I know, I know.  There is still a lot of time before the new season is upon us and teams have lots of time to tweak and finalize their rosters.  However, we could be witnessing a changing of the guard in the American League.  For the past several years the junior circuit has had three top dogs.  The Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels have all been very competitive every season.  All three teams don’t always make the playoffs but it is generally accepted in April that they have a pretty good shot.  This year there could be a slight change.

So far the Angels have only managed to lose players.  Figgins has signed with the Mariners.  It looks like Lackey will be wearing Red Sox.  It doesn’t look like Vlady will be back.  The only hole they have filled is the DH spot with Godzilla.  The Mariners, on the other hand, have signed Figgins, look like they are picking up Lee in the three way trade that will send Doc Halladay to the Phils, and are major players in talks with Jason Bay.

Are you kidding me?  King Felix and Cliff Lee in the same rotation.  It sounds like the Ms are gearing up for the playoffs already.  It also sounds like Seattle is definitely going to be giving the Halos a run for their money.  Ichiro and Figgins are going to cause some major disturbances on the base paths, Hernandez and Lee in the rotation is going to give the Mariners a lot of fire power, and an aquisition like Jason Bay will give Seattle a much needed big bat in the middle of the lineup.

Of course, it’s not too late for the Angels to start improving their team.  Bay and Holliday are still out there and it appears that there are a lot of teams willing to deal.  I just can’t wait to see how all of this is going to pan out.  If the Mariners do sign Bay, I look forward to seeing some new faces come playoff time.