In order to help get you ready for the MLB season, we’re doing division-by-division rankings with quick overviews on how each club could fair in 2010. Next to each team, you’ll also find a corresponding number written in parenthesis, which indicates where we believe that club falls in a league-wide power ranking. Be sure to check back throughout the next two weeks leading up to the season, as we will be updating our content daily. Enjoy.

All 2010 MLB Preview Content | AL East Preview | AL Central Preview | AL West Preview | NL East | NL Central | NL West

Next up is the AL West.

1. Los Angeles Angels (6)
When I started to do the prep work for the AL West preview, I filled the top slot with the Angels without even giving it much thought. And why should I have? They’ve won the division six of the last seven years and baseball fans have just grown accustomed to the Halos being in the playoff mix every season. But immediately after I slotted them in the top spot, my stomach started to hurt and no, it wasn’t from the fish I ate last night. (Although hey, fish is still good even when it turns green right?) There’s no doubt that the Angels took a hit this offseason. They lost their ace (John Lackey), their leadoff man (Chone Figgins) and their top power source (Vladimir Guerrero), and usually when a team parts with that much talent, it suffers a setback. But this is why I’m not overly concerned about this club: the additions of Joel Pineiro and Hideki Matsui should pay dividends and if Scott Kazmir could ever stay healthy, he would ease the loss of Lackey. Plus, in Erick Aybar (their new leadoff hitter), Kendry Morales and Torri Hunter, the Halos still have a solid offensive core and their starting pitching is still in good shape with vets like Kazmir, Jered Weaver and Joe Saunders. Times are changing in L.A. and the Mariners and Rangers will push the Halos this season, but in the end they should be right back on top.

2. Seattle Mariners (8)
It’s hard not to get excited about the Mariners’ potential this season. After adding pitcher Cliff Lee in the offseason via a trade with the Phillies, they catapulted themselves into the Wild Card discussion and they should challenge the Angels in the division. But for as giddy as the thought of Lee, Felix Hernandez and Erick Bedard gets Seattle fans, there’s still that nagging offensive issue – as in, the M’s don’t have any. Jack Zduriencik tailor made this club for Safeco, which means pitching and defense are the focal points. But can the Mariners generate enough runs to overtake the Angels? The addition of Chone Figgins at the top of the lineup was great, but can Seattle get by playing small ball with him and Ichiro? At the end of the day, I like the club’s chances to succeed this season, especially with the addition of Lee and the fact that they improved their win total in 2009 by 24 games. But I’m not sure they’ll have enough offense yet to reach the postseason.

3. Texas Rangers (14)
On the surface, it’s tough to tell whether or not the Rangers are improved or not. Their high-powered offense wasn’t up to its usual standards last year because Josh Hamilton missed 73 games due to various injuries. But if Texas can get a full season out of him, then the club should score plenty of runs in 2010. The club lost workhorse Kevin Millwood via free agency but added Rich Harden, who can be dominating when healthy. If youngsters Neftali Feliz and Scott Feldman produce, then there’s no reason to think the Rangers can’t challenge for the Wild Card (or even the division). That said, I trust their pitching as much as I trust the Mariners’ offense, which is to say I don’t. That’s why I don’t have the gumption to write Seattle or Texas into the No. 1 spot in this division. But if Harden, Feliz and Feldman all overachieve, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the Rangers made some noise this season.

4. Oakland A’s (23)
Since when did the AL West get so competitive? Even though the A’s appear to be the weakest club in the division, they could wind up surprising people with their pitching and defense. Unfortunately for them, they don’t have enough offense to stay competitive all season. The combination of Coco Crisp, Jack Cust and Kevin Kouzmanoff isn’t even enough to scare Snuggle, the fabric softener bear, so what makes anyone think that they’re going to scare Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez or Scott Kazmir? Ben Sheets will make for an interesting storyline to follow (although he’s having a horrid spring) and the bullpen should be outstanding with Andrew Bailey as its headliner, but other than that there’s not much to like about Oakland this season. They may hang with the three teams above in the first half, but eventually they should quietly sink to the bottom of the division.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

In a surprising twist, the Oakland Athletics have signed Ben Sheets to a one-year deal worth $10 million.

From MLB.com:

The agreement is for $10 million plus performance bonuses, SI.com reported. CBSSports.com said the contract is worth “more than $8 million.”

The 31-year-old right-hander has passed a physical and will be introduced to the media in Oakland at 1 p.m. PT.

Sheets missed the entire 2009 season after undergoing elbow surgery, but he reportedly wowed scouts during a throwing session in Louisiana last Tuesday. The Cubs, Mets, Rangers and Mariners were among other teams reportedly interested in his services.

