Mike Scioscia Photo by Icon SMI

The longest name in sports franchise history has suffered a large share of personnel misfortunes due to a variety of causes on and off the diamond, yet they are still consistently expected not only to contend, but to win the American League West.  Why?   Two words:

Mike Scioscia.
Owning two World Series rings as a player (1981 and 1988) and another as Halo manager (2002), it can be argued that he is the best skipper in a dugout today.  He has always been a man of loyalty, giving it and deserving it.  He has more to do with the look of The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in more aspects than any other field commander.  After years of Dodger Blue, he removed any shade of that color from his new teams’ redesign.  Front office decisions go through him.  A players’ manager, he takes the blame for loses and credits his team for all accomplishments.  This is a confidently centered man; a man players want to play for.
In recent years, they have been the one team that could tame the Titans of the East and of budgets–eliminating both Yankees and Red Sox in October.  However this year, they lost in New York and rejuvenated the Fenway faithful falling to a four game sweep.  But Playoff Baseball is four months away.
The tragic death of young phenom pitcher, Nick Adenhart early last season still echoes not only in the clubhouse, but the actual pitching progress of future rotations and call-ups.  Dropping K-Rod to the Mets last year didn’t hurt as much as the absence of John Lackey gone to Boston as in 2010.
‘Big Daddy Vladdy,’ Vladimir Guerrero is now hitting well for division rival Rangers, but this Memorial Day weekend saw Scioscia’s team clean the clock of their own clean-up hitter, Kendry Morales as he pounced on home plate following his walk-off Grand Slam Saturday afternoon, May 29th.  At this writing, the surgery for his broken leg must wait a week for the swelling to go down.  It’s possible that he might see action before season’s end in September.
“It’s sickening to lose a player in the way that we lost Kendry,”  Skipper Scioscia said.  Roughly 24 hours later, the crowd in Anaheim saw the adjustment as Howard Kendrick crossed home plate after a walk-off three run blast.  Teammates stayed out of his made plenty of room and hugged lightly with little bunny hops.  Outfielder Torii Hunter was only half joking about a three jump maximum.

Hideki Matsui Photo by Icon SMI

This years’ big acquisition, 2009 Yankee WS MVP Hideki Matsui has shown flashes in red, but hasn’t filled Brian Cashman with regret.  He did homer Sunday in Morales’ vacated 4 hole, but isn’t guaranteed that place in the batting order.
Rumors swirl that former White Sox slugger, Jermaine Dye could finally find a job in Orange County.  Farmhands are less likely.  General Manager Tony Reagins did call up Scioscia’s pick Robb Quinlan Sunday, but called Mark Trumbo, a .275 hitter with 11 roundtrippers in only 47 games: “an option, but not our first option,” surmising that more time in Salt Lake will actually sweeten his swing.
The division itself is part of the Angels’ story.  Seattle was poised in the spring to resurface, but dwells in the cellar.  Billy Beane’s ‘Moneyball’ A’s surprise possibly everyone but Billy, leading the AL West and second place Texas by a half game.  Still, Halo fans can take heart.  This is a winnable division and despite all obstacles, they are still picked to win it.
I wouldn’t advise betting against Mike Scioscia.

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The best part about this video is listening to Boston’s TV broadcasters, Jerry Remy (former 2B for the Sox and Angels) and Don Orsillo recap the events that took place on the play! Just listen…

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The Angels are headed to the ALCS, after they finally defeat their traditional post season nemesis, the Boston Red Sox.  Bet the house on it.

Granted, it’s hard to come up with a solid baseball-based argument to support that bold statement.  The Red Sox have owned the Angels in the post season since Dave Henderson broke my heart with his dramatic home run in the ‘86 ALCS.  Since that home run, the Red Sox have swept the Angels out of the post season in 2004 and 2007, and just plain embarrassed them in 2008.

But I feel it in my bones… this is the year all that changes.  And while I’d be foolish to even attempt to support it with any game related facts, here are the 10 reasons why I feel so strongly:

1) I’m the Angel correspondent.  If I don’t believe that, who will?

