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Different year, same story for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and Seattle Mariners must all prove that they are capable of taking away the AL West from the Angels, and once again it doesn’t seem likely.
I’m not sure the Angels have had a catcher who could hit this well since Lance Parrish. The Angels committed a real party foul at First Base last season when they sent Casey Kotchman to the Braves for Mark Teixeira but then didn’t re-sign Teixeira. Essentially, they just tossed a very good defensive (and John Olerud style offensive) first baseman in exchange for nothing. Presumably, the Angels felt free to do this because Kendry Morales, Kotchman/Teixeira’s replacement, hit .332 in the minors and has some power to go with it. We’ll see. There is very little to dislike about Second Baseman Howie Kendrick. He strikes out too much, never walks, and is rarely healthy. Other than that, he seems to be a pure hitter of the most extraordinary type – unable to avoid hitting. I just hope he can stay healthy long enough to get consistent and truly develop into a more well rounded hitter. He could be Chase Utley, but he may just turn into Juan Samuel. The Los Angeles Angels' Third Base position has been sort of hilarious for the last six years. Obviously, there was a time when Troy Glaus was going to be the next Mike Schmidt, but injuries kind of curtailed his rapid ascent around 2003. In 2004, without other options, the Angels put Chone Figgins at third base
This year, finally, the Angels seem to be embracing it – Figgans is now listed at the top of the third base depth chart. Still not a perfect solution, but it is the one that the baseball gods seem to have conferred upon the Angels. At least until third baseman of the future Brandon Wood is ready to take over. I hear this guy is the next Mike Schmidt. The Angels have an infield filled with players who didn’t play a full season last year, and Shortstop Erick Aybar is no exception. He played 98 games, and had 96 hits, so that’s something. We’ll wait until he has a full season of action before judging his (light) offense and his (merely solid) defense. A couple of years ago, in the wake of the acquisition of Gary Matthews Jr. for five years/$50 million, I chastised the Los Angeles Angels franchise for going from a team that develops its own players and makes wise moves to being a
I think that Vlad Guerrero may have entered the second half of his career last season – the part of his career where he starts knocking down career milestone after career milestone, and the older guys tell the younger guys how amazing Vlad was in his youth. When you are a bad ball hitter like Vlad, and you don’t take walks, it can be hard to keep it up well into your thirties, and I don’t expect him to age gracefully, a la Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, Chipper Jones, etc. Torii Hunter will continue to win Gold Gloves for as long as he plays full time and hits twenty homeruns. Juan Rivera joins the pantheon of players with average skills who work really hard but just can’t complete with the players who have supernatural skills and don’t have to work really hard. On many teams, or for many players, the 23 homeruns in 448 at-bats that Rivera hit in 2006 would have gotten him a starting job. But the Angels have acquired three outfielders via free agency since that season. Gotta feel for the guy, but I think the window is closing. Humorously, though, since Matthews can't be counted on as an everyday player, it appears as though Matthews, Rivera, and Abreu will do a round robin between left field and designated hitter, as needed. Look for Rivera to hit 30-plus homeruns at the age of 35 in a journeyman season spent in Colorado five years from now.
Now that the Angels have Bobby Abreu to play full time Designated Hitter, they have two of this era’s three most famously underrated players – let’s see if they can add Brian Giles to Abreu and Guerrero before the season is over. All the problems that the Angels face, the truly season-threatening problems, can be found in their Starting Rotation. On paper, things look good – Jon Lackey is a major league ace, Kelvim Escobar should be ready to return after missing 2008, Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders each had breakout years in 2008, Jered Weaver looks to be developing but legit, and Dustin Moseley and Nick Adenhart look primed to adequately fill the fifth spot in the rotation which shouldn’t even be open. This is where the needle on the record scratches off and everyone looks at the jukebox in bewilderment.
Throw in the fact that all the injuries have led to the sudden appearance of some guy named "Shane Loux" on the depth chart, and there is trouble a-brewin’ in Los Angeles of Anaheim. Loux was a minor league starter from 1997 to 2004, missed all of 2005, came back as a reliever in 2006, missed all of 2007, then came back as a starter again in 2007. Now 29 years old, he pitched well in 16 innings of relief work in 2008, but that was his only major league action since 2003. And he is currently on the depth chart.
The Angels have all those problems, and we haven’t even gotten to the biggest question mark of the season, which is the Bullpen. Since 1996, the Angels have had two closers, Troy Percival and Francisco Rodriguez, who are two of the all time greats. In 2009, on the heels of K-Rod obliterating the single-season saves record, the Angels turn to Brian Fuentes, the long-time Rockies closer. I’ll say this for Fuentes and nothing more – if you can pitch in Coors Field, you can pitch anywhere. The good news for Fuentes is that the Angels' set-up crew is the same as it was been for last year – Scot Shields, Jose Arredondo, Darren Oliver, and Justin Speier. This has arguably been the key to the Angels success in this decade, consistent excellence in the bullpen, and this year should be no different. Only Speier got roughed up last year, and it was his first bad year since 1999, so not much need to worry there. Ironically, the Angels have another Francisco Rodiguez who is a relief pitcher in the minors. He is technically on their depth chart for 2009, but he is roughly the twentieth pitcher on it. Still, kinda humorous. Reminds me of the Greg A. Harris/Greg W. Harris days. Outlook for the Season Not much to say – if they are healthy and consistent, this division is theirs to win. But they have so many players slated to start in 2009 that didn’t play full seasons in 2008 – the entire infield including catcher – and they have so many injured players that they need to get healthy, including their top three starting pitchers. Then Bobby Abreu, Vlad Guerrero, and Torii Hunter need to all play like younger versions of themselves Lots of ifs, but frankly, I don’t see anybody else making a run in this division, despite the fact that the A’s are always full of surprises. The Angels are in "if the wheels don't fall off the cart" territory now. Team Previews Index Do you have a different take? Send your opinions to submissions@baseballevolution.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
