This Week in the AL West

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the last AL West link round-up of June. Something of a big week beginning in the division, as the Rangers began their first three-game series in Los Angeles last night, losing 6-5. The next two days could mean a lot for the future of both teams. Or they could just be two games.

Before letting you jump in to the normal links, I have two interesting links you should check out if you're a fan of one of the teams below:

SB Nation Los Angeles

SB Nation Seattle

The former went live yesterday, and the latter will be live by the time you're reading this. These sites should provide the best spot for regional sports news, discussion and analysis you'll find, and that means plenty of great information on the Mariners and Angels. I highly encourage you to browse if you're at all interested in any of those teams, especially if you're a fan of them.

Oh, and the Bay Area (and the Athletics) will be going live tomorrow. I'll remind you in next week's recap, of course.

Now on to our regularly-scheduled program.

Texas Rangers (46-30)

Baseball Time In Arlington: The Curious Case Of Chris Davis

David Brown analyzes Chris Davis's disappointing career following his rookie debut, and finds a very fascinating partial cause: declining platoon skills.

Forbes: Is A Decision Pre-Ordained In The Texas Rangers Case?

The Rangers' ownership case is a mess, and I'm struggling to make sense of it. Maury Brown helps, and this is his most recent update on the story. Too much has gone on to summarize here, so if you're interested, click.

Baseball Time In Arlington: Secret Sauce And The Rangers

Joey Matschulat tweaks Nate Silver's Playoff Secret Sauce formula by plugging in UZR and +/-, and ends up with good evidence that the Rangers are not built like a one-and-done team in October.

The Hardball Times: Hamilton's On Fire

Another link dump, another writer from another site recapping another week of Josh Hamilton destroying baseballs. Ricky Zanker looks at sustainability as the hitting streak reaches 22 in a row.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (44-35)

Halo's Heaven: Inside The Joe Saunders Numbers

Rev Halofan wonders why Joe Saunders hasn't been so good this year, and finds two interesting reasons: more walks and fewer strikeouts!

FanGraphs: Jered Weaver Revisited Yet Again

The latest chapter in the Cameron vs. Lederer debate about Jered Weaver has Cameron looking at just how much better Weaver's gotten this season.

Oakland Athletics (38-40)

FanGraphs: What The Oakland Athletics Should Do

Seemingly fading from the division race, Matthew Carruth suggests the A's are in Sell mode, and points out some of their options going forward. I'm surprised by how much spending room they'll have after this season.

Athletics Nation: Cahill's Curveball Converstion, Part 2

Previously, Damerqury of AN found Trevor Cahill had increased the movement on his pitches, particularly his curveball, but with little increase in success. He has a follow-up two months later, now that the success has come.

Seattle Mariners (32-44)

FanGraphs: Jose Lopez's Woeful 2010

R.J. Anderson talks a little bit about Jose Lopez following his awful April and May with an awful June.

U.S.S. Mariner: Brian Sweeney

Against the Brewers Saturday, Brian Sweeney made his Mariners debut, going four innings with four strikeouts, no walks, no runs allowed and got the win. This with just 12 fastballs. Dave Cameron goes to PITCHf/x for the analysis.

Lookout Landing: A Move Of No Clear Purpose; Branyan Returns To Seattle

For seemingly no reason, the Mariners traded Ezequiel Carrera and Juan Diaz for Russell Branyan. Carruth tries to work out why a move like this would be made.

Lookout Landing: In Defense Of The Projections

Jeff: "That the Mariners haven't been able to score is not an indictment of the kind of offense they put together. It's an indictment of the offense they wound up having." Well put, from an analysis of what's gone wrong in the Ms offense.