2009 Los Angeles Angels Predictions
Written by Jason Lowry
The Los Angeles Angels finished with the best record in baseball last season at 100-62, but that did them no good in the postseason, as they didn’t even make it past the first round. The Angles come were unable to keep ahold of 1B Mark Teixeira or closer Francisco Rodriguez and let long time Angle Garret Anderson hit the market, but it looks like the Angles will be just fine, as they brought in the bat of Bobby Abreu to take over in left and the arm of Brian Fuentes to take over the closers role. Here is a little closer look at the 2009 Los Angeles Angles and how I see them finishing in the AL West this season.
Offense: The Angeles might not have that same powerful lineup with Teixeira out of the lineup, but this team has a great mix of young and old bats that should keep this team near the top of the West. The addition of Abreu gives the Angles a starting outfield of Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Vladimir Guerrero, and that’s not even mentioning the likes of Juan Rivera and Gary Matthews, who should fight for the starting DH spot. Things get a lot younger when you head to the infield, as 26-year-old Kendry Morales is expected to take over at first, and you already have the young combination up the middle in Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar ready to go. It looks like Mike Napoli will be the teams starting catcher to open the season after hitting .273 with 20 home runs in just 78 games last season. The only real veteran in the infield is 3B Chone Figgins, who isn’t your typical power hitting 3rd baseman, but thats okay as he provides the Angles with some speed, as he stole 34 bases last season. Overall this lineup should have no problems scoring runs, and if the young guys continue to get better, this team could be right there knocking on the door of a 100 wins in 2009.
Pitching: The Angles will be without Jon Garland in the starting rotation, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem for a team that had 5 pitchers with double digit win totals in 2008. Joe Saunders led the way in 2008 going 17-7 with a 3.41 ERA, but close behind was Ervin Santana who went 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA. Right behind these two arms was veteran John Lackey, who went 12-5 with a 3.75 ERA, and the youngster Jered Weaver went 11-10 with a 4.33 ERA. So its pretty easy to see the top 4 starters are about as good as you will find in baseball, but that still leaves a hole at the No.5 spot. It looks like Dustin Moseley will be get first crack, but look for Nick Adenhart to take over once he gets his command under control. The Angles lost arguably the best closer in the game in Rodriguez, but should do just find with Fuentes, who converted 30 of 34 saves last season for the Rockies. With the opportunities likely to go way up, I could easily see Fuentes saving 45-50 games this season. The bullpen is strong behind Fuentes with the arms of Scott Shields and Jose Arredondo, as the two combined to go 16-6 in 116 appearances. The pitching looks as good as the hitting, and it will likely come down to this team just staying healthy in 2009.
Prediction: 1st in the AL West. I really like the looks of this team heading into the season, and I think this team has little trouble winning this division again in 2009. I think the Rangers and possibly the A’s will keep things close early, but I look for the Angles to wind up winning this division by 10 games when the season comes to an end.
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