A Look Around The AL: Los Angeles Angels

2008 Recap:

Last year the Angels ran away with the AL West, winning 100 games and finishing 21 games ahead of the second place Rangers. They couldn't get past the Red Sox though in the playoffs, and couple pieces of last year's puzzle are now gone. Closer Francisco Rodriguez broke the major league record for saves with 62, but he's now gone to New York (Mets) and so is the $180 million dollar man, 1B Mark Teixeira (Yankees).  

2009 Outlook:

The Angels have added a coupled grizzled vets to replace their two big cast-offs, but their production can not be expected to match their predecessors. Bobby Abreu is a solid veteran, good for a 100-20-85-20-.285 stat line nearly every year, but he's been added to an already packed outfield which leaves a former Cuban prospect Kendry Morales at 1B to fill big Tex's shoes. Fuentes was nearly ran out of Colorado by Manny Corpas, but proved his worth down the stretch last year saving 30 games. Both should be adequate, which is really all they need them to be, since the rest of the West is so bad.  

Hello: OF Bobby Abreu, LHP Brian Fuentes,  

Goodbye: RHP Francisco Rodriguez, 1B Mark Teixeira 

If the Angels Were an 80's Movie They'd Be:

The Never Ending Story. Since winning the World Series in 2002, the Angels have been back to the post-season four times, in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008, but they just can't make it to the American League Championship Series. They've been beaten in the ALDS each time, and much like Fantasia itself only a grain of and remains among ardent believers whether or not the Angels can make it to the postseason. Maybe the Angels should scrap the Rally Monkey and instead embrace Falkor the Luckdragon to get off their Groundhog Day like cycle.  

The 2009 Projected Lineup:

3B Chone Figgins
2B  Howie Kendrick
LF Bobby Abreu
RF  Vlad Guerrero
CF Tori Hunter
1B Kendry Morales
C  Mike Napoli / Jeff Mathis
DH Juan Rivera / Gary Matthews, Jr.
2B Erick Aybar / Maicer Izturis 

The key to the Angels season and post season success may be Kendry Morales, the new 1B. The 25 year old defector did not impress last year or the previous two, and his 377 career at-bats don't exactly promise a high average or homeruns, since his career average is only .249 and he's only knocked out 12 balls.  

The rest of the infield is another question mark because of injuries. The three expected starters all spent time on the DL last season, as did the one key backup/ shortstop platoon player Maicer Izturis. Th ird baseman Chone Figgins is the prototypical leadoff hitter when he's healthy, but last year he missed 46 games and saw his average drop 54 points to .276, and his steals fell too, to only 34 after having 62 in 2005. Second baseman Howie Kendrick is a talking head favorite because of his high average, but last year was his "Iron Man" season, setting his career high for games at 92. He just can't stay healthy, but he can hit when he is, maintaining a .306 average in three years. Erick Aybar is expected to hold down the majority of the time at the shortstop position, but he missed 64 games last year and will have to improve on his .314 on base percentage to make anyone forget about David Eckstein.  

The outfield position has simply too many cooks in the kitchen, which is way they'll be paying $11 million this year to Gary Matthews to ride the pine or occasionally fill in for Vlad Guerrero in right when he takes a break and becomes the designated hitter. Speaking of Vlad, he was his usual self last year, hitting 27 home runs while driving in or scoring over 171 runs and batting .303. Torii Hunter also had another characteristic year in '08, hitting 21 homeruns and stealing 19 bases while playing a ridiculously good center field.  

The catcher position is an interesting one for the Angels, because they seem to have quite a power hitting catcher if he can stay healthy. Last year Mike Napoli averaged a Babe Ruth-like homerun every 11 at bats. The only problem was that he got only 220 of them. If he can stay healthy, 35 home runs isn't out of the question, and he's got a little sprinkle of speed in his ingredients, too (7 steals last year).  

The 2009 Projected Rotation and Closer: 

RHP  John Lackey
RHP  Ervin Santana
RHP  Kelvim Escobar
LHP  Joe Saunders
RHP  Jered Weaver
RHP  Shane Loux, Nick Adenhart, Dustin Mosely 

RHP  Brian Fuentes 

The Angel rotation right now is an utter mess, because the injury bug has either struck this season or is carrying over from the last. Both John Lackey and Ervin Santana, the pre-season projected ace and #2 pitcher, are now out with elbow ailments that should keep them bench-ridden until early May. Last year Santana won 16 games and Lackey won 12, although he missed the first month and a half of '08 with the exact same problem. Kelvim Escobar won 18 games in 2007, but shoulder surgery sidelined him all of last season and may keep him out until May this year. In the meantime, the Angels will try to make do with a mix of right handers Shane Loux, Nick Adenhart, or Dustin Mosely. Combined wins in 2008? Three.  

The other two starters who are healthy are righty Jered Weaver and lefty Joe Sanders. Sanders came out of nowhere last year to win 17 games and post a 3.41 ERA. He'd be considered "crafty" if he was older, but since he's young we'll just call him bit of a soft tosser, because he only struck out 103 in 198 innings. Weaver's ERA has gone up each year since his rookie 2.56 mark, but last year he won a respectable 11 games as it shot up to 4.33.  

New closer Brian Fuentes imploded two years ago with the Rockies during their World Series runs and was replaced, and if it happens again with the Angels they should be well prepared. Relievers Scott Shields and Jose Arredondo both have the mentality and stuff to be closers, with Arredondo the top guy on the depth chart. Last year as a rookie Arredondo struck out 55 in 61 innings and posted a 1.62 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Shields has saved 20 games in his career, but the pitching in the 8^th inning has buttered his bread for years and will continue to in '08. Last year Shields K'd 64 batters in 63 innings and posted a 2.70 ERA.  

So Magic Eight Ball, will the Angels repeat as AL West champs in '09 and make a run at the World Series? "Most Likely."