American League

PHOENIX — Andre Ethier said Tuesday he does not plan to impose a deadline on negotiations on the contract extension that could keep him out of free agency. Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said he would like to re-sign Ethier and has discussed the idea with Dodgers President Stan Kasten , who took office three weeks ago. Ethier said Tuesday he and his agent have not received a formal contract proposal from the Dodgers. Ethier also said he did not anticipate a point where free agency could be so close that he would put any contract talks on hold before he could test the market.

If Monday didn't represent rock bottom for the Angels, it's going to be a very long summer. A night after getting routed by division-leading Texas, the last-place Angels slipped deeper into the abyss by suffering their major league-leading eighth shutout - a 5-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics compounded by the troubling absence of their most uplifting player. A's starter Tyson Ross, who began the night with a 7.71 earned-run average, threw six shutout innings while retiring Albert Pujols three times and allowing just one Angel to reach third base.

WHO'S HOT Frank Thomas, Chicago White Sox: Batting .478 with 22 hits, 3 home runs and 10 RBIs. Jason Giambi, Oakland Athletics: Batting .389 with 5 home runs and 17 RBIs. Pedro Martinez, Boston Red Sox: Record of 2-0 with 0.63 ERA, 23 strikeouts in 14 innings. WHO'S NOT Tim Salmon, Angels: Batting .194 with 1 home run and 1 RBI in 31 at-bats. Tony Clark, Detroit Tigers: Batting .176 with 4 RBIs and 3 run in 34 at-bats. David Cone, New York Yankees: Record of 0-1 with 14.

As part of their normal routine, the Angels held a hitters' meeting Monday before opening a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins. Hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said he didn't do much talking. Instead, Albert Pujols spoke of enduring team losing streaks and cold hitting spells and still winning a World Series. Someone else spoke about how the team should continue an approach that a day earlier produced more sharply hit balls, but not any runs. "The positive things that are being said … this clubhouse is not separating, it's bonding more than ever," Hatcher said.

It didn't take David Justice long to adjust to American League pitching. Justice, making his AL debut only eight days after being traded from Atlanta, hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the seventh inning to give Cleveland a season-opening 9-7 win Wednesday night over the Oakland Athletics. Justice, who also tripled and singled, had an RBI groundout in Cleveland's four-run first inning and tripled as the Indians, despite a radically changed lineup, showed they still have plenty of power.

Here's a team-by-team look at the American League, with teams listed in order of predicted finish: WEST SEATTLE MARINERS WHO'S NEW: 1B--Paul Sorrento, 3B--Russ Davis, P--Sterling Hitchcock, Mike Jackson. WHO'S GONE: 1B--Tino Martinez, 3B--Mike Blowers, OF--Vince Coleman, P--Andy Benes, Tim Belcher, Jeff Nelson, Bill Risley. STRENGTHS: The middle of the lineup, with Ken Griffey, Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner, may be baseball's best. The lead-off platoon of Darren Bragg/Rich Amaral and No.

MINNEAPOLIS — If you want to get Mark Trumbo to do something really well, just tell the Angels slugger he can't do it. As he rose through the minor leagues, Trumbo was fueled by criticism that his swing was too long, his uppercut wouldn't translate to the big leagues, and he was a poor breaking-ball hitter and defender. Trumbo silenced those critics last season, hitting .254 with a team-leading 29 home runs and 87 runs batted in, crushing many hanging sliders, playing solid defense at first base and finishing second in American League rookie-of-the-year voting.

Writers from around the Tribune Co. will discuss the upcoming Major League Baseball season during the next two days. On Monday, they will look into their crystal balls and predict which American League teams will make it into the postseason. Check back throughout the day for more responses and join the conversation with a comment of your own. Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times I think the top four teams in the American League are, in no particular order, the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels, and I would be stunned if all four, under the new five-team playoff format, didn't reach the postseason.

Reporting from Tempe, Ariz. -- Dec. 8 was a day of celebration for the Angels. That's when they signed first baseman Albert Pujols, considered one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. Mark Trumbo Appreciation Day, it wasn't. The Pujols signing could alter the course of the Angels franchise, but it was also a game-changer for Trumbo — and not necessarily for the better. Trumbo, 26, emerged as one of the game's most promising young power hitters last season, replacing injured first baseman Kendrys Morales and hitting .254 with a team-leading 29 home runs — several of them prodigious blasts that traveled more than 450 feet — and 87 runs batted in. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Trumbo played solid defense and finished second in American League rookie-of-the-year voting, his only blemish a poor strikeout-to-walk ratio (120 to 25)

The forward did not have to ring twice. In this case, Dwight King only had to knock once. Last week King was able to break the news to Manchester Monarchs teammate Jordan Nolan that they were both being called up from the minors by the Kings with a quick knock on his door. "He said to wake up, pack up. We're leaving in an hour," Nolan said in El Segundo on Tuesday after the Kings' practice. Said King: "He'll get to remember that forever. His first call-up, I was the guy to tell him. It's a good story.

Reporting from Milwaukee — Houston will be pushed from the National League Central to the American League West in 2013, a move Major League Baseball announced Thursday in conjunction with its unanimous approval of Jim Crane as the Astros' new owner. Also coming soon, perhaps as early as next season, is a second wild-card team to each league, meaning 10 of 30 teams would make the playoffs. Commissioner Bud Selig, acting on the advice of a special committee for on-field matters, said the two wild-card teams from each league probably will play a one-game playoff to advance to the postseason with the three division winners.

Clayton Kershaw said he was surprised. Andre Ethier said he was shocked. Kershaw and Ethier were awarded their first Gold Gloves on Tuesday, joining center fielder Matt Kemp to form the only trio of Dodgers to be recognized by managers and coaches as the league's best defensive players at their position in the same season. Angels shortstop Erick Aybar also won his first Gold Glove, unseating Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, who won five of the last seven awards. Aybar had a .980 fielding percentage and 13 errors.

The Angels have begun narrowing the field in their search for a general manager. Former Dodgers general manager Dan Evans is scheduled to interview with the team Thursday or Friday. Also, the Angels are expected to receive permission to interview Thad Levine, assistant general manager of the Texas Rangers, after the World Series. New York Yankees executive Damon Oppenheimer, who was interviewed last week in Florida, was told he is no longer in the running, according to people familiar with the search who are not authorized to speak publicly on the topic.

Reporting from Arlington, Texas — The Detroit Tigers may be battered, they may be bruised and they may be one loss away from next season. But they're not done yet. And that, designated hitter Victor Martinez thinks, makes them dangerous entering Saturday's sixth game of the American League Championship Series, which they trail, three games to two. "We don't get this opportunity often," said Martinez, one of four Tigers starters nursing an...