All you have to know about the American League West is that the Oakland A's won 20 games in a row at one point last year, and still only led the division by two games tops during that stretch. It was the first division since the 1978 American League East to have three teams finish with at least 93 wins. And there's a chance the game's strongest division will be even better in 2003.

Let's take a closer look at the AL West's four teams (listed according to how they finished in the standings last season):

Oakland
The A's are the first team in modern baseball history to have a different 20-game winner three years in a row, and all three were 25 or younger when they won their 20 games. Barry Zito (23 wins last season), Mark Mulder (21 victories in 2001) and Tim Hudson (20 wins in 2000) should continue to improve, which means the A's not only will contend again this year, but are nearly assured of winning 90 games.

Last year, the A's became the first team since the 1950 Red Sox to score at least six runs in 12 consecutive games, and their offense could be better with the acquisition of DH Erubiel Durazo from Arizona. If Durazo gets 600 at-bats, he could hit 35 home runs.

The A's have a new closer (Keith Foulke), a new back-end of the rotation (four guys are bidding for the No. 5 spot) and a new manager (Ken Macha), but they have the same nucleus of players. And they're still loaded in the minor leagues. They have a trio of young starting pitchers, led by Rich Harden, who they believe could someday be as good as Zito, Mulder and Hudson.

That means the A's will contend in this division for years to come. And this division will be very good for years to come.

Anaheim
The world champions could surpass last year's 99 wins by having John Lackey in the starting rotation and Francisco Rodriguez in the bullpen all season. They didn't lose anyone of substance, they added a couple of useful guys (including outfielder Eric Owens) and they found a style of play -- push the action constantly, especially on the bases -- that makes other teams uncomfortable.

Scott Spiezio, Adam Kennedy and David Eckstein have established themselves as quality players, Tim Salmon is back and Darin Erstad welds together all 25 players.

There's no chance that the Angels will experience a major letdown following winning the World Series as manager Mike Scioscia won't let that happen. Neither will the talent on this team.

Seattle
The Mariners re-signed the two players they wanted (Jamie Moyer and John Olerud), they added a right-handed and left-handed hitter off the bench (Greg Colbrunn and John Mabry) and they acquired an everyday left fielder (Randy Winn) in exchange for their former manager (Lou Piniella), allowing Mark McLemore to do what he does best: move all around the field, wherever he is needed.

New manager Bob Melvin is one of the game's bright young minds. He also threw batting practice to Jeff Cirillo virtually every day in Milwaukee in 1999; Melvin's close relationship with Cirillo could revive his career after a miserable 2002 season. A comeback season is needed from center fielder Mike Cameron and, to a lesser degree, ace Freddy Garcia.

The rotation is unsettled after No. 3 starter Joel Pineiro, but Gil Meche, once a top prospect who is coming back from an arm injury, should be well enough this spring to make a run at a rotation spot. The bullpen is also always good.

The M's were leading the West in August last season, then were left behind by Oakland and Anaheim. They're out to see that that doesn't happen again.

Texas
The last division to have all teams .500 or better was the seven-team AL West in 1991. That could happen this year. New Rangers manager Buck Showalter, who wins wherever he has been, won't settle for less. Texas, as always, potentially has severe pitching problems again, but closer Ugie Urbina strengthens the bullpen.

Still, the key will be the kids in the rotation (Colby Lewis, Joaquin Benoit) and the veterans acquired (Ismael Valdes, John Thomson) in case the kids aren't ready. A comeback season from Carl Everett, who supposedly is invigorated, is needed, but if he can't handle playing center field defensively, Doug Glanville will.

This team will score close to 1,000 runs, it will catch the ball better and it will be vastly improved. But in this division, that could mean .500, and a last-place finish.

Tim Kurkjian is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and a regular contributor to Baseball Tonight. E-mail tim.kurkjian@espnmag.com.