Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Anaheim never really seemed to take off last year but still manged to win the West comfortably with a 95-67 record. They will hope more energy can be provided by an influx of supremely gifted youngsters can take them back to the promised land.

Pitching

Some people seemed to question whether or not Bartolo Colon deserved to be the Cy Young winner last year (well lets face it Mo Rivera and Johan Santana were pretty damned good last year) but when you actually saw how his season evolved its easy to see why he won it. At the beginning of the year he was dominant and an absolute workhorse and it was only when he started picking up a few niggling injuries towards the end of the season that things started to plateau. He is an ace and will continue to be a rock for the Angels.

Colon’s main support will come from John Lackey who finished amongst the leaders in strikeouts and had a real come out season. Always known as a big game pitcher, he finally showed that he can be a good starter in all the ordinary games that actually get you to the big games in the first place.

The back end of the rotation could conceivably be a family affair with Jeff and Jered Weaver although Jered is likely to log a few innings in AAA before he gets called up. Jeff has had a tough time shaking off a reputation he built during some shaky years in The Big Apple but he regained his confidence in the vast expanses of Dodger Stadium and started looking like the guy we all expected when he was as a youngster in Detroit. It awaits to be seen if he can continue to be effective in a less pitcher friendly park but he still has the ability and the curveball to put in consistent starts.

Ever since Anaheim started their renaissance a few years back, their bullpen has been amongst the very best in baseball and Brendan Donnelly, Scott Shields, Hector Carrasco and JC Romero should have no problem holding leads for Francisco Rodriguez to close out. Rodriguez might have the most explosive stuff in baseball but he had troubles when he had to work a lot of games in succession. He’s still young and you’d expect his conditioning to improve but the club will need to keep an eye on his workload.

Defence

They lost possibly the best defensive catcher in baseball during the off season but then again they always had a spare Molina in their closet. Jose is your typical Molina in that he has the strong arm and great mechanics and he’ll be complemented by Jeff Mathis who is another of the endless line of great players that the Angels seem to be developing at the farm.

Anaheim seems to have an endless line of great middle infield talent too. Orlando Cabrera is a Gold Glove calibre fielder and Adam Kennedy at second also plays to a high standard. Next up is Erick Aybar who is a slick fielding shortstop with great range, athleticism and a strong arm and Brandon Wood behind him isn’t bad either. Howie Kendrick doesn’t really offer much defensively at second but if all else fails then they have Edgardo Alfonzo and Chone Figgins who have both played up the middle to good effect.

As things stand now Figgins will start at third unless Wood proves he is too good now not to be with the big club. This team is stacked on the infield in a major way.

Darin Erstad won Gold Gloves in the outfield then he went to first and won Gold Gloves there but now he’ll be asked to go back to the outfield. He’s a special player who brings maximum effort to everything he does and the supporting cast of Vlad Guerrero and Garret Anderson isn’t bad either. Guerrero seems to have toned things down in recent years and whereas he always wanted to show off his incredible arm in years past, nowadays those throws find his team mates more consistently. Few try to take the extra base on anything hit to right.

Offence

Vladimir Guerrero is a fearsome hitter. He will swing at anything he can reach and he swings hard and its truly testament to his incredible talents that even with that approach he never strikes out much (61 whiffs last year), he hits for a high average (.317) and he hits for power (32 HR). This guy is a freak who no one should try to emulate but everyone should marvel at.

It awaits to be seen who lays claim to the lead-off spot this year with Chone Figgins emerging as a hitter and with the best speed on the club (62 steals) should have the inside track. But Erstad has long been very effective there and could easily fill the post. The real wild card is Erick Aybar who really flourished as a hitter once he was plugged into the top of the order and combined well with Howie Kendrick who would batted behind him.

Kendrick is a great contact hitter who has always been one of the top hitters at every level he’s played at.

Rookie Watch

The general rule is that if they play middle infield and have come up through the Angel farm system they’re pretty good. Kendrick plays second and could have batting titles in his future, Aybar is a probable Gold Glover and lead off man and then you have Brandon Wood.

It’s unlikely Wood will start the year with Anaheim especially with the great depth at short but if he continues to rip the cover off the ball like he did last year then he could find himself at third base very quickly. Wood has all the tools to be a shortstop but many see him getting too big to stay there but his bat is plenty good enough to play anywhere (a .672 slugging percentage at Hi-A Rancho Cucamonga including 43 HR).

Jered Weaver is a high energy guy with a good assortment of pitches and was at times dominant in his first pro season and he quickly moved to AA where it wasn’t all plain sailing. He has a propensity to give up a lot of fly balls and often they fly out of the ball park. If he can refine his mechanics and be more consistent with his slider that could all change and he could be in the majors too.

Management

Mike Scioscia is one of the most aggressive managers in baseball. He loves to put runners in motion and forces opponents to make plays. He only cares about results and will go with what works rather than fussing over match-ups and statistical models.

Between Bud Black, Mickey Hatcher and Ron Roenicke the Angles have one of the best support staffs you will find.

The infrastructure of this team is the best in baseball. From rookie ball to the senior club this team is stacked with talent and not only do they draft well but they do a great job of making the most of that talent. Then Bill Stoneman goes out and gets Vlad Guerrero and he becomes an MVP and then Bartolo Colon who turns into a Cy Young winner. This is a franchise with the golden touch.

Outlook

The rotation might not be as deep as some but there are no obvious weak spots but the pen is among the best and the depth of position players is unparalleled in baseball and its not even close. If the team has injuries it can easily cover them and if the club wants to strengthen a certain area it has the chips to deal.

This is how a club should be run and they should be amongst the big contenders in the league for years to come.