Darin Erstad is one of four Angels with at least 10 RBIs. Brad Mangin/SI

The schedule-makers don't mess around. Rather than easing into the baseball season with some nice, quiet, less meaningful out-of-division stuff, the bell rings in April and the suits in New York throw everybody right into the mud.

The Yankees and the Red Sox. The Braves and the Marlins. The Giants and the Dodgers. And, yes, the American League West. All of it.

Get in there and fight, boys. We want our money's worth.

To which we can only say: Whoa, already. Break.

Beginning this week, baseball gets a breather, finally, from these intense early  slugfests. A few intradivision matchups linger, but for the most part, the first of many divisional rounds in baseball's unbalanced schedule is over. The Red Sox have bloodied the Yanks. The World Series champion Marlins are attending to some cuts from the Braves. The Giants are staggering back to their corner.

And that AL West ... well, the AL West is all over the place.

The retooled Angels polished off a surprising sweep of the A's over the weekend, the first sweep Anaheim has managed in Oakland in almost seven years. It was the first time the A's have been swept at Network Associates Coliseum since May, 2002.

That may not mean a whole lot in April, not with 13 games remaining between these two teams. But it means this: Now everybody knows the A's, who have won the division in three of the past four years, are beatable.

"I can't even remember the last time we got swept," Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez told reporters after the game.

Raul Mondesi threatened to go home unless the Pirates started paying him by the end of the month. The backstory: Pittsburgh is holding onto Mondesi's checks until a legal squabble in the Dominican Republic is settled. Former major leaguer Mario Guerrero sued Mondesi in civil court there, claiming Mondesi owes him $640,000 for helping him to become a better player. Mondesi is appealing. The thing is, if Guerrero is responsible for the way Mondesi plays, Mondesi ought to be suing him. Whatever, Mondesi changed his mind and will stay in Pittsburgh, where the Pirates are paying him, even if he can't get to his money. Imagine that. The Marlins are just 1-5 against Atlanta this season. But, man, what about their timing? The one win came Saturday, in front of 41,226 fans at Pro Player Stadium. When the Marlins got hit No. 12 in the 7-4 victory, it triggered a "dozen for a dozen" promotion. Each ticketed fan won a dozen free doughnuts. Potentially, that's almost a half-million of 'em. It's Homer heaven. It's a policeman's paradise. Krispy Kreme -- my hero. "I had to do something. Make them laugh. Well, they laughed. We know we're better than this. We know that." -- K.C. manager Tony Pena, explaining why he soaped up in the showers, in full uniform, after a recent Royals loss

While many baseball fans were concentrating on the other coast last weekend, and the showdown between the Red Sox and Yankees in New York, the Angels were knocking A's lefty Barry Zito for a loop, jumping to a 10-0 lead on their way to an easy 12-2 win Friday.

A weekend later, the Angels clearly are the early champs among the powerhouse teams in the AL West. Anaheim starters allowed only seven earned runs in the three games (a 2.33 ERA) against the A's. Oakland's weekend ERA was 6.00. Anaheim's hitters battered the famed Oakland pitching staff, hitting .300. The A's hit only .210 against Anaheim this weekend.

Maybe most important, the Angels improved to to 4-2 this season against the A's. Anaheim won only eight of 20 games between the two teams in 2003.

The Angels, of course, are no surprise. Anaheim spent the offseason signing big-ticket free-agent pitchers Kelvim Escobar and Bartolo Colon, then added free-agent sluggers Jose Guillen and Vladimir Guerrero. The Angels were expected to challenge for the AL West title. The surprises are coming from a couple of other teams in the West -- including one that shares the lead with the Angels.

The Rangers lost Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Carl Everett to the budget knife, but they're tied with the Angels for first place in the division (and they're 5-2 against Anaheim). The Rangers are hitting .315, the best in baseball.

Seattle is a surprise in the other direction. The Mariners, who have won at least 91 games in each of the past four seasons, sit in last place. They're already on their second five-game losing streak of the young season. Manager Bob Melvin is frustrated. Leadoff man Ichiro Suzuki looks lost. They were just swept this weekend by the Rangers.

