Sunday, June 29, 2008

Best team in the American League West? The standings say it's the Los Angeles Angels, who -- fresh off their series win in Washington -- entered the weekend with a 4 1/2 -game lead over the second-place Oakland Athletics.

But what are we to make of the fact that Oakland has a far better run differential -- plus-67 (fifth-best in the majors) -- than the Angels (plus-18)? That gives Oakland a "pythagorean" record of 46-32, ahead of the Angels (41-38) by that same 4 1/2 -game margin, only transposed.

(Careful readers of MLB Sunday will recall our previous examinations of "pythagorean" records, based on run differentials, which are often more indicative of teams' relative strength than standard records.)

One thing it means is that the Angels are winning an extraordinary number of close games -- no surprise, given the strength of the back end of their bullpen (where closer Francisco Rodriguez is on pace to break the all-time record for saves in a season).

"It's a nice stat to look at, to maybe give you some guidelines," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said of run differential. "But you don't care about how many runs you're winning by."

In any case, the Angels do not appear to feel threatened by the Athletics, having all but ruled out a major trade -- such as one for Atlanta Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira -- to help their slumping offense, which ranks just 11th in the AL in runs. Instead, they will maintain faith that slumping hitters such as Gary Matthews Jr. and Torii Hunter will return to their career norms in the second half.

"There are some things we need to find as the season goes on," Scioscia said. "But I think we can find them here."

The surprising Athletics, on the other hand, have an interesting dilemma on their hands: whether to buy or sell at the trade deadline. The plan all along had been to sell, with pitchers Rich Harden and Joe Blanton their choicest chips. But their strong start could entice them to scrap that plan and make a run at the playoffs.

· GOOZIE STAT OF THE WEEK: Entering the weekend, Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzmán was on pace for 215 hits and 24 walks.

The number of hitters in the past 25 years to collect 210 or more hits while walking fewer than 25 times: One. (Kirby Puckett, with 234 hits and 23 walks in 1988.)