Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – The AL West is the Angels’ to lose until Vladimir Guerrero’s and John Lackey’s current contracts expire, which is either at the end of this year or next (club options). Barring injury, Vlad and Lackey are worth the $15M and $9M they’re owed by picking up the options, so the Angels should extend their current reign as champions for at least two more seasons. That doesn’t mean they should sit on their hands until spring training starts, does it? Actually, I don’t see any holes they need to fix, and only Garret Anderson, Juan Rivera, Jon Garland, Francisco Rodriguez, and Darren Oliver are free agents after the year. They could try to sign Garland and Rodriguez to extensions, but Garland is replaceable and Rodriguez’s mechanics are awful in terms of injury risk. Without Garland, the Angels would still have Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, Nick Adenhart, and Dustin Moseley to fill out the 2009 rotation. I don’t think they’d be hurting with 5 of those guys filling out a rotation.

Oakland Athletics – After the Dan Haren trade, Billy Beane was quoted as saying, “You have a chance to do something special or you have a chance to create something special, but to be in between is not a place we wanted to be.” I couldn’t agree more. The Athletics weren’t going to be able to compete with the Angels unless everyone stayed healthy, and the chances of that happening were pretty close to zero. I’m not as big a fan of the Nick Swisher trade, but that’s because he’s signed for relatively cheap through 2011 with a cheap club option for 2012. They’ve restocked the farm system well, so who gets traded next? It’s rumored to be Joe Blanton. I’m skeptical to the fact that they need to trade Blanton (he’s not a free agent until the 2010-2011 offseason), but if the Reds’ rumor of Homer Bailey and another prospect for Blanton is true, I’d do it. The next to go would probably be Eric Chavez, Alan Embree, or Justin Duchscherer. If Bobby Crosby or Rich Harden could ever stay healthy, they shouldn’t be far behind. It’s rebuilding mode; it’s not fun for the fans, but it’s the right thing to do.

Seattle Mariners – Like the Toronto Blue Jays, the Mariners are in a spot where you’d like them to play for the future, but the current state of the roster forces them to go for it now. Kenji Johjima, Richie Sexson, and Raul Ibanez are free agents after the season. I’ve got two suggestions for the Mariners right now. First, bench Jose Vidro in favor of Wladimir Balentien at DH. Vidro had a .775 OPS last year, which doesn’t cut it for a DH. Plus, that’s with a high BABIP of .342, which should probably approach his line drive rate expected BABIP of .315 next year. Trading for him and making him DH last year wasn’t a good idea, and it’s still not a good idea to make him a DH. Meanwhile, Balentien had an .868 OPS at AAA last year. Second, start Jeff Clement at AAA coming out of spring training. If he continues to mash and improve his defense, trade Johjima to help the club in some other area – 5th starter, bullpen help, second baseman… Although you’re playing for now, that doesn’t mean you have to avoid starting the prospects not named Adam Jones.

Texas Rangers – The Rangers cleared house last year by trading Eric Gagne and Mark Teixeira. In return, they got a few high-upside but extremely young prospects, who won’t be ready for at least a few years. During the offseason, they were able to get a couple of actual outfielders in Milton Bradley and Josh Hamilton, which is a plus. Since Michael Young has no-trade protection, Kevin Millwood is the only real commodity they could try to trade. Millwood has a limited no-trade clause, but everyone needs starting pitching, right?

I’ve forgotten to do this the last two times, but I’d like to thank Cot’s Baseball Contracts for his outstanding information regarding player contracts.