This Week in the AL West

Sky's note: we're going to combine Robbie's great compilation of AL West links with our #btbdaily Twitter widget.  To share a link (about anything baseball-related, not just the AL West), simply add the #btbdaily hashtag to any tweet.  It will show up below.  The more we share, the more we have to read.

A day later than usual, but that just means an extra day of information! Here's your weekly recap of the AL West stories and analysis across the web.

Not mentioned below, but very important: upon his retirement, I'd like to be one of many to congratulate Ken Griffey Jr. on a tremendous baseball career and thank him for some awesome highlights over the last couple decades.

Texas Rangers (28-24)

Baseball Time in Arlington: The Value of Vladimir Guerrero

Some time has been spent on Vlad's strong season in Texas. Joey Matschulat points out that he's on pace to have one of the best DH seasons ever by WAR. Guerrero was then injured in BP Wednesday night.

Baseball Time in Arlington: Rangers, Red Handed -- When Good Base Stealers Go Bad

Josh Garoon breaks down the Rangers habit of making outs on the basepaths this year. Outside of picking on Jason Varitek, they are far below the break-even point on stolen bases.

SportsDayDFW: Rangers Vladimir Guerrero Top DH in Latest All-Star Game Voting Updates

I link you to this story not because of the title note, but because current AA catcher Taylor Teagarden, with one MLB hit this season, is 4th among catchers with more than 170,000 votes. This process is insane.

Oakland Athletics (28-26)

FanGraphs: The A's and the AL West

As of this writing, the Rangers were percentage points in first, but they didn't start Tuesday morning there. Matt Klaassen looks at how the A's are outperforming expectations and whether or not they have a chance.

Athletics Nation: The Case for Rajai as Leadoff Hitter -- Even With a .300 OBP

Nico of Athletics Nation argues that Rajai Davis makes sense leading off for Oakland, and does so by looking beyond his poor on-base percentage.

Athletics Nation: wOBA Addendum -- How Valuable are Rajai's Legs

Danmerqury followed up Nico's analysis a couple days later by deconstructing wOBA too look specifically at the value Davis contributes with his speed.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (27-28)

ESPN TMI: Who are the Biggest Rally Killers in Baseball?

We have here a dangerous use of the "C word" and a small sample size, but, if you're interested, one Mike Napoli ranks at the top of Mark Simon's Rally-Killing Rate list this season.

Halo's Heaven: Reasoned Fan Response to the Morales Injury

While this is an unorthodox link to a reader comment, I actually really liked the comment. Fan Since 1981 reminds everyone losing one player, even Kendry Morales, isn't necessarily the end of the season.

Angels Win: Kendry Morales Doctor Say

Victor Varadi of Angelswin.com attended a press conference with the Angels' doctors discussing the aftermath of the most unfortunate celebration ever. WARNING: This link contains a picture of Morales's ankle.

Halo Hangout: Options to Replace Morales

More Morales talk. Nate Procter takes a look at some options to replace the loss and what sort of offense would be expected from them.

Seattle Mariners (21-31)

USS Mariner: M's Panic, Do Stupid Things

Dave Cameron displays a little bit of frustration with the current Seattle regime after the DFAing of Kanekoa Teixeira and Jesus Colome for Sean White and Garrett Olson. Matt Tuiasosopo still has a job. . . thanks to his brother?

Lookout Landing: A Little Glimmer of Hope for Jose Lopez

Jeff puts Jose Lopez's spray chart for April up against the chart from May and finds a little bit of optimism in Lopez's increase in balls pulled recently.

USS Mariner: The First Base Problem

Casey Kotchman has been pretty much the exact same hitter this season as last. He's just been a bit unlucky so far. The problem, Cameron says, is that he was supposed to be better than that in 2010.

Lookout Landing: Michael Pineda Keeps Putting Up Numbers

After a breakout in 2008 and an injury riddled 2009, prospect Michael Pineda has shown so far in 2010 that '08 was no fluke. Jon Shields combines some scouting with some numbers to look at Pineda's rebound in depth.