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A week and a half to go until the 1st match up's in the desert for Spring Training.
Like many Angel fans, I'm loving the squad the way it's shaping up, as well as all of the potential variables that can still play out. The team is soooo deep, that it's downright scary how many players the Halos have to fill a variety of options for Mike Scioscia.
With Orlando Cabrera departing, it opens the door for Brandon Wood to play his natural position of SS. This kid is for real, and he is good enough to play in the hole as well as on the hot corner. In the meantime, you have a very capable defensive stopgap in Maicer Izturis. He's not going to bomb 20+ dingers, but he's got great hands, a good contact hitter and is all about speed on the basepath. Izzy is definitely a utility man, and should help take the pressure off both Wood and Aybar until either is ready to really roll in the bigs.
You could field two pro outfields with the group of guys the Angels have to work with. Having Juan Rivera take ground balls at 1B again adds to the flexibility of the roster, and really allows the skip to mix things up against a whole variety of matchups. Not saying that Juan is the 1B of the future (Kotch just signed a 1yr extension), but it adds to the depth across the diamond with Quinlan, Morales, and Kotchman, which can help heed the injury bug that haunts every team sooner or later.
Chill the beers, grab the sunscreen and see you at Tempe Diablo.
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