2) Paul Byrd – I hear he’s a lovely guy, but his teams (2004 Braves, 2005 Angels, 2007 Indians, 2008 Red Sox) have all been post season losers.  That streak continues in 2009.  BTW, Byrd’s nickname is “Frasier”, because of his resemblance to TV’s Kelsey Grammer….

3) Tom Werner – Coincidentally, Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner is an Executive Producer of Kelsey Grammer’s new ABC series, “Hank.”  I’ve seen “Hank”, and it’s not good.  I believe the struggling “Hank” will distract Werner from his important day-to-day minority shareholder duties, and the ensuing result will be an early post season exit for the Sox.

4) Jered Weaver’s Haircut - Granted Weaver has only been a .500 pitcher since he trimmed his locks in early August, but there’s no questioning that he’s a better looking man because of it, and as he adjusts to the enhanced confidence that results from that, he will propel the Angels pitching staff past the Red Sox.

5) Barack Obama – When Boston defeated the Angels in 1986, 2004, 2007 and 2008, the country was lead by Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.  This year, the Angels are facing the Red Sox for the first time under a Democratic administration, which will lead to a more liberal amount of run scoring and an Angel series victory.

6) My season tickets – I’m not presumptuous enough to believe that my seat location has anything to do with how the Angels perform on the field, but the numbers speak for themselves.  For 35 years, my family has had season tickets behind the visiting dugout…. and for 35 years, the Angels have come up empty against the Red Sox.   This year, in search of shade, we’ve moved behind the Angels dugout, and concurrently, the Angels are poised to not only win this year’s playoffs, but begin a 35 year period of post season dominance.

7) Regular season dominance - In 2008, the Angels dominated the season series vs. the Red Sox (8-1), only to struggle in the playoffs and lose 3-1.  This regular season, the Angels struggled, coming out ahead (5-4), so logic would follow that they will dominate the playoff series.

Casey Kotchman – In 2008, the Angels traded Kotchman for Mark Teixeira.  The Red Sox traded Adam LaRoche for Kotchman.  The Angels clearly got the better of these two transactions, and thus will clearly get the better of the Red Sox in the post season.  If you’re not buying that logic… how about, in 2008, the Angels traded Kotchman and were cursed in the post season and lost in 4 games.  In 2009, the Red Sox traded for Kotchman, and will also be cursed in the post season.

9) Last Links to 2002 – With Scott Shields on the 60 Day DL after season-ending knee surgery, the Angels have only 2 players on the current roster who played on the 2002 Championship Team – John Lackey and Chone Figgins.  Both players are free agents … and attractive free agents whose return to Anaheim is anything but certain.  So this playoff drive is potentially the last to be lead by a player with a link to the World Series team, and a sentimental reason to motivate the current roster.  But there’s no more sentimental motivation for the Angels than….

10) Nick Adenhart – The Red Sox were the first team the Angels played after the tragic death of their young teammate, and with emotions already raw, they were further angered as the Sox’s Josh Beckett threw at the head of their team leader Torii Hunter.  The team has played with Adenhart’s inspiration all season, and they’ll be easily reminded of Beckett’s head hunting and the previous playoff embarrassments.  This series will test the character of the Angels… and they will finally shake the proverbial monkey off their backs and rally to face the Yankees in the 2009 ALCS.

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Drew Brown is a longtime Angel season ticket holder who blogs about the Angels at AngelsBaseballOnIce.com You can follow him on Twitter @angelsbaseball

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Another trade deadline passed, another swirl of rumors connecting the Angels to nearly every premium player out there, and disappointingly but not unexpectedly – another stretch run in which the Angels have decided to sit on their hands and stand pat.

Last year’s acquisition of Mark Teixiera not withstanding, the Angels have been quiet more often than not on deadline day, despite owner Arte Moreno’s demonstrated willingness to take on payroll.

But while their annual post-season rivals in Boston and New York are constantly tinkering with their rosters, the Angels have demonstrated a cautious reluctance to part with their own prospects.   So season after season, the Angels have clung onto highly touted prospects like Dallas McPherson, Jeff Mathis, Brandon Wood and Howie Kendrick, only to see their values plummet as they’ve failed to live up to lofty expectations.

