Coco Crisp and 7 AL West Players Due for a Huge Season

Besides Albert Pujols signing with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, many faces in the AL West remain the same.

So who in the division will shine in 2012?

C.J. Wilson remains in the AL West after switching from the Texas Rangers to the Angels. The Seattle Mariners traded Michael Pineda to the AL East, and free agents such as Hideki Matsui remain unsigned.

With only a few major shakeups, there are a handful of guys poised to have a stellar season. Here's a look at two from each team.

Albert Pujols

In 2011, Busch Stadium ranked 27th in home runs allowed per game. It's not a hitter-friendly park. Generally speaking, O.co Coliseum in Oakland and Safeco Field in Seattle are not friendly to hitters either.

Though Angel Stadium of Anaheim isn't much better at 25th, the good news is that Rangers Ballpark in Arlington ranks first.

Maybe the parks aren't hitter friendly, but in the AL West, the pitchers are.

Albert Pujols will face many young and still unproven pitchers from the Athletics. After Felix Hernandez, Pineda was the Mariners' next best pitcher. Now that he's gone, Pujols will feast on the other Seattle pitchers.

The scariest pitcher in Texas used to be C.J. Wilson. Now he and Pujols are teammates. Yu Darvish and Neftali Feliz as starters are question marks for now.

That's three out of 15 pitchers he'll have a hard time with. I like those odds.

Traveling outside of the West but remaining in the American League, Pujols will have more opportunities to hit at Yankee Stadium, Rogers Centre in Toronto and Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Each are in the top 10 of hitter-friendly parks.

Dan Haren

Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson are obvious candidates to have huge seasons.

Instead, I'm going with Dan Haren. Weaver and Wilson will have normal Weaver and Wilson-like seasons respectively. Haren will have a huge season.

Last year, Haren won 16 games with an ERA of 3.17. His 2011 campaign includes four complete games and three shutouts. Yet it was overshadowed by Weaver's near Cy Young performance.

In 2012, Haren will have Albert Pujols in his lineup to support his efforts. With another year in Los Angeles, a weak AL West and a boost in the entire pitching staff's confidence, Haren will have a Cy Young season of his own.

Coco Crisp

From 2003-2008, Crisp had over 100 hits. In his only year with the Royals and first with the A's, Crisp averaged 60 hits. Last year, he returned to over 100 hits.

He's re-signed with Oakland and is set to begin his third season with the club. There's comfort and consistency. A hundred-plus hits will happen again.

Doubles, triples, walks and runs batted in have all risen for Crisp in the last two seasons. Each will rise more. In 2011, Crisp stole 49 bases. He'll want to match or beat that astounding number.

Comfort and consistency are two factors that will make all of Crisp's numbers rise in 2012.

He's been a fan-favorite in Oakland so he'll have the added support from the fan base as well. Especially now that he's the biggest talent on the team.

Jemile Weeks

Had Jemile Weeks played an entire season, he would have been a serious contender for AL Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, his late June call-up cut his big league time short.

In 2012, fans will be treated to an entire season. Even better, Weeks is one of, if not the only Athletic that should be untouchable near the trade deadline. He's young and talented with room to grow still, and he's become an immediate fan-favorite.

In just 97 games, Weeks hit .303, adding two home runs and 36 RBI. Weeks will prove his batting average is consistent, and all of his other stats will improve with another 70 games.

Felix Hernandez

Last year, the expectations for the Seattle Mariners were through the roof. In 2012, there are none.

After not being traded in the offseason, King Felix will now have time to re-group and breathe.

Hernandez averages 12 wins per season. This includes seasons as a 19, 20, 21 and 22-year-old kid. Most players spend those years in college or the minors. In 2012, he'll be 26 years old.

He's still just entering his prime, if you can believe that.

Felix Hernandez has also struck out more than 200 batters the last three seasons in a row. This stat will continue in 2012.

Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki is a 9-time All-Star. The only year he missed was 2011.

He was in top 25 consideration for the MVP eight times in his career. The two years he wasn't close: 2005 and 2011.

He's only missed a Gold Glove Award one time. It was last year, in 2011.

He's logged less than 200 hits in a season and less than a .300 batting average one time in his career. Can you guess which year? Yes, 2011.

Ichiro Suzuki is way too disciplined of a player to simply allow age to damper his statistics. He'll be 38 years old in 2012 so he's definitely not a spring chicken anymore. He may not have the greatest statistical year of his career, but Suzuki will put in the time and effort to raise his batting average and hits.

He'll barely hit .300 and tally just over 200 hits. Not dazzling by Ichiro standards, but a huge season for any other player.

Yu Darvish

Yu Darvish, welcome to Major League Baseball.

Darvish is set to have a huge season because no one in the league has ever seen him before. He immediately has the element of surprise. It's going to take a year before hitters can adjust to him in live hitting.

Whether they can or not, his stats speak volumes. He's only 25 years old and has yet to earn an ERA above 1.88. He also has 1,083 strikeouts to 221 walks.

There's a reason the Rangers paid $52 million to negotiate with Darvish and guaranteed another $56 million contract for the Japanese pitcher.

Neftali Feliz

Another pitcher, yes. The offensive candidates are all so obvious.

Neftali Feliz will be in the Texas Rangers' starting rotation in 2012. Out of the bullpen, Feliz has maintained an ERA of 2.55 and saved 74 games. Of course, these stats were based on working one inning at a time.

But when general manager Jon Daniels, and more importantly, owner Nolan Ryan wish to move you into the rotation, it speaks volumes about your pitching skills.

Neftali Feliz will be fine in this position. He has good stuff and he will have the support around him. He obviously won't be thrust into the role of an ace. He'll start either in the three or four spot of the rotation.

In fact, Feliz is lucky the team signed Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish. Darvish bumps Feliz down in the rotation and takes a massive load of expectations off of all the other starting pitchers.