Anyway, here are the AL West Divisional All-Stars:
| POS | NAME | swp | swp/g | TEAM | ||
| RF | Ichiro Suzuki | 1,980 | 13.6 | SEA | ||
| 3B | Chone Figgins | 2,108 | 13.3 | LAA | ||
| 2B | Ian Kinsler | 2,272 | 15.8 | TEX | ||
| LF | Matt Holliday | 2,334 | 15.0 | OAK/stl | ||
| DH | Bobby Abreu | 2,222 | 14.6 | LAA | RF | |
| 1B | Kendry Morales | 2,179 | 14.3 | LAA | ||
| CF | Torii Hunter | 1,849 | 15.5 | LAA | ||
| C | Kurt Suzuki | 1,691 | 11.5 | OAK | ||
| SS | Orlando Cabrera | 1,710 | 10.7 | OAK/min | ||
| SP | Felix Hernandez | 2,671 | 78.6 | SEA | ||
| Jered Weaver | 1,837 | 55.7 | LAA | |||
| Scott Feldman | 1,454 | 42.8 | TEX | |||
| Kevin Millwood | 1,394 | 45.0 | TEX | |||
| John Lackey | 1,357 | 50.3 | LAA | |||
| CL | Andrew Bailey | 1,903 | 28.0 | OAK | ||
| RP | Michael Wuertz | 1,166 | 15.8 | OAK | ||
| Darren Oliver | 765 | 12.1 | LAA | |||
| Jason Bulger | 739 | 11.5 | LAA | |||
| Darren O'Day | 708 | 10.4 | nym/TEX | |||
| Craig Breslow | 685 | 8.9 | min/OAK | |||
| P | Matt Palmer | 977 | 24.4 | LAA |
Notice how the first three guys in the lineup batted leadoff for their respective clubs. Ichiro led the league in hits, in addition to earning a spot in his ninth straight All-Star game, and winning his ninth straight gold glove. He stole only 26 bases - down 13 whole bases from his per-year average - but at age 35, a little slowdown is understandable. Chone Figgins suddenly learned how to walk, leading the AL with 101, further increasing his capability at the top of the order. Kinsler's not the prototypical leadoff hitter, as he sports an impressive power stroke as well as good speed on the basepaths. But 30-30 season aside, Kinsler's pedestrian .327 on-base percentage (60 points lower than Ichiro; 70 below Figgins) doesn't make him a great fit for the top spot. In the third slot, his power stroke should lead to higher RBI totals, and he should see some time there with Texas next year.
Matt Holliday essentially had two 2009 seasons: the quiet one stuck in the basement with the A's and the loud one in the playoff hunt with the Cardinals. There could be several explanations for the discrepancy: the relative weakness of the National League compared to the American, the notorious pitcher-friendly dimensions of the A's home ballpark, or the motivation of having something to play for with a post-season bound team. If you're a Cardinals fan, I hope for your sake that the allure of playing in St. Louis will keep Holliday motivated to produce for seven more years, the length of his new contract.
Bobby Abreu, one of last off-season's absolute steals at $5-mil, played right field for the Angels (he was actually supposed to play left for the first time in his career, but Vlad Guerrero's gimpy knees opened up Abreu's usual right field slot), but he's our DH since Ichiro plays a much more competent right field. Everyone made a big deal about how his notoriously free-swinging Angels walked so much more than ever before, but if you crunch the numbers, you'll find that there was not really a team-wide increase. Abreu's and Figgins's legendary patience in '09 brought up the team average, while the walk rates of most of their teammates actually declined last year.
Abreu opens up a trio of Angels, which includes switch-hitting Cuban first baseman Kendry Morales having a breakout year, and center fielder Torii Hunter apparently showing no signs of age... except of course for playing in the fewest number of games in five years. But his defense, according to some advanced metrics, seems to have been better than it was in nearly 10 years, showing that he's finally living up to his reputation again.
Two swingin' A's round out the batting order: catcher of the future and (sadly) Oakland's only real remaining offensive threat Kurt Suzuki, and trade fodder Orlando Cabrera. In just his second full season, Suzuki showed real improvement in his power game, although his plate discipline suffered a little bit from the previous year. He's still young enough (25) that there's hope that all elements of his game will come together and make him quite formidable with the bat. Cabrera left for greener pastures after 101 games with the A's, and got to play in the post-season with the Twins, but he's still a Type-A free agent without an offer.
The rotation includes Felix Hernandez and not much else. He tied for the league lead with 19 wins and struck out over 200 batters for the first time, and at age 23, he has nowhere to go but up (or, I suppose, down, but it doesn't seem likely for someone of his talent and poise). Jered Weaver had a solid season - maybe his best season - and was a pretty decent #1 starter for a team with a stellar offense and bullpen. John Lackey luckily squeaked by onto this team with a season plagued by injury (ahead of A's rookie Brett Anderson), which is fortunate since he should have put up some more raw numbers if healthy.
A couple of Texas Rangers pitchers surprised by making this list, as they're usually known as a purely offensive team. Kevin Millwood was their de facto ace, with the most experience (13 seasons, four playoff appearances) and lowest ERA (he finally got it below 5 with the Rangers). But as he was recently traded to the Orioles, Scott Feldman looks to pick up his mantle. In his second season as a full time starter, Feldman won 17 games with a respectable ERA. Although his peripherals aren't stunning - a strikeout-to-walk ratio under 2 (113 to 65) - the Rangers are very optimistic about his continued success.
A's Rookie of the Year Andrew Bailey will close out games for this squad, holding his own statistically over the likes of Brian Fuentes and David Aardsma. Extremely underrated short reliever Michael Wuertz will set up. It's very rare to see a non-closer relief pitcher crack the 1,000 swp mark, and to see Wuertz in that category, especially while only picking up 4 saves the whole year, bespeaks some very impressive underlying numbers (including 102 strikeouts in just under 80 innings). The Angels' go-to guy Jason Bulger, and the Rangers' early season acquisition Darren O'Day make up the other two righties in the bullpen.
Southpaw long man Darren Oliver and A's acquisition Craig Breslow give this team some lefty depth. Oliver continues to thrive 4+ years since making the transition from starting to relieving at age 35. After struggling with the Twins, Breslow posted an ERA under 3 after being acquired by the western division club. Angels swingman Matt Palmer rounds out the staff; he'll likely get a starting spot with the Halos next year.
The last and final divisional All-Star squad is next. Maybe you'll see it soon, maybe I'll go on another month long break. Who can tell?
Then maybe I'll finally be able to move on to some new projects...
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