This Week In The AL West

Greetings!

What I have here for you are some of the best links referring to the AL West from across the internet landscape, with the interests of a Beyond the Boxscore reader in mind.

The division is winding down at a remarkable rate, with the Rangers up 8.5 going in to this posting, and there's a new second place team for the first time in weeks. It's not over yet, though, so I have to ask: do you think the Dan Haren trade is enough to make a difference, or do you think the Athletics have what it takes to make this a race again?

Texas Rangers (59-41)

Baseball Time In Arlington: Profiling (And Appreciating) Cliff Lee

Joey Matschulat has an exhaustive Pitchf/x analysis of Cliff Lee's start last week against the Angels. We'll see if he has a follow up for Lee's 9 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 K performance against the A's from last night.

FanGraphs: Josh Hamilton's Hitting Breakout

Matthew Carruth briefly discusses the incredible season being put up by Josh Hamilton. While he doesn't think the huge batting average will continue, he does find evidence of an increase in power.

FanGraphs: Sizing Up Mark Cuban; Potential Owner Of The Rangers

The controversial sale of the Texas Rangers is close to reaching its next, confusing stage, and Mark Cuban has thrown his hat in the ring. The excellent Maury Brown makes his FanGraphs debut looking at what Cuban brings.

Oakland Athletics (50-49)

FanGraphs: Jack Custs's Missing Power

At face value, Jack Cust is having a fantastic season with a .399 wOBA. R.J. Anderson, however, is skeptical of his remaining usefulness, highlighting a loss of power.

FanGraphs: Kurt Suzuki's Deal Finally Consummated

The A's have bought out the arbitration years of their very underrated catcher. Carruth discusses the details and sees it as a good deal for both sides.

Athletics Nation: Michael Wuertz Is Just Fine, Thank You

Not realizing he was cursing the man to giving up a walk-off home run, Danmerqury has some really nifty Pitchf/x graphs on Michael Wuertz, displaying his velocity has returned and his consistency on his slider has improved.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (52-51)

FanGraphs: The Alberto Callaspo Trade -- An Angels Perspective

The Angels were a pretty busy team over the weak, making two trades. In the less notable deal, they lost Sean O'Sullivan and brought in Alberto Callaspo. Jack Moore looks at what Callaspo will bring to Anaheim.

FanGraphs: Why Teams Aren't Big Dan Haren Fans

In a much bigger deal, the Angels got 2 1/3 years of Dan Haren for a bag of peanuts, an incomplete set of thundersticks and a lock of the rally monkey's hair. Dave Cameron gives some justification.

The Hardball Times: Attempting To Quantify The Haren Deal

In the best take on the Haren deal, David Golebiewski attempts to quantify the return for both teams. His summary ends up with around $19 million coming in to Los Angeles for around a $12 million loss. I don't get it.

Seattle Mariners (39-62)

Lookout Landing: What's Gone Wrong With David Aardsma?

"A Series of Unfortunate Events" seems like it would describe the Mariners season to me. In the latest chapter, Carruth analyzes the disappointing season of David Aardsma.

U.S.S. Mariner: What To Do With Milton Bradley

In the next chapter, Dave Cameron talks about the disappointing Milton Bradley and what the Mariners could do with him going forward. He doesn't really seem to know what they should do himself, and I don't blame him.

Lookout Landing: Today's Fun Fact

And from the Dark Humor department, Jeff discusses the Mariners' chances of being the first AL team since before offenses exploded in 1993 to finish the season with fewer than 100 home runs.