Sheets is undoubtedly a valuable pitcher, spending all of his professional career as an integral part of the Milwaukee Brewers. Over those eight seasons, Sheets compiled a record of 86-83, a 3.72 ERA, and 1,206 strikeouts. Those are respectable numbers worthy of a large contract. However, $10 million is way too much money to spend on pitcher who didn’t pitch for a year after elbow surgery. This shows how desperate the A’s became in trying to acquire an ace. As the market thinned out, Sheets was their only option.

Of course, this puts the A’s out of the running for Johnny Damon. The Yankees are only offering a one-year contract around $2 million and I doubt Damon is going to bite. He’d rather play for an also-ran than suck up his pride.

1. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees (1.0199)—Rivera has been the hammer in the Yankees’ bullpen for over a decade and still shows no signs of slowing down. At the age of 38 in 2008, Mo struck out 77 in 70 innings, and racked up 39 saves.

2. Pedro Martinez, free agent (1.0512)—True, Pedro is about a lifetime removed from his dominating days with the Red Sox, but dude can still pitch effectively and has no MLB team at the moment.

3. Johan Santana, New York Mets (1.1024)—Will Johan be the guy to lead the Mets to their first title in almost 25 years? He had a brilliant first season in New York but was hurt by lousy run support and an even lousier bullpen.

4. Curt Schilling, Boston Red Sox (1.1374)—It’s hard to believe Schilling is not done yet, because he hasn’t pitched in a real game in almost two years. But if and when he goes back out there, I’m still picking him for my fantasy team.

5. Randy Johnson, San Francisco Giants (1.1673)—The Big Unit is five wins shy of 300 for his career, and reaching 300 is something that seemed impossible when he had back surgery before last season. But dude is still a beast and still blowing the ball past hitters, and he’s in his mid-40’s.

6. John Smoltz, Boston Red Sox (1.1697)—It’s going to be strange seeing Smoltz in a Red Sox uniform, but as a diehard Mets’ fan, I couldn’t be happier about that.

7. Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (1.1864)—When you think of the game’s top pitchers, do you think of this dude? Well, you should. Peavy has already racked up 1256 strikeouts and he’s only 27.

8. Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros (1.1979)—Another amazing young pitcher, Oswalt is 31 years old and has a lifetime record of 129-64 for a usually-less-than-awesome Astros’ team. That’s just sick.

9. Ben Sheets, free agent (1.2010)—If he ever pitched a full season, Sheets would be a lock for the Hall of Fame by now. But you just never see an injury report without his name on it.

10. Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays (1.2076)—Playing north of the border, Halladay has won the AL Cy Young Award once and finished in the top 5 in voting three other times. How have the Yankees kept their paws off of this guy?

Source: Baseball Reference

The answer is that free agent right-hander Ben Sheets may need surgery to repair the torn flexor tendon in his elbow, and his former employers may be asked to pick up the tab. Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said on Thursday that the team has been in discussions this week with Sheets’ agent and officials from Major League Baseball about who would pay for the procedure.

The Texas Rangers and Sheets reached an agreement on a two-year contract late last week and only a physical stood in the way of the deal being completed. But everything changed once it was determined that Sheets had a torn flexor tendon that might require surgery.

The Rangers could still pursue Sheets with a deal that would allow him to do his rehabilitation work with them in hopes that he would eventually pitch at a high level again. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.

No wonder he lasted on the market so long. The Brewers offered Sheets arbitration, but he declined and therefore might have left at least $10 million on the table this season. Sheets could be one of the best pitchers in the NL, but he can never stay healthy.

Anyway, as Manny Ramirez remains unemployed, there were a few other smaller signings and moves this past week….

Okay, this isn’t small but just announced on Friday, Prince Fielder has agreed to a 2-year, $18 million deal with the Brewers that will keep him firmly entrenched (and who could move the guy?) on first base in Milwaukee through 2010. I’m glad for the Brew Crew since they lost out to the mighty Yankees in the CC sweepstakes.

Catcher Gregg Zaun re-signed with the Orioles, the team that drafted him back in 1989. The journeyman player signed a deal worth $1.5 million with a $2 million option for 2010.

The Phillies signed outfielder Jayson Werth to a two-year, $10 million contract and also inked reliever Chad Durbin to a one-year deal worth $1.635 million.

Young right fielder Nick Markakis of the Orioles came to terms on a six-year, $66.1 million deal, covering his first three arbitration-eligible years as well as his first three free agency eligible seasons. Clearly the O’s believe in this kid and want to keep him away from the Yankees and Red Sox.