To get over the post-season hump that’s plagued the Angels since winning it all in 2002, is it necessary for them to be more aggressive…. and more willing to part with their prized prospects?

The Angels success this season -  while playing significant stretches without their two best hitters and two best pitchers, and suffering the tragic death of teammate Nick Adenhart – speaks to the depth of talent in the organization.

But while top tier prospects Howie Kendrick and Brandon Wood have struggled, lower ceiling organizational products like Erick Aybar and Kendry Morales and lower-budget acquisitions like Juan Rivera and Maicer Izturis have lead the team to within percentage points of the best record in baseball.

The departure of Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez and Jon Garland provided a bounty of 2009 draft choices – 5 of the top 48 picks -  with which to re-stock the system.  And with Morales putting up similar numbers to Teixiera at a fraction of the cost, they could have afforded to add a difference maker like Roy Halladay – even at the exorbitant price that JP Ricciardi was reported to be asking.

Halladay presented an interesting opportunity for the Angels.  With Toronto’s expressed preference to trade him outside the division, despite Boston’s last minute aggressive pitch – rare is the opportunity to acquire a highly coveted player that the Angels have a leg up on the Yankees and Red Sox.  Last season, they couldn’t compete for Teixiera or Sabathia.  If Halladay gets to the free agent market after 2010, the Angels will be bidding against two teams with much deeper pockets.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Combined with the pending free-agency of Angels’ ace John Lackey, the Angels had a pressing need to add a front line arm for the playoff push and beyond – but apparently not enough for Reagins to pull the trigger.

While it’s hard to come down too hard on Reagins for not making a deal when we don’t know what was being asked of him, he and his predecessor Bill Stoneman have a clearly demonstrated preference for the free agency pool, where they’ve had more hits than misses.  But you could probably count the number of Angel in-season moves this decade on one-hand.  This is a team built to win in the regular season… not necessarily the post season.

The success of the team in the absence of key contributors has only reinforced the high opinion of the Angels talent evaluation skills.  Teixeira leaves and they don’t miss a beat with Morales.  Kendrick disappoints and Maicer Izturis carries the load and a plus .300 average.  The game turns it’s back on Bobby Abreu, and the Angels get the free agency deal of the year – and an OBP setting example that has influenced the offensive approach of the entire team.  The historically impatient Angels are #2 in OBP in all of baseball… percentage points behind the Yankees.   The top 3 pitchers go down with injuries, and Matt Palmer comes from out of nowhere to win his first 6 games consecutively.

With that kind of track record in evaluating talent, Reagins and company can afford to be a little bolder in the future when opportunities occur at the deadline.

This is my first guest post for BaseballReflections.com . Peter Schiller has assembled a really unique and informative baseball site by attracting an eclectic group of bloggers, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

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The Angels no doubt have the blue print for making the playoffs memorized. The only problem is that in the past few seasons, when they get there, they are unable to get out of the Divisional round where they were the victim of the Boston Red Sox this season in just four games. General manager Tony Reagins has to be frustrated with the recent lack of success in the post season because it seems like he has all of the pieces for a deep October run during the season. With the Angels leading the major leagues with 100 wins in 2008, it seemed like they were at least destined for the ALCS, but the Sox had too much October experience for them to take down. The team received the most nation-wide press during the season for the record breaking performance of closer Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod, who is currently a free agent, broke the major league record with 62 saves. Obviously, to win 100 games, the team was doing things right in all aspects of the game. The interesting thing will be to see how they decide to fine tune an already deep team this off season.

Holes to Fill

Depending on what the team decides to do with their own free agent outfielders, they will probably have to look for some talent in that area. There doesn’t seem to be any talent at the AAA level that would be ready to come up to compete for an outfield position just yet, so that probably means they will have to bring in at least one player for a corner outfield position (probably left field) that wasn’t on the team last season. The Angels may have an upper hand in this area because many teams are going to be looking for corner outfielders this off season (perhaps the biggest position besides pitchers), but the Halos have shown that they are willing to spend money to get talent, evidenced by their sixth ranked $119.2 million payroll last season. Adding another arm to the starting rotation wouldn’t hurt either. While their pitching was one of the best in the majors last season, some depth at this spot has never hurt anyone. It currently looks like they are probably not going to resign K-Rod unless he is willing to take some sort of home town discount. This would mean that the Angels will have the position of closer open. Spending on closers (and other relievers) on the open market is always risky business as they often have one good year and one off year due to their usage. Due to this fact, the team may try to fill the closer roll internally as they have a few arms they believe may be able to take the spot.

