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West Notes: Rangers, Rockies, A's

The Rangers advanced to their second consecutive World Series last night. Today, Buster Olney of ESPN.com breaks down some of the crucial moves Texas made -- and didn't make -- that helped them return to the Fall Classic. More on that and a couple other items of note out of the AL and NL West ...

• Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com feels that while the Rangers proved they didn't need Cliff Lee to win the American League pennant, they would not have done so had they traded Michael Young last offseason.
• The Rockies will move their Rookie level affiliate from Casper, WY to Grand Junction, CO, writes William Browning of the Casper Star-Tribune.
• The Rangers considered acquiring starters such as Zack Greinke and Matt Garza when Lee walked in free agency, writes Olney, but because the Rangers were stocked with young power arms, they decided to address other needs. Instead, they acquired players in Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli who were seemingly undervalued by their former organizations. Beltre, after the Red Sox moved on from him quickly by acquiring Adrian Gonzalez and moving Kevin Youkilis to third, nearly signed with the Angels but felt he had a better chance to win with the Rangers.
• Though it appears unlikely the Athletics will gain approval to build a new stadium in a different nearby city, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders whether they'd be able to build a new stadium at the site of the Oakland Coliseum. The NFL's Raiders, with whom the A's share the Coliseum, may relocate to a shared stadium with the 49ers in Santa Clara, which would leave the A's as sole tenants of their current digs, so they wouldn't have to consider any other team's needs.
• Mark Ellis provided some stability at second base when the Rockies acquired him this season, but the key stone has persisted as a unanswered question throughout Colorado's existence, writes Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post. Ellis, an impending free agent, "figures to return" to the Rox in 2012, according to Armstrong.
• Elsewhere in Armstrong's piece, he writes that the Rockies will "dive into the offseason trade market in hopes of landing a quality starting pitcher." Three prospects whom other teams might seek are outfielder Tim Wheeler, infielder Nolan Arenado and pitcher Chad Bettis.

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