Hooray For The Halos

                                            2012 ANGELS PREVIEW

      The Angels have been my favorite sports team all my life, so, as you may expect, I was ecstatic to hear that they signed the best hitter and starting pitcher available on the free agent market, during the MLB winter meetings, earlier this month. On the very same day, they signed first baseman Albert Pujols to a gigantic 10- year, $254 million contract and starting pitcher CJ Wilson to a 5-year, $77.5 million deal, instantly vastly improving a team that managed to stay in the playoff race, until the very last week of last season, without them. It used to be that the Angels would get good players, far too deep into their careers, so by the time they acquired formerly great players like Dave Winfield, Tony Parker, Bo Jackson, and Lee Smith, they were mostly past their prime. More recently, I remember how exciting it was when the Angels signed Vladimir Guerrero (we miss you, Vlad) and many of us can point to the acquisition of great players like Reggie Jackson or even Nolan Ryan as other memorable key additions that helped put the Angels on the map. Now,  December 8th, 2011 will probably go down as one of the greatest best days in Angels history, maybe only behind the night they secured the World Series title in 2002. It is almost certainly the greatest day for one team in the history of free agency, and could mark the dawn of a new baseball dynasty... But lets not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

       Pujols is already a Hall of Fame player, with three MVP awards, two championship rings, six Silver Slugger awards and two Gold Glove awards, while setting offensive records each year since he started playing in the majors. He started n 2001, when he won the Rookie of the Year Award, bursting on the scene with a .329 average , 37 homers, and 130 RBI, and continued to dominate the league from then on. During his illustrious career, he has made the All-Star team and been a finalist in the MVP race nearly every season he has played, and he produced the best statistical output over his first ten years (now eleven) in the history of the game. Some argue that he had his worst season of his career last year, which is absolutely true, so I won’t argue against that point. I will, however, make the point that it was his first season hitting under .300 (he hit .299), and he still had 313 total bases, hit 37 homeruns and drove in 99 runs, which are all more than any Angels players had last year, and Pujols did it in 145 games. He missed 17 games due to injury, was admittedly distracted by everyone asking him about his future with the Cardinals- a team that he felt had disrespected him by not offering a worthy contract extension, and he still put together one of the best offensive seasons in the league. His numbers were lower than his 11-season averages of 350+ total bases, 329 AVE, 40 HR, 120 RBI, .617 slugging %, and 88 walks per season, but those were the best statistical averages for any player, over that career span, in the history of baseball, so you have to expect the numbers to drop some (not to mention the injury, and missing about 10% of the season). He still walked (61) more than he struck out (58) in 2011, had a .541 slugging % , along with his other stats,  and remains one of the most feared hitters in the game, after overcoming a slow start to what turned out to be his worst season. Needless to say, those so-called below-average stats will provide a great boost to his new team, even if his numbers aren’t quite as high as his record setting career averages, because he is still one of the best players in baseball and is intent on breaking more records. It is almost a foregone certainty that Pujols will break the career record for homeruns, finally removing the [allegedly]  fraudulent career(s) of Barry Bonds (and Alex Rodriguez, if he continues to stalk the record) from the top of the lists in the record book, and I look forward to watching him hit hundreds of homeruns throughout the rest of his career and drive in hundreds of runs each season as he helps the Angels compete every year. For a team that struggled mightily on offense last season, depending heavily on their team pitching to keep them in the race, this offensive juggernaut is exactly what the Angels need to infuse some clout into their lineup, and instill some fear into the opposition’s pitching staff.

      The Angels had the absolute best pitching staff in the American League last year, with superb starting pitchers like Jared Weaver, Dan Haren, Ervin Santana, and a surprising Jerome Williams, to go along a good relief corps highlighted by Scott Downs (I think he’s the best lefty reliever in the league) and a few hard throwing youngsters, most notably Jordan Walden. The Rangers won the division by a few games, but only ran away with it in the last week of the season, and their best starting pitcher was CJ Wilson. Now he is coming back to where he grew up, rounding out the Angels starting staff with a much-needed quality left-hander, and making the best pitching staff in the league even better. He has been one of the best starters in the American League the last couple of seasons, compiling a 31-15 (win-loss) record in his only two seasons as a starter, after beginning his big league career as a reliever. He has compiled excellent overall stats, despite pitching half of his games s in one of most hitter-friendly parks ever, down in Arlington, Texas. Last season he posted a superb 2.94 ERA, which was 7^th best in the league, struck out 206 batters, and sported the league’s best road ERA of 2.31, when he pitched away from the difficult home ball park. I’m sure the Angels feel like he can only get better, with experience within the much more accommodating, pitcher-friendly surroundings of Anaheim Stadium.

