Mariners tried to improve their offense in 2005 with the addition of two sluggers, Beltre and Sexson. Richie did fine but Beltre didn't. Beltre got back in shape over the winter, losing 12 pounds. He looked good in the World Baseball Classic. Look for improvement there.

Kenji Jojima is the clubs latest Japanese import, and fit right into the team from the first day in camp. The Mariners catchers were so inept offensively in 2005 that a decent season from Kenji is going to improve the team at that position. My guess is, based on how Japanese stats appear to translate to MLB is that Jojima will post an OBA of around .340. That would be a huge boost to the Mariners' offense.

The biggest chance for improvement, however, lies with Felix Hernandez, the teenage pitching sensation. Unfortunately, he's already suffering from shin splints. Assuming that's minor, his strikeout, walk and home run rates should translate into an excellent ERA.

Unfortunately for this team, there's not a lot of depth. Even if Beltre, Jojima and Hernandez play up to the best expectations, don't expect much more than a .500 record from Seattle.

The Rangers have by far the best offense in the division. The replacement of Soriano with Wilkerson and Kinsler should help the team both offensively and defensively. The halt is Hank Blalock's development at age 24 is distressing, however. He had a huge falloff in OBA in 2005. A big reason is his strikeouts are up. That's something that sounds coachable. If not, we may be looking at the next Ben Grieve.

The pitching, as always, is suspect. Kevin Millwood takes over the Kenny Rogers role as "starter who can actually pitch." Millwood's not going to lead the league in ERA playing for the Rangers (there was a lot of luck involved in his title last year), but I also don't think he's going to get killed on the mound, either. If he posts an ERA between 4.00 and 4.50, he'll end up winning more games than he did with Cleveland in 2005.

After that, I'm not impressed with the staff. Eaton and Otsuka looked poor away from PETCO. There just isn't a lot there. Then again, if the Rangers are scoring 5.5 to 6.0 runs a game, the pitching just needs to be mediocre to win. So the rest of the staff should aspire to mediocrity!

The Oakland Athletics were buyers, rather than sellers in the market this off-season. As it turns out, there was a heavy discount on bad attitude and injuries over the winter, so Billy Beane grabbed Frank Thomas and Milton Bradely (actually, he payed a fair price for Bradley, but the attitude made the centerfielder available).

I like this team a lot. They are a young team, but at the same time they have experience. If you look at the lineup, you expect most of the players to be on their way up. That's always a good thing.

The addition of the veterans is similar to the move the Cleveland Indians made in the mid 1990's. They developed a good young team, and when they were ready to win, Hart brought in Murray, Hershiser and Dennis Martinez to plug the holes with solid veterans. Bringing in Thomas, Bradley and Loaiza does the same thing for the A's.

The pitching and hitting were going to be better simply due to the maturation of the players. Actually bringing in good veterans should help even more. My guess is Oakland wins the division.

The LAnaheim Angels made moves to get younger in 2006. Finley is gone, for all intents and purposes replaced by Casey Kotchman. Bengie Molina is gone from behind the plate, and Jeff Mathis takes over the receiving duties. Dallas McPherson may end up being the DH, although his bring took him down a notch on the team's depth chart.

This may be a year when the Angels take a step back to make themselves stronger long term. With Figgins and Guerrero, they have two great offensive players. Kotchman, Mathis and McPherson are still on the upward slopes of their careers. The offense will be good with the potential to be very good.

The pitching remains strong. Colon and Lackey anchor the staff, Jeff Weaver eats innings and Santana and Escobar have lots of potential. Couple that with the little Weaver on the horizon, and it's going to be difficult to score against the Angels. Again.

The difference, in my mind, between Oakland and LAnaheim is the offense. The Athletics are solid top to bottom, where the Angels have question marks. That should make the difference in the division this season. It's a good division, and I can see all four teams finishing at .500 or better. There's a good chance the AL Wild card comes from the West this year.

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