Sitting here in my discount LA Angels jersey I think it's time we take a look at the Angels prospects for 2009. The LA Angels could have one of the best pitching rotations in all of baseball in 2009... if they can stay healthy. The LA Angels begin the 2009 season with three of their starting pitcher on the disabled list in pitchers John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar.
Starter Kelvim Escobar was basically out for all of last season and this season returns to boost an already strong starting rotation. Kelvim Escobar was 18-7 with a 3.40 era in 2007 when he last pitched in the bigs. The other Angels starters are ace John Lackey, whose in the last year of his contract and is looking for a big payday, Joe Saunders, who had an all-star breakout year last year going 17-7 with a 3.41 era, Ervin Santana, another pitcher that had an all-star breakout year going 16-7 with a 3.49 era, and rounding out the staff is Jered Weaver who had a down season last year going 11-10 with a 4.33 era. Here's how the rotation rounds out:
#1 John Lackey
#2 Joe Saunders
#3 Ervin Santana
#4 Kelvim Escobar
#5 Jered Weaver
The bullpen should be pretty strong this year as well even though the LA Angels let their closer of the last few seasons walk when they let Frankie Rodriguez sign with the Mets. The Angels replaced him with closer Brian Fuentes from the Colorado Rockies.
Set up man Scot Shields has logged 425 innings over the past 5 seasons and his arm is going to fall off sooner or later...Those 425 innings are more then any other major leaguer.
The rest of the bullpen is rounded out with veteran left-hander Darren Oliver and fireballer Jose Arredondo who led all relievers with 10 wins out of the bullpen last year. A couple of other relievers to keep an eye on are rookie Kevin Jepsen, who throws a 95 mph heater and a devasting overhand curve ball, and Nick Adenhart who has been a top pitching prospect in the Angels organization for the past couple of years.
Offensively the LA Angels are not as potent as they have been in previous years...
New starters and additions this year include 1st baseman Kendry Morales, left fielder Bobby Abreu and right fielder Juan Rivera. Here's how the starting lineup shapes up position by position.
Cathcher - Mike Napoli
1st Base - Kendry Morales
2nd Base - Howie Kendrick
Short Stop - Erick Aybar
3rd Base - Chone Figgins
Left Field - Bobby Abreu
Center Field - Torii Hunter
Right Field - Juan Rivera
DH - Vladimir Guerrero
Last year the LA Angels couldn't make it to the World Series with Mark Teixera and this year they're hoping to make it to the World Series with better pitching and some younger players.
The Angels are giving some young players to play for a change and I think one of the guys that will produce is right fielder Juan Rivera. Rivera has been patiently biding his time in Anaheim and I think he should put together a breakout season and hit something like 30 home runs. I'm not sold on Kendry Morales yet but suppoisedly the guy has good pop and hits for average and he's another one of the guys that has been stuck at AAA waiting for his time to play in the bigs.
The biggest bargain of the off-season was the signing of Bobby Abreu. Bobby Abreu is a patient contact hitter with pop and fits in perfectly with the LA Angels. Last year he hit .296 with 20 homers and 100 RBI and the Angels signed him for $7 million this season.
The Angels have a couple of veteran players on the bench in Gary Matthews, Maicer Izturis and Robb Quinlan.
The last few seasons the LA Angels really haven't had a problem competing in the American League West and the real goal of the Angels is making it to the World Series. This year they may have to make a few changes mid-season before the trade deadline to compete in the heavy hitting American league. I think the Angels are happy with the roster they're trotting out for opening day and I think they know that some of their younger players may not pan out.
The key difference between the Angels this year with the LA Angels from last season will be a lineup that features less power then the one they had last year with Mark Teixera. Let's face it the Angels aren't competing with the A's, Mariners and the Rangers... they're competing with the Red Sox and the Yankees and this off-season they didn't get any better.
The LA Angels filled holes in their roster by players that left but didn't do much to upgrade any of the positions. For the Angels to move onto the World Series they will have to make some moves during the season if players like Morales and Rivera don't break through this season.
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