Looking at these projected standings, Dave Cameron notes just how weak the AL West might be this season. The Angels look like the best club, with 85 wins, with the A's and M's following with 81 and 78 wins. Cameron:

That's not good, and it gets worse -- these projections are likely too optimistic for the top three teams. The Angels are going to open the season with John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar on the disabled list. There are legitimate questions about how well and how often those three will be taking the hill, and an Angels rotation without those three isn't much of a rotation at all. Justin Duchscherer is undergoing arthroscopic surgery next week - how long he'll be sidelined is up in the air, and it wouldn't be surprising to anyone if his innings pitched for the season was something approximating zero. With Duchscherer out indefinitely, the A's are essentially counting on five starting pitchers who have never pitched a full season in the big leagues. The Mariners' ability to take advantage of the injury bug hitting the two division favorites took a hit yesterday when Brandon Morrow announced that he wanted to head back to the bullpen and the team shipped Jeff Clement back to Triple-A to start the season. The only team that hasn't experienced a recent bout of bad news is the Texas Rangers, but they're also the only team who the projection systems didn't think had a real shot at winning the division this year - their simulated playoff odds were 3%.

It's not just that Brandon Morrow wants to remain a reliever; it's that (as Geoff Baker reports) he's going to remain a reliever. At least for the time being. I've long been a proponent of young pitchers serving an apprenticeship in the bullpen, but these days there's one obvious drawback, which is that everyone involved might wind up thinking the apprenticeship is the actual job. And even if it's just the pitcher, you can't really make a guy start if he doesn't want to. Especially these days. Throw in Clement's odd situation -- have to open up more ABs for Junior! -- and anyone's optimism about the M's should be tempered by at least two or three wins. I have to admit that if you had asked me a few years ago, I might well have predicted that the American League West would be the best division in the majors. My favorite GM in Oakland, a great market in Seattle, a player-development machine and plenty of dough in Anaheim and a solid market with a bright young GM in Arlington, Texas. Obviously, I've still got a lot to learn.