LOS ANGELES, March 5, 2013 — The Oakland A’s are the defending American League West Champions. With a 94-68 record, they beat out the Texas Rangers for the AL West pennant by just one game.
The A’s should be right there in the mix again in 2013, but it isn’t going to be any easier. In fact, the competition in the AL West should be the best pennant race in all of baseball this season with three teams potentially battling throughout the summer and into the fall.
Yoenis Cespedes swinging for the fence AP/Ben Margot
As usual, the Athletics lost a few important pieces, but in the process they got a lot in return. One surprising move was the Jed Lowrie trade, where they actually traded away prospects to get the established player.
Projected payroll: $55,025,000
Notable Players Out: 1B Chris Carter, SS Stephen Drew, 2B Cliff Pennington, C George Kottaras, RHP Brandon McCarthy, 3B Brandon Inge
Notable Players In: 3B Jed Lowrie, C John Jaso, SS Hiroyuki Nakajima, RHP Ryan Cook, OF Chris Young
Prospect Watch: OF Michael Choice and RHP Sony Gray
Highlight Hitter: LF Yoenis Cespedes (ZiPS 2013 Projections: .273/.338/.452 23 HR/90 R/84 RBI)
Highlight Pitcher: LHP Brett Anderson (ZiPS 2013 Projections: 5-5, 4.00 ERA, 6.16 K/9, 83.3 IP)
Projected Lineup: C John Jaso, 1B Brandon Moss, 2B Scott Sizemore, 3B Jed Lowrie, SS Hiroyuki Nakajima, LF Yoenis Cespedes, CF Coco Crisp, RF Josh Reddick, DH Seth Smith/Chris Young
Projected Rotation: LHP Brett Anderson, RHP Jarrod Parker, LHP Tommy Milone, RHP A.J. Griffin, RHP Daniel Straily
Projected Closer: RHP Ryan Cook
Manager: Bob Melvin
Projected 2013 Finish in AL West: 1. TBA 2. Oakland A’s 3. Texas Rangers 4. Seattle Mariners 5. Houston Astros
Kevin J. Wells writes about Major League Baseball and punk rock music. Follow him on Twitter @WellsOnBaseball
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