The AL West has become one of the toughest divisions in Major League Baseball featuring many big name players.  With great competition comes high expectations and great roster depth creating a battle for playing time.  Here’s a look at some of the biggest spring training battles in the AL West.

The back to back AL West Champion Oakland A’s have a few position battles this year, but none more important than the starting rotation.  Jarrod Parker and Sonny Gray will make quite the one-two punch this year, and veteran Scott Kazmir is expected to take the three spot, but the others must be earned this spring.

A.J. Griffin, Daniel Straily, and Tom Milone will battle for the final two starting jobs in the rotation.  All three have had their ups and downs, especially Milone who was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento last season, losing his spot in the rotation to Straily.  

Last year, Griffin was 14-10 with a 3.83 ERA and 171 strikeouts, Straily was 10-8 with a 3.96 ERA and 124 strikeouts, and Milone was 12-9 with a 4.14 ERA and 126 strikeouts.  Griffin and Straily are the frontrunners, but all three capable of handling the starting job.  Having too many good players is a good problem to have, but a difficult decision for manager Bob Melvin to make.

This will be a fun battle to keep an eye on this spring, and their performance will have a huge impact on Melvin’s final decision on the starting rotation.

The Seattle Mariners have developed an interesting battle at shortstop.  Nick Franklin was expected to be the everyday second baseman with Brad Miller taking over the shortstop duties, however, with the signing of Robinson Cano, Miller and Franklin will battle for playing time at short.

Miller played in 76 games last year where he batted .265 with eight homeruns and 36 RBI.  Meanwhile, Franklin played in 102 games hitting .225 with 12 homeruns and 45 RBI.  Both have upside as they enter their second season, with youth and room for improvement on their side.

The Texas Rangers have some competition at the catcher position this spring.  With A.J. Pierzynski leaving via free agency for Boston, Geovany Soto and newly acquired J.P. Arencibia will compete for playing time this season.  

With Pierzynski getting the majority of the starts last year, Soto played in only 54 games as he hit .245 with nine homeruns and 22 RBI.  In 138 games, Arencibia hit .194 with 21 homeruns and 55 RBI as a Toronto Blue Jay last year.  

These two catchers have experience in the league and will do just fine behind the plate for the Rangers this year.  The deciding factor for Ron Washington may just be how they handle the pitching staff this spring.

With spring training games already underway, it will be interesting to see how these players perform and develop over the next month, as well as the final decisions made by the managers for the regular season.