       Barring any major injury, the Angels starting staff is probably the best in the American League, and will almost certainly rival that of the Philadelphia Phillies, who have three potential Cy Young Winners on their team, for best starting staff in baseball. With those four high-inning guys, along with Jerome Williams or one of their promising young pitchers taking up the fifth spot in the rotation, the relief pitchers may have to work just about as much as the Phillies staff do (very little). Weaver, Haren, and even Santana were already potential Cy Young Award candidates, and Wilson is likely to improve some of his individual stats, and one would expect them to have more opportunities to win games, thanks to their new, potentially potent offense. The offense has the potential to be very good, especially if their outfielders produce more than they did last year, especially Vernon Wells (or his replacement) and Torii Hunter needs to get back to his standard season to provide some stability to their lineup. Their defense is solid, especially the outfield, with gold glove winners, Hunter and Wells, in the corners, and Peter Bourjos, who was robbed of what should have been his first golden glove award, after a stellar defensive season as the centerfielder in 2011. Pujols has one the award in the recent past, Erick Aybar did win the award last season, as the best fielding shortstop in the AL, and Howie Kendrick has improved his defense over the years at 2^nd base (and may be another candidate to move over to 3^rd base, considering the number of positions he played last year). They do take a step back defensively with the departure of one of the best fielding catchers in baseball, Jeff Mathis, but adding Ianetta, along with the two young catchers, Conger and Wilson, from last season, will absolutely improve their offensive statistics from the catcher position. Adding either one of the two top- tier free agents would have improved the team significantly, but now adding both puts the puts the Angels in great position to start a postseason streak, and puts their front office in line for some awards, all in one historic day..

       Last off-season, the Angels failed to bring in the two players they were seeking, Carl Crawford and Adrian Beltre, and seemed to make a desperate last second move to get someone of note, when they acquired the greatly overpaid Vernon Wells (I’m talking more money per season than Pujols), and trading away their catcher Mike Napoli (who, days later, was traded from Toronto to Texas). Wells went on to stink up the yard for about 95% of the season, barely getting his average over the .200 mark, and killing rallies even as he moved down in the lineup because of his lack of production. Meanwhile Mike Napoli went on to have the best season for a catcher in all of baseball, then made even more of a name for himself in the postseason, where he nearly led the Rangers to the championship single-handedly. To make matters worse, the Angels catchers who replaced Napoli didn’t carry a combined average over .200? That was one of the worst front office moves in Angels history, to go along with trading away Jim Edmonds, and when they let the great Nolan Ryan leave back in the 80’s, because they refused to pay him $1 million per season, but that wasn’t the only time the front office failed to improve the team .

       During the 2011 season, I, and probably every other fan who watches, was pleading and hoping that they would add another hitter, preferably a 3^rd baseman, or a reliever to help out, since they were relying too heavily on their pitching staff and a rookie closer to finish off tight games every night, because their offense wasn‘t providing much support. The Angels’ general manager, Tony Reagins, did nothing, while the Rangers improved their bullpen with two or three big moves, and the end result was the Rangers pulling away in the AL West division, and nearly winning a championship. Apparently, the owner felt the same way I did, because that GM was fired and replaced by Jerry Dipoto in October. While those two huge free agent signings obviously improve the team, and represent a huge initial move by the new GM, the fact remains that the same positions on the field that made the team susceptible last year, still present big opportunities for improvement in 2012.

       The 3^rd basemen tandem of Maicer Izturis and Alberto Callaspo, don’t provide the offensive power, or great defensive capacity that is expected of the 3^rd base position. The two play more like a 2^nd baseman, hitting for a decent average, as contact hitters, hitting the occasional double and helping out with the sacrifice bunt if they hit 2^nd, to go along with limited fielding range and below-average arms for the 3B position. The Angels do rely on speed and base running a lot in their offense, but I’m sure their front office will be the first to admit that they desire a more prototypical 3^rd baseman, to provide more overall run production. Their bullpen was pretty good but they still need to acquire a real closer, even though I like Jordan Walden and his 100 MPH fastball, but his control is much to be desired, especially when one walk in the 9^th can change the entire outcome of the game and season. They did make a move to improve the catching position, signing the more offensive minded Chris Ianetta (formerly with Rockies), and trading away the great fielding, but notoriously poor hitting catcher, Jeff Mathis, to Toronto. There aren’t too many options remaining to sign free agents, so maybe a trade will be in order soon.

