The A.L. West has suddenly become incredibly interesting. Recent trades involving the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels have turned the A.L. West into, if not a power conference, a tough conference in which to find a winner.

Right now, the Texas Rangers are huge -2000 baseball betting favorites to beat both the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics in the West. No odds are being offered on the Seattle Mariners to win the West because they are 19 games behind west leading Texas.

Why are the Rangers such big favorites to win the A.L. West this year? They recently acquired pitcher Cliff Lee from the Mariners. Lee, a former Cy Young Award winner, has only gone 1-1-1, that’s a victory, a loss and a no-decision, since coming over from Seattle, but he’s got a 2.56 ERA on the season. He’s expected to contribute to a decent Rangers’ pitching staff whose starting rotation is ranked 8 th in MLB and whose bullpen is ranked 5 th.

Along with Lee, the Rangers have underrated Colby Lewis as a decent starter and the terrific Tommy Harris who is 8 and 0 on the season with a 2.31 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Considering how awesome the Rangers’ bats have been, Texas averages over 5 runs per game and are ranked 4 th in the majors in that category, the A.L. East’s stranglehold over the pennant the past few years may be in jeopardy.

The Rangers are every bit as good as the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees with Lee in the rotation. In fact, the only team that might be better than them could be their biggest rivals in the A.L. West, the Los Angeles Angels.

The Angels are 7 games behind the Rangers for the lead in the A.L. West. That in itself could be the reason for the huge MLB betting discrepancy between the Rangers at -2000 and the Angels at +1000.

The big question is whether or not the Angels can catch the Rangers. With Dan Haren in the fold, +1000 on them to do so offers great value. The D’Backs shipped their ace to Mickey Mouse’s city in what can only be described as a trade involving heavenly intervention. The Angels were desperate for a second ace to go along with Jered Weaver. Haren is definitely that guy. He’s had a less than stellar 2010 so far with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP but a lot of that has to do with the pressure that was placed on him in Arizona.

The Angels, whose team ERA is 4.40, is going to find out soon if the addition of Haren will help them close the gap between them and the Rangers. After three games versus the Boston Red Sox this week, the Angels and Rangers battle over the weekend.

That series has become much more interesting with the pitching additions for each team.