Did the Rangers and Mariners Get Better?

So the winter meetings are over, and there were two teams that made a few noteworthy moves in the AL West. Chone Figgins signed with the Mariners. Interesting move, now they have one of the best leadoff duos you could possibly have pairing Figgy with Ichiro. Maybe they’ll set some kind of record for double steals, or not, since Ichiro seems to be stealing a little less than he once did. They were reportedly thinking of re-signing Adrian Beltre, which sounds like a retarded idea, and would put a black hole in the lineup right after two on-base guys. The only way this deal will make them better is if they get some consistent power behind the two. Maybe Lopez will have a huge year and they could put him higher in the order. Maybe Griffey can have one last magic season for them, but looking at his stats from last year, I don’t see that being very likely… Side note, I am happy to see that he is going to play one more year, good for him! He’s the anti-Bonds, and it’s good to see he can still get some work past his prime.

The Rangers also made a couple moves signing one of my favorite love/hate players on the A’s over the past decade in Rich Harden. I love the way the guy pitches, and he CAN pitch, even Nolan Ryan is impressed by the guy, but hate how he is never healthy enough to pitch more than 100 or so innings. Supposedly he’s trying to make it to 200 innings to get a bunch of incentive money, but I’ll believe that when I see it! Dealing away Kevin Millwood’s elephant contract should allow them to sign a couple of guys at a much better price. Sounds like they have an interest in Mike Lowell as well. The Rangers weren’t bad last year, they just fell apart in the end with a mix of injuries and bad play.