        My only fear now is that the Rangers counter the Angels move and sign the other highly touted (and very expensive) slugging 1^st baseman, Prince Fielder, but there are about six other teams who are also bidding for his services, so hopefully he won’t join the Rangers’ great offense. I was hoping the Angels would go after Aramis Ramirez, who played 3B for the Cubs the last few seasons, for the last couple of seasons really, and especially when I heard they have all this money from the recent TV contract they signed, but he signed a new contract with the Brewers so that opportunity is lost. Premiere closer Joe Nathan was on the market but the Rangers swooped him up quickly to improve their already superior bullpen. There are still players like the Phillies’ closers Madson and Lidge, or Twins utility man Michael Cuddyer, but the list of viable free agents is running thin. In either case, it looks like he Angels may have to make a trade, and since they seem to have an excess of major league-ready players, it appears be more likely than signing another free agent.

       The Angels have extra players in the outfield, with rookie phenom Mike Trout becoming a viable candidate to make the roster, pushing the aging Bobby Abreu further down the totem pole. The Angels have three outfielders penciled in already, but I’m sure they would be thrilled if anyone actually wants to trade for left fielder Vernon Wells so they can get that huge contract off their books, and they could make room for Trout or another youngster in the outfield. Their 1st baseman from last year, Mark Trumbo, was their most productive hitter last year, and they tried him out in the outfield last year, but he is probably best suited for the DH position, so he can just clobber some balls and not worry about defense, because he struggled somewhat with unforced errors. Pujols is a gold glove winning 1st baseman, so they will want him in the field, but they also have another potential slugger coming back to their lineup, with Kendrys Morales hopefully making his way back from last year’s season-ending surgery. If Morales does come back, he also plays 1^st, but he is probably even more likely to take the DH role, since the Angels will want to, and have to, limit his movement on the field, and reduce the risk of another injury. So now they have three 1^st basemen, five outfielders (if you include Abreu in the mix), but only have enough spots in the lineup for 4 of the 8 players, so what do they do?

        I think they should try to keep Morales and Trumbo as alternating designated hitters, or rotate Trumbo in and out of left field, if Wells continues to struggle, but they still have other non-core players who make good trade bait. Many rumors indicate that they are going to try to move Trumbo to 3^rd base, to make room for Pujols at 1^st, but Trumbo had trouble fielding the few balls hit to him at 1^st, so I have serious doubts that he will be able to field and throw effectively from across the diamond, where balls come at you even faster, and more frequently than at 1st. It looks like trading for someone could be the best solution, but if they can’t trade Abreu, Wells, Callaspo, Izturis or someone else for a natural 3^rd baseman, I have a possible solution to the problem. Why not move Pujols back to the position he played when he first came up with the Cardinals, third base? He’s the best fielder of the potential 1^st base candidates, has experience at 3^rd (103 games, 19 errors) and it may actually be less dangerous than playing at 1^st, considering many serious injuries occur to 1^st basemen’s wrist/ arm when a throw forces him to reach into the runner’s path as he sprints down the base line. The obvious argument against it is the risk of making their new high income player uncomfortable, by moving him away from his more customary spot on the diamond, and possibly increasing the injury risk related to him having to exert more energy than he is used to at a more demanding position. With Pujols at 3^rd, Morales and Trumbo can alternate between DH and 1B, with Abreu in the lineup as DH occasionally, and it makes more sense than sticking Trumbo at 3^rd with far less experience playing infield positions than most of his teammates. Callaspo and Izturis make excellent backups, at multiple positions, and at least one of them should get chances to play somewhat frequently, considering the manager Mike Scoscia’s tendency to give his bench players a chance on the field. They have a strong team without making any more changes, and they’re probably quite content with the so-called ‘problem’ of having too many good players, rather than the much more difficult proposition of not having enough talent.

        I’m sure they will make another move or two to bring in a few additional players, but just as it stands now, the Angels look like they’ll be formidable for many years to come. When a team makes moves like these which instantly make their team a contender, everyone in baseball takes notice, and the team’s potential should attract other players to want to play here, so I’m sure the opportunities to make a move will present themself soon. The owner Arte Moreno has bought into a bigger and better future, and it seems like they have drawn the line in the sand, daring the opposition to step across it. I‘m already looking forward to next season, and it’s December, so they get an “A” (with a halo on top) for effort.