Grant Balfour maybe perfectly situated to change teams in the AL West from the Oakland Athletics to the Seattle Mariners. The PAC NW club could use a guy stopper – to mop up games from a great young pitching staff. in 2013, Balfour has nailed down 62 Saves in the last season and a half, and has carried a great ERA in the 2.50 range – with a WHIP slightly above 1. If Seattle is willing to pay about 3 YRs/$33 – 36 MIL, then the Aussie could be headed their way.

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21

Follow The MLB Reports On Twiter Follow @mlbreports

Seattle Mariners:  Jack Z. and the brass have some money to spend, will there be any takers??  Mike Napoli, Jacoby Ellsbury, Nelson Cruz, Shin-Soo Choo should all be on the offensive list.

On the Pitching side, Bronson Arroyo is the kind of Innings eater that could favor your Bullpen.  Fernando Rodney or Grant Balfour could close games for you as I don’t think Joe Nathan or Brian Wilson are coming.

Go big with your Free Agent signings, even if it is one or 2 players.

Jacoby Ellsbury 2013 Highlights

Crain was named to the All-Star team despite being on the DL at the time of announcement. Unable to participate due to injury, Crain still made the trip to New York for All-Star weekend. The man’s numbers this year were superb. He’s posted a 0.74 ERA in 36 2/3 innings. Assuming Crain’s health returns this season, he could be a key addition to  the Astros Bullpen. The Canadian has been a solid contributor to the Sox pen for 3 years, but none being as good as 2013.  His kind of leadership would be welcomed into the Houston Staff.

Houston Astros:  You should bring in the Relievers Jesse Crain and even think about bringing back Jose Veras.  A guy that may work for you might be Jason Kubel, or Kelly Johnson – to help your OF, and DH spots.

I wouldn’t break the bank for any of the Free Agents, as internal growth is the best way to keep your team low cost.  Going for a guy like Choo will be expensive, and you will stay finish in last place.

Innings eaters as Starters would never hurt the fold, because you can save the strain on some of your veterans.  Scott Feldman, Joe Saunders and Aaron Harang fall into this kind of category.

Mark Trumbo is one of the better power hitters in the MLB right now, The Angels have been rumored to be trying to deal him to the Royals for 2 quality Bullpen arms, or to the Rockies for potentially a 5 tool player in Dexter Fowler. The club is not going to be able to proceed with any future Free Agents this season until they determine with the pieces coming back from a deal for Trumbo would leave them in deficits for other positions. The Angels are not going to have that much dough to sign OF help – other than trade.

LAA:  You guys are in poor shape.  Looks like the next big thing will be to trade Mark Trumbo.  All I have to say is you better net back an OF as part of the transaction, and one that doesn’t fan over 100 times a year.

The Angels are still in buy reliever mode too.  What about a return of K-Rod?  He couldn’t be any worse than 67% of your guys that threw last campaign.

OAK:  Billy Beane will have to make do with what he has.  These guys have organizational depth.  You should read the State of The Union Piece  Chuck Booth just wrote, as it addresses all here.

TEX:  They solved the 1B/DH dilemma, yet they still need a Catcher and another OF.  They should think about Curtis Granderson, to help aid in OF.

Among Catchers they should look at – are resigning A.J. Pierzynski, or adding Kurt Suzuki might work out.  I don’t think a return of Jarrod Saltalamacchia is in the cards.

Their Bullpen is strong, and their Starters are still in good shape for the most part.  Fix the Catchers spot – and add another OF, all should be well.

On the outside chance they want to spruce things up, they could still trade Jurickson Profar + a young starter like Martin Perez or Tanner Scheppers away in a package for David Price, Yunel Escobar or a player like Matthew Joyce.

Tampa would prefer young controllable players, rather than guys in the last year or 2 in their current contracts.

The Texas club could then enter the Robinson Cano sweepstakes.  It is all about the money spent. or ROI (Return On Investment).

Right now, if I were to handicap this Division for next year I would do this.

AL West

Texas 94 – 68

Oakland 92 – 70

Seattle 84 – 78

LA Angels 80 – 82

Houston 58 – 104.

Could the Rangers still be toying with the idea of putting a package together for David Price? Likely candidates going back in the other direction would be Profar, Perez and/or Scheppers. The Rays could also kick in veterans Yunel Escobar and/or Matthew Joyce coming back the other way to Texas.  They need Bullpen help, and always bring back a prospect Starter for outgoing SP veterans,   Price has 2 years of Arbitration Eligibility left, Escobar makes $5 MIL in 2014, and there is a Team Option for 2015.  Joyce also has 2 years left in Arbitration – and has tabled an OPS of .796 for his career thus far.  Perez started 20 Games last year, putting up a 3.62 ERA – while Scheppers appeared in 76 Games, sporting a 1.88 ERA. Joyce hit for .747 OPS in 2013), Escobar (.698 OPS)  and Price  was 9 – 8, with a 3.39 ERA.

For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries Posts that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.

A big thank-you goes out to Our ‘Chief Writer‘ Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s featured article.  Hunter is a Baseball Writer for MLB reports.

Hunter grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia and played baseball with Sheldon Bream (Sid Bream‘s son) at Liberty University in the NCAA.

His favorite player is Brian Wilson (how could you guess?), and he hates when people can’t think outside the box! 

His favorite expression – is ‘ this At Bat is about ten seconds away from a Toe – Tag!

You can reach Hunter on Twitter  Follow @stokes_hunter21

Please e-mail us at: mlbreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.

Like us on Facebook here