Free Agents

At the beginning of the off season, the Angels had eight players who could have entered free agency including outfielders Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson and Jaun Rivera, pitchers Rodriguez, John Lackey and Jon Garland and first baseman Mark Teixeira. The Angels have already made the decisions on some of these players as they have picked up the 2009 club options for Guerrero and Lackey, while also declining the option on Anderson. Due to this fact, it is almost a lock that Anderson will not be back for this Los Angeles team next season (leaving the hole in left field mentioned earlier). Teixeira is no doubt their number one in house priority this off season. A lot of what they do during the rest of the off season will depend on whether or not they are able to work out a deal with the first baseman who they acquired at the trade deadline. The team has made some serious bids to free agent pitcher CC Sabathia and since he seems to want to play on the west coast, they have a serious shot of landing him (written pre-signing with the Yankees).

The Outlook

It is very realistic to see the Angels repeating as division winners once again, especially if they are able to land Teixeira and Sabathia in the off season. Whether these two players would give them the push that they have recently been lacking in the post season is yet to be seen (especially due to the fact that Sabathia has been less than stellar during the past two post seasons with the Indians and Brewers). Manager Mike Scioscia is probably one of the more respectable managers in the game at this point and has shown that he knows how to handle having a lot of big egos on his team during the 162 game season.

The Halos will probably look for takers for outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. during the off season, which would open up yet another spot in the outfield. Even though Matthews is a quality player and has three years left on his current deal, he has not been able to get along with the team’s management since coming to Anaheim as a free agent two seasons ago and all of this makes him expandable at the right price. If they are able to pick-up some extra offense this off season, they could realistically improve on their runs scored ranking which was tenth in 2008 at 765. With all of the fire power the team has, it’s some what surprising that it was not higher than that, although it did receive a jump at mid-season when Teixeira was acquired from the Braves. Part of that low scoring total could have been the fact that they really didn’t need to score a whole lot because their starting pitching was so stellar throughout the season with Lackey and youngster Ervin Santana both making bids for the Cy Young Award. Winning 100 games is a tough thing to do, and even tougher to repeat, but if the Angels are willing to spend the money to land the free agents they seem to be eying this off season, having a goal of exceeding 100 regular season wins would not seem out of the ordinary.

Bill Jordan is a contributing writer to BaseballReflections.com and can be reached by e-mail at billjordaniv@yahoo.com.

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After an off season that saw Seattle trade their young and talented future CF Adam Jones, a 5-tool player, to Baltimore in a package for 29-year old Left-handed SP Erik Bedard, Seattle now finds itself with the second worst record in baseball (2 wins more than the Nationals). Although Bedard is 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA in 15 starts so far this season, but he’s been hurt and not as effective or dominant as they had hoped. Up to the All Star break, Seattle has fired their GM and team manager, then released 1B Richie Sexton (now a member of the Yankees in a reduced role). They are admitting their mistakes and even Bedard is now trade bait either via waivers in August or at the end of the season. Their ace closer JJ Putz has been hurt as well, but on the bright side, set up man Brandon Morrow filled in well in his extended absence. To add insult to injury, when a team allows 74 more runs to score than they produce, the odds of that team having a winning record diminishes. Better luck next year! Hopefully we can solicit some comments from the USS Mariner bloggers.

Oakland A’s

First there was Dan Haren to the Diamondbacks prior to this season, then there was Nick Swisher to the White Sox earlier this year and more recently there was Rich Harden to the Cubs. In the early goings, the A’s sat on top of the AL West, but that didn’t last long. Not with the injuries to the Sweeney’s and newly acquired Frank Thomas. Now, they’re barely above .500 and trade talks are abound as GM Billy Beane retools for the future while somehow fielding a team that is not the push-overs most people saw them as being. Now if they make a few more trades they just might be! In my opinion, they are out of the running in the west this year, but watch out in 2010 and beyond. They do, however, own the lowest runs allowed than anyone in the division and that alone is what kept them in the hunt for as long as they were early on. Hopefully, someone at the blog, Athletics Nation can provide us with more insight into the A’s.

