FanFest, New Skipper, New Stadium, New Season

Good morning Mariners fans. Welcome to another SoDo Sunrise. Let’s get your morning started off right, with a dose of the latest news from around the American League West.

We start with the up and coming Houston Astros.

Chatting with new skipper A.J. Hinch

Ryan Gonzalez over at Climbing Tal’s Hill sat down with new Astros manager A.J. Hinch as part of a bloggers roundtable at FanFest this past weekend.

Hinch offers up some great insight into everything from his hiring as Astros manager, to expectations for this year and beyond.

Next: Talking with Astros' Manager A.J. Hinch?

Robbie Ross off to Boston

Staying in the state of Texas, Colin Holmes over at Nolan Writin’ takes a look the Rangers’ trade with Boston that sent Robbie Ross Jr. to Boston for reliever Anthony Ranaudo.

Holmes laments the fact that the Rangers gave up one of their few lefties for a righty, but likes the addition of the reliever overall.

Next: Rangers trade Ross to Boston

A’s need a new stadium

To which I say, “No kidding.” But it appears that new MLB commissioner Rob Manfred also feels the same way.

According to Tony Frye over at Swingin A’s, the new commish has stated publicly that the A’s need a solution to their stadium problem, and soon.

Tony also cautions readers though that Manfred has little to no power to actually make it happen. But it doesn’t hurt to have him in your corner. Or does it?

Next: Manfred says Oakland needs new stadium

FanGraphs projections for Angels lineup

Brian Helberg at Halo Hangout takes a look at the projected stats for the Angels lineup in 2015, courtesy of FanGraphs.

And while these projections should be taken with little more than a grain of salt, it is worth noting that they feel the Angels will take a step back in 2015.

Which of course is good news for Mariners fans.

Thanks for taking the time to visit our friends. Have a great day! Baseball is right around the corner.

Next: FanGraphs Projections for Angels Hitters