Two other catchers signed this week—Brad Ausmus reached agreement with the Dodgers on a 1-year, $1 million deal; and Henry Blanco signed a $750,000 deal for one year to back up Padres’ catcher Nick Hundley.

Shortstop Omar Vizquel, who at 41 still looks like he’s 25, has been invited to spring training by the Texas Rangers. Vizquel signed a minor league deal that will allow him to mentor 20-year old Elvis Andrus, and to possibly become the team’s utility infielder. In order to make room for Andrus on the field, the Rangers are planning to move all-star shortstop Michael Young to third base. In addition, the Rangers are said to be casually wooing free agent pitcher Ben Sheets, who lives in Dallas.

Meanwhile, Tom Covill of Yahoo Sports posted this great summary of the remaining big name free agents still looking for work. It’s really kind of mind-boggling, but looking at these tiny deals being signed this past week, it’s clearly about economics and nothing more.

· Manny Ramirez – Dodgers
· Orlando Cabrera – Athletics
· Derek Lowe – Braves/Mets/Cubs
· Adam Dunn – Nationals
· Bobby Abreu – Reds
· Ben Sheets – Rangers
· Orlando Hudson – Nationals
· Andy Pettitte – Astros (at less than $10MM)
· Jason Varitek – Red Sox (at less than $10MM)
· Ty Wigginton – Astros
· Ivan Rodriguez – Not much of a market, may have to take a minor-league deal with an invite to Spring Training if he’s not signed soon. Could he end up involuntarily retired, a la Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mike Piazza?
· Kevin Millar – Orioles
· Mark Grudzielanek – Padres
· Braden Looper – Brewers
· Garret Anderson, Eric Hinske, Ray Durham, Jim Edmonds, Paul Byrd, Odalis Perez – All of them (with the exception of Byrd, who may retire) are drawing little to no interest and may be without a club on Opening Day.
I’m shocked both Ramirez and Abreu are still on the market, although it’s more understandable why Manny is still available – his demands (or is it Scott Boras’s demands?) are way too high.

Abreu isn’t the youngest outfielder available, but you’re telling me that no team wants to jump at the chance to acquire his bat? And if Ben Sheets could ever stay healthy he’s a 20-game winner, so it’s a little surprising his name is still out there, too.

First off, two long-time players for a single team will have new addresses in 2009: Trevor Hoffman and John Smoltz. Hoffman, who has been with the Padres since 1993 when he came over as part of a trade with the Marlins for Gary Sheffield, has not only been a great closer for San Diego for 16 seasons—he has become the all-time MLB leader in saves with 554. But when San Diego no longer put the welcome mat out, Hoffman sought to sign elsewhere, and settled on a one year, $6 million deal with the Milwaukee Brewers that can also pay him $1.5 million in performance bonuses.

As for Smoltz, he came to the Braves in 1987 from Detroit in the Doyle Alexander trade, and has been with Atlanta, his only major league team, for 21 years. But the Braves, who are trying to inject more youth into their roster, did not offer Smoltz the money he was looking for and so he signed with the Boston Red Sox. Granted, Smoltz still is injured and probably won’t be available to the Sox until a few months into the season, but you’d rather have him in September and beyond anyway.

The Sox also finalized their deal with free agent RHP Brad Penny on Friday, so both he and Smoltz will join a rotation that includes Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Whoa. I gotta be honest, I think I like their rotation better than the CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett-led Yankees’. Not to sit tight after losing out on the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes to the Yankees, Boston also signed utility outfielder Rocco Baldelli, formerly of the Rays, who grew up in New England.

The Cubs signed outfielder Milton Bradley to a 3-year, $30 million deal, a year after he had one of his most productive seasons with the Texas Rangers (22 homers, .321 batting average). The Rays, who nearly won a title with all that youth in 2008, signed veteran OF Pat Burrell away from Philly, the team that beat them for said title.

Also, Jason Giambi has returned to his roots, signing a one-year. $5.25 million deal with Oakland, the team he began his career with before taking his big bat (and his tubes of stuff, allegedly) for big bucks.

Oh, and as if the Mets and Braves didn’t have enough to battle about on the field (I bet New York is thrilled not to have to face Smoltz anymore), the two teams are reportedly fighting hard over the services of one Derek Lowe. Then, whoever loses out on Lowe can turn their attention to the likes of Ben Sheets, Freddy Garcia or Andy Pettitte.

I know the economy still sucks, but at least we have some signings and movement.