. . . okay, maybe Rod Carew isn't on the team anymore.
Either way, we'll start the AL West in the most logical place, Southern California, with the Angels. Not because they won 94 games last year, not because they are the defending champs and not because they come first alphabetically, but because if we do not get to them quickly enough, they may change the name of their location before they're reviewed. It's hard enough for me to remember Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim without appending it with "In the O.C. (don't call it that), Southern California." Okay, that joke has been done before -- sorry.
Anyway, the Angels are fresh off another very good season (has anyone forgotten this team was World Series Champions five years ago?) and should compete for at least another division title, if not the pennant and world series.
Why They're Good
First, they've got Vlad. Aside from his cannon right arm, Guerrero has been one of the most consistently producing players in majors, posting OPS in the League Top-10 in seven of the last nine years and 30+ homers in eight of the last ten. To further solidify their lineup and outfield, they also made a blockbuster signing of Torii Hunter, locking him up to a five-year $90M deal.
In the infield, Howie Kendrick is an efficient player and will only get better. Chone Figgins may be hitting his stride (.393 OBP, 41 SB last year). While those numbers will likely come down a bit, a .340 - .350 OBP would still be very respectable.
The Angels also have a very good pitching staff. John Lackey has some nasty stuff and has, more importantly, been consistently healthy the past few years. Jered Weaver is still young, but should continue the fine start to his career. Kelvim Escobar is a good pitcher coming off a great year. Finally in Francisco Rodriguez, the Angels have one of the premier closers in the game. If K-Rod can limit his walks (34 in 67 IP), we could see a sub-1.00 WHIP and sub-2.00 ERA. Scot Shields is a good setup man.
Why They're Not
First, they didn't get A-Rod. Also, the rest of their pitching staff does not really blow you away. They managed to acquire Jon Garland from the Chicago White Sox, but I have never loved him and they had to give up Orlando Cabrera in order to get him. Kelvim Escobar will likely come back to Earth after his career year last season. The aforementioned loss of Cabrera will hurt them as well. Behind the plate, the tandem of Jeff Mathis and Mike Napoli (most people are predicting Mathis will be starting by the end of the season) is still pretty much unproven (very much in the case of Mathis). Additionally, Figgins may be hitting his stride, but he could just as easily backslide.
Wildcards
The two major ones here are Gary Matthews, Jr. and Ervin Santana. Both had excellent 2006 seasons, but were a letdown in 2007. If Matthews is back on the juice and can play himself into the lineup, Santana can return to form and Figgins and Escobar can reprise their performances last year, the Angels will be in terrific shape to make a run.
Overall
I am a big fan of Torii Hunter, and they likely managed to sell high on Orlando Cabrera. Even still, they paid Hunter top-dollar and I'd rather have Cabrera than Garland.
OffSeason Grade: C+
Overall Grade: B+
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2 comments:
I actually like the Cabrera for Garland trade. True Garland hasn't been the most impressive pitcher around and somehow found a way to win 18 games two years but he was always a huge innings eater. He adds a sense of stability to a rotation that consists of 3 young guys (including Santana) and Kelvim Escobar who is great, but injury prone. It also sets up one of the younger pitchers as trade bait. I like Orlando Cabrera, but this past year was probably something of a career year for him as he batted .300 but owns a career batting average somewhere in the .270's I think. They managed to sell high on Cabrera. This leaves them with an ugly platoon situation at shortstop consisting of Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis. However, one of the Angels top prospects is shortstop Brandon Wood who has put up some pretty big numbers in the minors. I feel that this platoon is just a temporary thing until Wood proves he's done with the minors and adjusts to the majors.
I'm not too sure how much I like the Torri Hunter signing. He's a great player and a great defender, which is something the Angels could use (I don't know about this past season but in 2006 they were one of the worst defensive teams). Signing Hunter after signing Matthews to play center the year before is a bit questionable. Also, both had career years. While Torri is valuable, I still don't think he's exactly what the Angels needed. The Mets needed a frontline starter and acquired Johan. The Angels needed a big bat to protect Vlad and got Hunter. I was really hoping that the Angels would sign Aramis Ramirez during the 2006/2007 offseason because he was exactly what they needed - a power hitting third basemen. Chone Figgins is questionable defensively at 3rd but whatever. If only Dallas McPherson had been able to stay healthy and be that huge Richie Sexson-esque power hitter the Angels needed. The Angels should have been more willing to part with their minor leaguers and used them to get Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle the way the Tigers did. If they had gotten Cabrera, they'd probably be my vote for best team in the majors. They have solid pitching, a great bullpen with K-Rod, Speier and Shields and an offense with Vlad and Miguel is just sick.
PS from a fantasy perspective, I expect Orlando Cabrera to lose some value. Even if he hits the same way in 2008 as he did last season, he's no longer on the Angels who are the biggest base-stealing team around. I don't see Orlando being as good at contributing to all 5 offensive categories in 2008.
Thanks for the feedback, Paul. Interesting fantasy spin you put on the Cabrera trade. I agree with you in that the Angels likely sold Cabrera at the right time, I am just not sold on Garland.
Hunter will provide some more power, but I agree with you that it does not make sense to go after two different centerfielders (especially after career years). part of the reason i think the Mets wanted to deal Mike Cameron and Lastings Milledge is because they were being wasted in rightfield.
I am anxious to see when Wood will come up. He had about an .840 OPS with 23 homers in 430 AB last year at AAA, however, it looks as though they may be grooming him to play 3B, which would be interesting. At 6'3", 200 lbs. he would be Ripken-sized at shortstop.
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