There are a lot of rounds remaining in these divisional to-dos. But the AL West won't go intradivision again until mid-June. The Yankees and Red Sox don't meet again until late June. The Braves and Marlins won't match up again until late June.

That's fine with just about everyone involved. It's a long season.

Time to see what the other palookas out there can do.

• BALCO just keeps getting messier and messier, doesn't it?

• A player goes 0-for-25, he expects to be booed. Comes with the territory and the multimillion dollar paycheck. Still, hearing the fans at Yankees Stadium give it to Derek Jeter, the team's captain, is a little otherworldly.

• The Dodgers are off to their fastest start since 1988, the last time they won the World Series. And Dave Roberts is pretty fast, too. He's 13-for-13 in stolen base attempts.

• When does Javy Lopez come back down to earth?

• Barry Bonds was walked intentionally four times Friday night. I've said it before, and here it is again: Baseball's version of Hack-a-Shaq stinks. Smart, maybe, strategy-wise. But it still stinks.

• This has to be encouraging for the Red Sox. Not just a sweep of the Yanks. But the sweep of the Yanks even with Trot Nixon and Nomar Garciaparra still on the shelf. And with Pokey Reese and Mark Bellhorn both hitting .200 or worse.

• Seattle's Freddy Garcia, who is 0-1 with a 1.19 ERA, has had a shutout through seven innings in three of his four starts.

I don't want to keep beating this Bonds thing to death. Believe me, I don't. But last Friday, I wrote a column that said, essentially, that with all that Bonds has going against him -- especially the steroids allegations -- his pure talent is often overlooked.

I don't want to keep this thing going forever, but you guys have to have your say, too. It's the beauty of the Web and all that. So, I'll let you guys square off ...

No, the deck is not "stacked against" Barry Bonds. Bonds has stacked his own deck with his obvious cheating. You, like other Bonds sycophants, and many major league players give backhanded rationalizations for steroid use, and your claim that steroids don't help Bonds with his hand-eye coordination is a ruse of the worst sort. Of course steroids don't "help" Bonds see the ball better, but they help him get the bat on the ball faster and with considerably more force. If you have suspicions that Bonds is on steroids, then how do you rationalize your defense of him? Bonds is a joke, as is Giambi, et al. You are part of the problem of the absolute fraud that baseball has become. -- Courtney, Baltimore

Courtney, I'm no sycophant. (And I hope my spellchecker is working.) I believe that, if Bonds has used steroids, they probably have helped him. I believe, if that's the case, any records he sets are tainted. He may be a cheat. I'll leave that for others to determine. But, face it: His talent is rare. I don't think that's "defending" Bonds.

First and foremost, you correctly point out what so many fans and writers have overlooked since the BALCO story broke. The concentration, preparation and hand-eye coordination required to do the things Bonds does are not enhanced from steroid usage. They are the product of intense labor and natural skill. These are undeniable attributes that Bonds possesses far beyond any player of the last several decades. One issue  which I take note in your story is on the injury question. While it is possible that, if Bonds has taken steroids, they have helped his recovery time, it should also be pointed out that he has not suffered from the types of significant and long-term ligament and cartilage injuries often attributable to steroid usage. -- Peter Brink, Chicago

We all look for signs to give us some kind of clue as to whether Bonds has used steroids or other performance-enhancing substances. His injuries, or lack thereof. His body size. His body type. His hat size. His demeanor. The people he hangs out with. His offseason regimen. I'm tired of the debate. I'll wait 'til somebody else figures it out. If that ever happens.

Have you noticed the Venezuelan players in the majors? We have always thought that we have been underrated due to the huge talent that the Dominican Republic provides. Don't you think Venezuela gets little credit even though it provides great players such as Richard Hidalgo, Magglio Ordonez, Marco Scutaro, Omar Vizquel, Andres Galarraga, Bobby Abreu, etc.? -- Roberto P., Caracas, Venezuela

Don't forget Edgardo Alfonzo. Alex Gonzalez. Melvin Mora. Kelvim Escobar. Johan Santana. Don't worry, we've noticed. Yeah, we've noticed.

John Donovan is a senior writer for SI.com.