To say that the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s offseason started off pretty tumultuous would be an understatement. The Angels began their offseason by losing some of the biggest players on their roster, including their number one pitcher and ace in John Lackey, their leadoff hitter in Chone Figgins and finally their cleanup hitter and probably the most recognizable face of the franchise. during the last years in Vladimir Guerrero. Despite those losses, the Angels bounced back, made excellent free-agent signings and look to compete for the World Series trophy once again.
Any time you lose a John Lackey-caliber pitcher, it’s going to hurt, but if any team can take a loss like that, it’s the deep-throwing Angels. In addition to Jered Weaver, who went 16-8 with a 3.75 ERA, Joe Saunders (16-7, 4.60 ERA) and Ervin Santana (8-8, 5.03 ERA), the Angels also signed Joel Pineiro from St. Louis Cardinals and Pineiro won 15 games for the Cardinals with a 3.49 ERA last season. Pineiro should be a great addition to the Angels this season. And of course there’s Scott Kazmir, who the Angels traded at the end of last year’s season and if he can pitch like he has in the past, the Angels will have one of the deepest starting rotations in the entire baseball.
The Angels’ bullpen is also pretty strong. The Angels went out and signed Fernando Rodney from the Detroit Tigers and, although he will be used as a setup man for the Angels, he was a closer for the Tigers, so he has experience in pressure situations. The Angels also brought back their closer from last year, Brian Fuentes, and he was pretty solid last year saving 48 games with a 3.93 ERA. What should really get you excited about this year’s bullpen is the return of setup man Scott Shields. Shields just came out of the bullpen and if he can come back from an injury plagued 2009, the Angels have an amazing bullpen.
Offensively, the Angels are largely the same as last season with changes to the DH/cleanup spot and the leadoff spot in the lineup. Chone Figgins is gone and will be replaced at third base by Brandon Wood, a power-hitting prospect who has to prove himself at the major league level. Replacing Figgins at the top spot will be shortstop Eric Aybar, who should fill a pretty good spot.
Replacing fan favorite and clean hitter Vladimir Guerrero will be Hideki Matsui and I think this was a great hire by the Angels. Matsui is clutch and has a great work ethic that should be a perfect fit in the Angels clubhouse.
The rest of the lineup is very similar to the 2009 version and is full of younger guys who have a lot of pop and potential. First baseman Kendry Morales hit 34 home runs with 108 RBI and a .306 batting average. Juan Rivera hits 25 home runs with an average of .287. And of course there are the veterans who hit for power and pop and have a keen eye at the plate like Bobby Abreu, Torri Hunter and now you can add Hideki Matsui to that list.
The Angels have a fearsome lineup of guys who have pop and can hit for average that should keep them going in most games, but the Angels’ challenge this season may be with their pitching… They do have a talented, deep core though. of starting pitchers, they don’t have an ace since they didn’t replace John Lackey and it’s a dominant pitch like this that propels a team to the playoffs. I predict the Angels will do well again this regular season only to lose again in the playoffs against far superior teams unless they draft a dominant pitcher.