Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

I've already taken a look at the strong bullpens of Seattle and Oakland. The Angels' bullpen is less set than either the Mariners' or the Athletics', however.

Candidates I'll be analyzing include:
Brian Fuentes
Fernando Rodney
Scot Shields
Kevin Jepsen
Jason Bulger
Brian Stokes
Matt Palmer
Rafael Rodriguez
Fernando Rodriguez
Francisco Rodriguez
Rich Thompson

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As I have said many times before, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are one of the best—if not THE BEST—run organization in baseball. They have one of the best owners in the sport, and just like with any business, it starts from the top down.

However, despite being run like a well-oiled machine, the Angels have made their fair share of mistakes over the years. There was the Gary Matthews Jr. contract, and I haven’t been a fan of their recent signings like Brian Fuentes and Fernando Rodney.

There are some players who always appear to be on the cusp of breaking out, aren’t there?  We’ve already discussed Johnny Cueto (click here to view), who certainly falls into this category. 

The oft-injured Rickie Weeks is another player who pops into my mind.  What about the Angels' Brandon Wood?

Forget the stale taste of yet another Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

If you're looking for relentless competition between heated rivals, do what your forefathers did: head out West.

After a flurry of moves this offseason, the AL West has finally become major league baseball's Wild West.

For the better part of a decade, the game's smallest division was really just a one-horse town, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim laying down the law in six of the past 10 seasons.

But a shuffling of all four decks has put the three-time defending champs on the defense.

With a sudden influx of young guns an

There are always warning signs to addiction.

Addicts often experience mental and emotional instability, changes in physical appearance, and a sudden rejection of family or friends.

Fans, then, are addicts.

First and foremost, we are fanatics, the root of the term “fan.” We cheer wildly in large groups of strangers for players most of us have never met. We dress up in costumes like children on Halloween to show our team pride.

And, for a brief few hours, we push away everything in our world that doesn't revolve around that day's game.

Friends, family, work?

My last article looked at the Texas Rangers' rotation. I gave their group a C+ overall, dragged down mainly by a D rating for Colby Lewis.

Next up is the Los Angeles Angels' rotation, an interestingly balanced yet unspectacular group.

At the end of this article, I'll compare the Angels to the Rangers and see who has the better rotation.

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The AL West consists of four teams; three of which look like they could win the division without a problem.  The Angels, Rangers, Mariners, and Athletics are all talented teams.  But, only one team can win the division.  However this division ends up, I know it's going to be a very tight race. 

1. Los Angeles Angels

The end of last season was a disappointing one, but also one filled with hope – hope that next year small ball would finally be balanced with big bats, and we could go into 2010 with the enthusiasm of Rex Hudler.

No, I guess not.

Something happened to the Angels this off season, and it wasn’t pretty. Obviously, the death of Rory Markus is a tragedy that stands alone, and none of the other events are even in the same sentence.

The AL West is an interesting division this year.

There are four good and well-run teams. The longtime division power (LA) seems to be on the decline, while the other three teams (Texas, Oakland, and Seattle) seem to be rising.

I'll be doing a series of predictions about the division, but the first one up is team records, from fourth to first.

I project the division to be EXTREMELY tight, and the tiniest of changes can certainly skew things.

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With pitchers and catchers due to report to Spring Training this week, the race to find the next ace for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is about to heat up.
Typically a strength in Anaheim, it was the Angels' pitching staff that set an ominous tone at the start of the 2009 season.
John Lackey injured his shoulder just weeks before Opening Day. Ervin Santana was sidelined after straining his forearm early on in Spring Training.