ANAHEIM, Calif. " Bob Geren is eager to get the AL West race started.
The Oakland manager will get an early look at the team that's supposed to give his A's the most trouble. Up first, the defending champion Los Angeles Angels on Monday night.
"I like opening against your own division, playing against the so-called favorite. I'm looking forward to it," Geren said.
Last year, the Angels strolled to the West title and led the majors with 100 wins. They're aiming this year for their fifth division crown in six years, not that it's done them any good in October " their lone appearance in the World Series, a winning one, was as a wild card in 2002.
Meanwhile, the A's finished 75-86 and third behind Texas (79-83) in the division last season, Geren's second at the helm.
Mike Scioscia, heading into his 10th season as the Angels' manager, insists the West will be more challenging this year, but adds that won't be really be his team's concern.
"There are four teams that have the capabilities to win our division," Scioscia said. "But that's not where our focus is. Our focus is on how we're going to go out and play the game and what we need to do to be the best team we can be. If you want to contend, I think that's the only way you can look at it.
"There's some terrific pitching that we're going to have to go up against. Through the American League, you're going to have a challenge every night on the mound. The team that's our biggest challenge is the Angels."
The Angels and A's start off with one question in common: their starting rotation. Los Angeles' John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar all are on the disabled list and expected to miss at least the first month. Dustin Moseley, Nick Adenhart and Shane Loux will fill in, joining Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver.
Oakland will begin with an even more suspect rotation. Opening day starter Dallas Braden, rookie Trevor Cahill, Dana Eveland, rookie Brett Anderson and Josh Outman have a combined 63 major league starts. Two-time All-Star Justin Duchscherer is out for at least a month and a half after arthroscopic elbow surgery.
With Lackey beginning the season on the DL for the second year in a row, Saunders draws the Angels' opening day assignment.
"It means the team has confidence in me to take the job opening day and be the kind of workhorse that Lackey's been the past six years," Saunders said. "I'm just hoping to get us off to a good start, battle out there and give us a chance to win, regardless of how I pitch."
Eveland said the Angels will look different in the opening series.
"They don't have their closer (Francisco Rodriguez) anymore, they don't have some of their starters right now, so they're going to have to score some runs," Eveland said.
"Saunders is still healthy and Weaver is still healthy and they're good pitchers. We'll get a chance to face some of their other guys, so hopefully we'll get an early lead on them and see what happens."
Along with letting Rodriguez go, the Angels parted company with longtime left fielder Garret Anderson and late-season addition Mark Teixeira. They signed Brian Fuentes to close and Bobby Abreu to play left, and inserted Kendry Morales at first base to replace Teixeira.
Center fielder Torii Hunter believes the Angels will be just fine.
"We won 100 games last year. What else can we do?" he said with a chuckle. "I got tired of hearing about the offense. I mean, we won 100 games, so somehow we did something special. We have a lot of athletes and we do a lot of different things."
The Athletics, looking for more punch in their lineup, acquired Matt Holliday and brought back Jason Giambi, among other moves.
The Angels' Hunter believes the division race could be a good one.
"Every team is better this year. We're better, the Texas Rangers are better, Oakland is a lot better and Seattle is going to be better," he said. "If you look at the A's and what they've done, getting Matt Holliday, and they always have good pitching and the high on-base percentage, they can give us a run.
"They say we should win, and we should because we've got the crowns on our heads. Somebody's got to take it off of us first to be the champ."