AL West: Fourth in a series of 6 divisional previews.

1. Oakland.The AL West is tough to pick. The top two and the bottom two are (to me, at least) obvious, but which will finish where is tough. I give the A’s the nod on pitching alone. Mulder, Zito, Hudson…these guys could be scary good. Rookie phenom Carlos Pena is set to replace Ja$on Giambi at first, and has already told manager Art Howe he would have slid on that Jeter play. Young bats Eric Chavez, Miguel Tejada, Terrence Long, and Jermaine Dye (we still consider him young) are all getting better. Don’t be surprised to see new closer Billy Kock whiff Giambi to end the ALCS and put the A’s in the World Series.

2. Seattle. The 2001 M’s proved that regular season wins are like Russian rubles; you can pile them up, but they’re not really worth anything. The Mariners didn’t lose anything that significant (yeah, OK, Aaron Sele) except another year to old age. Olerud, Moyer, and even Edgar are no spring chickens. And anyone who really thinks Bret Boone and Ichiro will duplicate 2001, raise your hands. Ruben Sierra is listed as the starting left-fielder, making this the 643rd player the M’s have tried out there in the last five years. Jose Canseco, Pete Incaviglia, Tim Raines, Mel Hall, Kevin Bass, take note…the job may be opening up soon.

3. Texas. Why HBO hasn’t started a series following the 2002 Rangers is beyond me. What happens when certified Froot Loops Carl Everett, John Rocker, and a newly-Viagra-crazed Rafael Palmeiro stop being polite and start being real?. New GM John Hart has created a souped-up version of his mid-90s Indians teams; they’ll pound the ball all over Arlington, but the pitching staff has more question marks than that infomercial freak. If Hart could import the guy with the drum and the dismal mid-90s AL Central, the Rangers would have a shot. But he can’t. So they don’t.

4. Anaheim. The big question for the Halos is whether they’ll rise to Mo Vaughn’s gracious parting shots and find a team leader. They’ve added aging pitchers Kevin Appier and Aaron Sele to go with a wildly inconsistent (not you, Troy Glaus) lineup. While nothing’s certain on the field, at least they’ve ditched the silly Disneyfied uniforms. I think by July, Mo Vaughn will recall his days of playing for a hopeless team in front of a listless crowd a little more fondly. When even www.rallymonkey.com has shut down, you know your team’s in trouble.

Next: The AL Central.