Last year's division champions seem to be most people's favourites to repeat but injuries have already taken quite a toll.
The move seemed somewhat strange given that Anaheim already had a glut of outfielders. Gary Matthews is pushed to the DH spot, though he'll see plenty of time in the field spelling all three regulars (especially Anderson).
Reggie Willits and Juan Rivera find themselves pushed a further spot down the depth chart but each keep a seat on the bench.
Vlad is still pretty much a beast, but the rest of that outfield is nothing special (though it is pretty much injury-proof!)
Defensively, Hunter's reputation has yet to decrease in line with his diminishing skills and he - along with Guerrero and Anderson - is not much more than average at his position now. The defense isn't horrible, but it doesn't really add anything either.
The infield offense is a little sub-par as well. Chone Figgins mans third with Maicer Izturis at short completing the left side and Howie Kendrick at second and Casey Kotchman at first handle the right.
All four guys are ok-ish, nothing special hitters with the possible exception of Kotchman who has a small chance of breaking out to be a decent 1B.
The right-side defense is excellent at least, though the left is somewhat confused. Figgins' worst position is third and given there's no room for him to provide a defensive presence in the outfield where he is best suited it seems odd that they wouldn't play him at short and Izturis at third rather than the other way around.
Figgins is also likely to run. A lot. With Orlando Cabrera moved on and decreased playing time for Willits he is by far the biggest stolen base threat and manager Mike Scioscia is a big believer in keeping pressure on opposing defenses through the running game. Given Figgins' usual success rate (~75% for his career) that's a small plus to the offense but one likely negated by having some of the slower guys occasionally pushed too far.
Mike Napoli rounds out the lineup at catcher with an ok bad and a suspect glove. His backup Jeff Mathis is no better defensively and just can't hit at the major league level yet and isn't really likely to at any point.
Aside from Mathis, Willits and Rivera the bench has Robb Quinlan to cover first (not to mention the outfield corners) and Erick Aybar for the middle infield.
Overall, this doesn't look on the surface like a division champion winning offense though the team was fourth in the AL in runs scored last year before Hunter arrived and with Shea Hillenbrand (no, really!) at DH.
The pitching staff starts off the year as a bigger worry with aces 1a and 1b: John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar each starting the season on the disabled list.
Lackey is almost ready to start pitching off a mound as he rehabs his strained triceps and could be back with the team by the start of May but no clear-cut timetable appears for Escobar (shoulder tear) yet. By the end of the month the team should have a clearer idea of when (and if) they should expect him back but it won't be soon.
In the meantime, Jered Weaver is bumped up to number one starter and offseason acquisition Jon Garland is number two. The pair of them should both be good enough to hold things together for a while but the Angels are clearly a lot better off when they can push them down and be four deep.
Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana and Dustin Moseley fill out the rest of the rotation for now with each essentially auditioning to keep a job once Lackey, and later Escobar come back.
Saunders is probably the better of the three though Santana's odd home/road splits (his career road ERA is over double that at home) are intriguing.
Francisco Rodriguez again anchors the bullpen with support from Scot Shields (just back from the DL), Justin Speier, Darren Oliver and Jason Bulger all of whom are decent arms and also Darren O'Day who had thrown just 91 professional innings (none above AA) prior to this season. O'Day has good stuff and can probably make the early transition to the Major Leagues having the luxury of sitting behind such a deep 'pen but he probably could use another year first.
For now "K-Rod" is still with the team but could well find himself placed on the DL as well depending on results from further tests on his ankle and has been unavailable for a couple of days now. If he doesn't return it it will severely weaken the bullpen as everyone moves up and with the top of the rotation already ailing the Angels need their bullpen to be as strong as possible.
Overall, this team is pretty hard to predict with such key players already known to be missing significant time and no certainty on when they'll return. The pitching staff needs Rodriguez and Lackey back as soon as possible and would really benefit from getting Escobar at some point.
Rough estimates for offense: 820 runs scored +/-41 and defense: 780 runs allowed +/-39.
Pythag W-L based on those estimates would be:
High: 93-69
Medium: 85-77
Low: 77-85
A lot depends on how things shake out with their pitching staff but the Angels can be glad they play in the West because this team likely has no shot if it plays in the East or Central divisions.
Next up: Oakland