Texas Rangers

If they only had more good pitching… Then again, how many other major league teams are saying that very same thing (the Phillies, Braves, Astros, Cardinals, Orioles, etc., etc., etc.)? But like the Phillies in the NL East, the Rangers have become an offensive powerhouse, winning games by their offense alone in spite of their limited pitching staff. For proof of this, just look at the difference in their runs allowed to their runs produced. They do have some highlight reel caliber young players in CF Josh Hamilton, SS Michael Young and a bevy of young talent at the most elusive catcher position, which might bag them more talent in trades both this year and in years to come. The good thing is that they produce an insane amount of runs! The bad news is that they also give up an insane amount of runs, too. Hopefully, someone at the blog, Lone Star Ball can provide us with more insight into the Rangers.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

This just in…The Angels have completed a deal that sends 1B Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek to Atlanta for 1B Mark Teixeira to further solidify their offense around RF/DH Vladimir Guerrero (one of the games best hitters). Not only is their pitching solid with starters like Joe Saunders, John Lackey and John Garland, then add to that set up man Scot Shields and closer K-Rod who is closing in on the single season saves record which he is a shoe in to break (barring injury). On top of all that, in a year that is seeing widespread poor play on the road, the Angels are one of the few teams in baseball to have a winning record on the road this year. Not only do they possess a winning road record, but their road record (.648) is better than their home record (.596). They also boast the best runs scored/allowed differential in their division (43). They are fast and play a NL style games due to that speed, but with the acquisition of Teixeira to go along with Guerrero, they now have added enough pop to make that speed really effective. They are my favorites to win this division and I know I am not going out on a limb with this one either. For more insight on this intriguing AL West team, maybe we can entice someone from Halos Heaven to comment here.

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1. LA Angels of Anaheim : In the long run, I like the Angels overall in this division. I like their bullpen especially with K-Rod, Scot Shields and Justin Speier. The additions of CF Torii Hunter & SP Jon Garland help put them over the top and Garland helps ease the pain of not having Lackey on opening day. When he does return, a rotation of Lackey, Garland, Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver and Dustin Moseley help put them over Seattle. But the key to a successful 2008 is having a healthy Vlad Guerrero.

2. Seattle Mariners : Seattle’s rotation might even be better than the Angels with newly acquired Erik Beddard, but between them and the closer, JJ Putz, I don’t see much to inspire me. This is where they can loose games. Their line-up is also, not as good as LA’s, but it might be more consistent. These teams are a decent trade (for Seattle) away from being neck and neck.

3. Oakland Athletics : They are in a rebuilding year as they have parted ways with Dan Haren and Nick Swisher (although almost unwillingly); and there were rumors of moving Blanton and Chavez as well. They just can’t keep up with the big boys of Seattle and LA, but leave it to GM Billy Beane and his Moneyball strategies to have them back in contention sooner rather than later!

4. Texas Rangers : Unless the A’s wind up playing even worse than is expected, I don’t see how the Rangers can beat them out for third place in the AL West. If only there were 5 teams in this division, they’d have a better chance of getting out of last place. Some key players to watch are the recently acquired CF Josh Hamilton who might just hit 30 HRs & 80 RBIs with 15 SBs to go along with a .277 BA and an OBP of close to .360. Another OF, Marlon Byrd, has been getting a lot of attention this off season in trade talks and he might blossom in ’08 as well. The focus in the rotation is whether or not Millwood and Jennings have anything left in the tank and can Gabbard keep up with his 2007 performance? 2B Ian Kinsler will be another one to watch as will the ever changing situation at the catcher position between Laird and Salty. To add to this dilemma, they also have 1 or 2 more very talented players in the minors to compete at this position in the next few years to come. Texas might have a few bargaining chips to play with at this most vital position to help them improve via trade. Almost every team out there, except the Braves, Dodgers, Indians and maybe the Twins, are in need of help behind the plate!

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