So we are a full week into the 2012 baseball season and so far the two favorites in the AL West, the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels are sitting at opposite ends of the division standings. The Texas Rangers are sitting atop with an 8-2 record while the Angels look above from last place with a 3-6 record.

Will this last? No. The Angels have too much talent though they still lack the bullpen needed to ultimately win the division.

The Athletics and Mariners have a great group of young guys but still lack depth at key positions plus they’ve already played each other seven games this season, getting a two-game head start on the rest of Major League Baseball with that ridiculous opening series in Japan while the rest of baseball was still playing spring training games.

So until the Mariners develop their young talent and the A’s move to San Jose where they will actually money this is still a two-team race. Oh, and let’s not forget the Lastros, I mean Astros, joining the division next season.

So what have we really learned in this first week of the 2012 season? The Texas Rangers clearly have the best bullpen in all of baseball. Yes, the two losses came at the hands of Joe Nathan but it’s still early and he has looked good the last two games and appears to be headed on the right track.

Then there is Josh Hamilton who is definitely looking like a guy playing for a contract which he is. The Rangers offense is clicking and Mike Napoli appears to be coming out of his early funk. And who would have ever thought that Elvis Andrus would have more home runs than Albert Pujols?

Still, the season is young and that will change.

The Texas Rangers are a team that is currently in control of the division and they are loose and having fun. They still know that it’s a job, though, but they also know that have the best job “security” in the west. Dominant starting pitching, dominant relief pitching, a powerful offense and stellar defense are the key components that Texas has exhibited so far.

I still believe that, come September, there will be a dogfight between the Rangers and Angels for division supremacy but so far it’s still the Rangers division to lose.

Until next time, I’ll see you in the cheap seats!

James Holland is a lifelong fan of baseball and his hometown Texas Rangers. He’s also a contributing writer for shutdowninning.com and the senior writer/editor for clawandantlernation.com as well as a member of SABR. You can follow him on Twitter where he waxes poetic about all things baseball @SDIJamesHolland.

Sources:

http://texasrangers.com

http://mlb.mlb.com