Who will win the AL West in 2012? (pitching, MVP, games)

[Football_Fan]

Given that the Angels spent $331 million on Pujols and Wilson in the off-season, and the Rangers acquired Yu Darvish, who do you think will win the AL West in 2012?

IMO I think the Angels will. NL MVP + strong pitching = Angels win

[Grandstander]

I think the Astros will sneak over a year early and win it.

[aardvarks]

how come I can't vote for Seattle, there you go, start a poll and give half of the potential winners

[Ridgerunner]

And I wanted to vote for Oakland. Life isn't fair.

[Count David]

Another vote for Seattle, but I'd vote for them every year.

[Ridgerunner]

I honestly don't know which team is best but voted for Texas because I'm still a big Nolan Ryan fan and because I have friends in DFW.

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by Ridgerunner

And I wanted to vote for Oakland. Life isn't fair.

You're right! I don't even care about the AL West, and I wanted to vote for Oakland. The poll should be rescinded.

[filihok]

I have the Rangers about 2 games better than the Angels.

Angels have the better starting rotation by about 5 games
Rangers have the better rotation by about 5 games
Rangers have the better bullpen by 2 games

That's certainly close enough that the Angels could win the division though

[CHIP72]

It looks like it will be an excellent two horse race between Texas and Anaheim IMO. I give the edge to the two-time defending division champions.

[Grandstander]

Realistic evaluations do suggest that only the Rangers and Angels will contend for the AL West title this year. So with that in mind, what are the possible difference making keys for each team?

filihok reports that the more sophisticated analysis has the Rangers prevailing by two games. So small a margin could be easily wiped away by the manner in which luck gets distributed for each team.

Thus it is clear that it will all come down to Josh Hamilton and his personal relationship with God. It is evident that the Supreme Being has decided to give Hamilton the Job treatment and is testing the resolve of Josh's faith. What else explains the immense spikes in good and bad fortune for Hamilton?

And that Hamilton has yet to achieve a completely satisfactory state of grace is manifest by God allowing the Rangers to reach consecutive World Series, but not permitting that ultimate win. The Almighty really toyed with Hamilton in Game Six, making him believe that his go ahead two run homerun in the top of the 10th would be the heroic WS winning blow, and then yanking the carpet out from under him in the bottom of the inning.

And...ugh oh....what do we read happened during the off season? Josh had a return bout with the bottle. That was how he responded to God's test of his faith. We know from the Old Testament what happens to those who flunk such tests, they get punished. The Golden Calf stunt got the Hebrews a 40 years in the desert sentence. For coveting another man's wife despite being warned, King David was saddled with a son who rebelled against him.

I don't expect that Hamilton will be turned into a leper or swallowed by a whale, we should look for the wrath of God in the form of the Rangers getting knocked from their top spot, an injury plagued season for Josh, and maybe an outbreak of locusts in Arlington.

Thus, despite that two game advantage on paper, the divine factors displace those measures in critical importance. Put your money on the Angels.