![\"MlbHlSq\"](\"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/wp-content\/MlbHlSq.jpg\" "\\"MlbHlSq\\"")
<\/strong><\/p>\nJoe<\/strong><\/td>\n| Rangers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Mark<\/strong><\/td>\n | Mariners<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Matt<\/strong><\/td>\n | Angels<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Russ<\/strong><\/td>\n | Mariners (WC: Angels)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | Steve<\/strong><\/td>\n | Rangers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n | \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Texas Rangers (90-72)<\/strong><\/p>\n You cannot lose in a World Series and feel anything but deep disappointment, especially if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never won a World Series before.\u00c2\u00a0 As a player, manager, Front Office member or a fan, winning the World Series is the holy grail because, as the old baseball saying goes, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153flags fly forever\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\u00c2\u00a0 And while that goes for American League championship flags too, they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the same prestige as a World Series flag.\u00c2\u00a0 By their definition, a championship flag is a public display not just of triumph, but also of defeat.<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure the disappointment will not have gone away yet, but hopefully over the offseason the Rangers will put their incredible year into perspective and see it for the great success that it was.<\/p>\n Yes, the AL West was a fairly weak competition in 2010, but the Rangers still had to win it and they showed that the division was far from the height of their ambition by going out mid-season and acquiring Cliff Lee from the Mariners.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a Texas Hold \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcEm \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcall in\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 approach and it very nearly paid off in the ultimate way.<\/p>\n Many assume that Cliff Lee will sign with the New York Yankees over the offseason. However, the Rangers signed a monumental TV deal a few months ago with Fox Sports Southwest and, combined with the interest and money created by a World Series appearance, Texas might just shock everyone and convince Lee to stay.\u00c2\u00a0 If Lee does depart for the Bronx, the Rangers will need to fill that considerable gap because it might be asking too much to expect C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis to perform quite as brilliantly as they did in 2010.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got the wherewithal to do that and with MVP candidate Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz and Neftali Feliz all in place, the Rangers have a strong core that should mean their postseason foray in 2010 will not be one-off.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n Oakland A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s (81-81)<\/strong><\/p>\n The last ten games of the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s season summed up their year.\u00c2\u00a0 They were going along nicely until a six-game losing streak threatened to end the season in feeble fashion, only to sweep a four-game set against the Mariners to finish the year at .500.\u00c2\u00a0 At times they were poor, largely thanks to a punch-less offence; at times they were brilliant.\u00c2\u00a0 It evened out over the year, breaking their run of three losing seasons since winning the West in 2006, and the hope is that this was a stepping stone onto better things.<\/p>\n Whether that materialises depends on General Manager Billy Beane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability to put together an offence to go with the impressive young pitching staff (Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson, Andrew Bailey etc) that the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now boast.\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much easier said than done when you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t got much money and play in a ballpark and market that is less than inspiring.\u00c2\u00a0 Much as moving a team seems abhorrent to British sports fans, the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s are stuck in limbo until Bud Selig finally wakes up and decides if they can move to San Jose or not.\u00c2\u00a0 Until then, Beane will just have to try and impress potential players with his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m being played by Brad Pitt in an upcoming film, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122know\u00e2\u20ac\u009d patter.<\/p>\n All of which would make you think that the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s season could be\u00c2\u00a0labelled as\u00c2\u00a0a mere transitional year, but this A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fan would be quick to correct you.\u00c2\u00a0 Watching the young pitchers blossom was a real treat and who could forget the year that Dallas Braden had?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0He was the ‘little man’ who took a stand against\u00c2\u00a0A-Rod, was subsequently rounded-on by the full force of the corporate beast\u00c2\u00a0(the ‘big team’ obsessed sports networks, the New York press, A-Rod himself) and then waved two fingers back\u00c2\u00a0by pitching a perfect game in one of the highlights from the year.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n Listening to the game via the A\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s radio commentary on a British Sunday night was a surreal pleasure: unable to keep still due to the nervous tension, holding my breath every time the commentators said he was in the wind-up, the outpouring of joy when the final out was made.\u00c2\u00a0 It was the sort of unlikely, magical moment that sport conjures up every now and then; the sort of moment that makes us sports fans in the first place.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (80-82)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Angels’ 2010 season showed that success is cyclical in MLB, regardless of resources and commitment.\u00c2\u00a0 They have an excellent manager, a productive scouting network and farm system, a\u00c2\u00a0considerable budget and an owner prepared to do all he can to help the team win without being reckless.\u00c2\u00a0 However, after three\u00c2\u00a0consecutive division titles, several key players left the team and that was enough to knock them off course.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n The departure of those players might not have been quite so dramatic as first seems.\u00c2\u00a0 Vlad Guerrero played a key role in getting the Texas Rangers to the World Series (something not undermined by failing to hit well in a small number of Fall Classic at-bats), but neither John Lackey or Chone Figgins had particularly\u00c2\u00a0impressive first years with their new teams, so plugging them back into the 2010 Angels season wouldn’t necessarily have put them back in the AL West race.\u00c2\u00a0 It was more a case of one era coming to an end and the team needing to take stock and build for another run.<\/p>\n That process started with the mid-season acquisition of Dan Haren and he forms a potent 1-2 punch alongside Jered Weaver, who flourished under the new responsibility of being the staff ace in 2010.\u00c2\u00a0 The Hot Stove rumours have them as one of the favourites\u00c2\u00a0in the race to sign\u00c2\u00a0Carl Crawford and if the Rangers become complacent over the offseason, it’s possible that the Angels could get themselves back into the mix in\u00c2\u00a0a hurry.<\/p>\n Seattle Mariners (61-101)<\/strong><\/p>\n The Seattle Mariners\u00c2\u00a0made offseason headlines by trading for Cliff Lee, signing one of the top free agents in Chone Figgins and signing a contract\u00c2\u00a0extension with Felix Hernandez, starting a bandwagon that many jumped on to.\u00c2\u00a0 They were cited as genuine contenders, admittedly in what most considered to be a relatively weak division.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, the Mariners fell to pieces.\u00c2\u00a0 Lee was traded, Ken Griffey Jr retired in ignominious fashion, manager Don Wakamatsu was sacked and the team\u00c2\u00a0ended up losing 101 games.\u00c2\u00a0 Hernandez apart (who fully\u00c2\u00a0deserved the AL Cy Young award,\u00c2\u00a0irrespective of his win total), never has a team promised so much and failed so badly.<\/p>\n Of course, the point is that the team never really\u00c2\u00a0held so much promise as\u00c2\u00a0was being made out.\u00c2\u00a0 The Mariners were a good story and most of us (and although I didn’t pick them to win the division, I can’t say I was completely immune from it either) got swept along, overlooking the cracks in the roster and focusing on the potential carnage\u00c2\u00a0that a Cliff Lee-Felix Hernandez double-act could cause in the playoffs.<\/p>\n Will we learn a lesson from this saga?\u00c2\u00a0 Probably not, but for all the importance (and enjoyment) of impartial analysis, misguided optimism and unrealistic dreams are as much a part of being a baseball fan as the beers and the hot-dogs.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0New manager Eric Wedge will try to pick up the pieces in 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the second of our six-part series, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re staying on the west coast to look at the home of the American League champions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[125,553,128,127,126],"class_list":["post-9655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb-2","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-mlb-2","tag-oakland-as","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-texas-rangers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9655"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9803,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9655\/revisions\/9803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} 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