The Shamalamadingdong Angels

Pete J Says : Just like last year no one has the same depth and breadth of talent available to them that the Angels will going into the season but that didn't seem to help them last season as they seemed to find endless ways to lose games with some truly sloppy play. In fact they played so badly most of the time that its a tribute to how much talent they had that they stuck around in the pennant race so long.

One group that didn't fail was the pitching which logged the third best team ERA and the most strikeouts in the AL. They will once again be led byJohn Lackey who is fast emerging as one of the most consistent aces in baseball. Every time he takes to the mound he gives his team a chance and just demands the ball in the big games.

The rest of the rotation is solid with a good assortment of young pitchers with Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver having all sorts of adulation thrust upon them (I just think they're solid pros rather than future aces but anyway...) and Kelvim Escobar looked dominant down the stretch for the team last year as he got further removed from the last big injury (when the next one comes is unsure but you have to expect it to be out there). The only real question is when will Bartolo Colon be back and how good will he be? If he comes back as anything like the pitcher he had been before the surgery on his rotator cuff, then once again Anaheim will have one of the best one-two punches in their rotation in baseball.

The bullpen took a hit in the off-season with the loss of Gregg andDonnelly but it still should be a strength of the team. Francisco Rodriguez and Scot Shields can really shorten the game at the back end and Justin Speier, Hector Carrasco and Darren Oliver offer variety and quality in the middle innings.

It was the position players who contrived to botch games the most. Mike Scioscia has always liked to be aggressive as a manager but his players showed a lot of bad judgement in deciding when to go and when not to. Whether it was trying to steal in the wrong situation or going for the extra base when it wasn't there, this team ran itself out of a lot of games...but at least they made up for it with countless mental errors and by making simple plays look difficult.

The fulcrum for this team will once again be Vlad Guerrero, possibly the biggest freak in baseball. At the plate he takes the wildest and most vicious hacks of anyone and no one has his plate coverage (because no one should swing at some of the balls he swings at) but he still manages to hit for a high average with power and has yet to strike out 100 times in a season. This guy is simply baffling to watch which also makes him so much fun.

The rest of the line-up has diminishing power with Casey Kotchman and maybe Howie Kendrick the only guys apart from Guerrero capable of providing consistent pop. Juan Rivera and Shea Hillenbrand could also contribute some power but its a question of how much playing time they'll recieve this year.

The rest of the roster has a bunch of guys who are capable of going deep from time to time but the real secret to this offence is their legs. Chone Figgins will be amongst the league leaders once again in steals if he keeps his everyday role and Erick Aybar could be quicker but it might be too early to expect him to be an every day guy.

The big question is can Gary Matthews replicate what he did in Texas last year? He showed tremendous improvement in his plate discipline last season once put into the leadoff spot which saw him draw more walks and get him into better situations to get better pitches to hit. If he can keep his OBP up he offers speed and a bit of power atop the order and should combine well with the oft under-rated Orlando Cabrera who can really do it all and its only a matter of time (and shifting of the east coast media bias) until he gets a Gold Glove. He's got 20-20 talent and his approach at the plate keeps getting better and better, he should be due a breakout year.

Of course if anything goes wrong they have an exciting array of minor league talent such as Dallas McPherson, Kendry Morales and uber-prospectBrandon Wood who could all see time in the Bigs this year and could all contribute, its just a question of where?

So once again the West is theirs if they want it but if they don't show up then Oakland will do them over again. They have everything they need to not only win the division but the World Series too, it's all a question of aptitude. Scioscia needs to really light a fire under this lot because if they play the same way this year as last, he could be looking for a new job come the winter.

Conor Says : There's no doubting the talent of this bunch of players. They have some of the most brilliant players in baseball, and for me K-Rod is possibly the most exciting pitcher around (aside of Gagné).

Bad Vlad does it all offensively, but I don't really feel they have built the offence around him as well as they could have.

The Angels have massive infield depth, but it's difficult to see who's going to sieze the starting jobs. Shea Hillenbrand is likely to slot in at DH with the unproven Casey Kotchman looking like the everyday first baseman.

Will Chone Figgins or Dallas McPherson find positions? I think there are more questions than answers as far as this team is concerned.

The rotation is solid and there is no doubt this team will contend, but will they have the staying power of Oakland? I'm not sure that they will be willing to part with some of their prize prospects right now to be succesful this season if there is a gaping hole in their line up come the deadline.

Also Gary Matthews jr? Are you kidding me?

Pete J Says : That was succinct.

Gary Matthews is a curious fellow. If he's made an adjustment and can repeat last seasons form then he will be a great fit on this club. If he reverts to previous form then they have a platoon guy against lefties even if thats not what they paid for.

It does seem that we agree, however, that much like the real Los Angeles team, the Angels have everything they need to be serious contenders and it really just comes down to how they are able to put it all together.

It's very interesting that the club is already looking at Wood at third this Spring which makes you think that they are serious about this year. We shall see.