Once more, with feeling: The Angels outscored their opponents by 68 runs and finished 100-62; the Yankees outscored their opponents by 62 runs and finished 89-73. This can mean one of several things: that the Angels were incredibly lucky; that the Angels were amazingly fortunate; or that the Angels were astonishingly blessed. I'm leaning towards a combo of explanations one and three ... Three months into his Angels tenure, Mark Teixeira finally gets to play in games that matter. Bully for him.
09/23/2008
1
2
I don't love the offense -- their .329 OBP ranks 11th in the American League and their .412 SLG ranks 9th -- and I don't love that they've fattened up on the nancies of the AL West. But the fact remains: They're the only elite AL team that wins on the road ... John Lackey and Ervin Santana sure look primed for October, as does the Shields/Arredondo/K-Rod bullpen troika ... Should it come to pass, another Angels-Red Sox showdown would stand as the clear divisional series headliner. But Red Sox fans who take comfort in their recent playoff domination of the Angels should remember Yankees fans used to take comfort in their historical athletic, karmic, psychological and emotional subjugation of the Red Sox. To everything, turn turn turn...
09/16/2008
2
2
Congrats to the Angels for providing Francisco Rodriguez with a whole lot of save opportunities. I trust he'll pay back his teammates when some idiot GM decides to give him $75 million for the next five years. ... Let's stay on this topic, as the Angels have been generating no other legitimate intrigue since late August. Which pitcher would you rather have: the one who, in 64 innings, has surrendered 50 hits, issued 34 walks and fanned 74 batters (2.38 ERA) or the one who, in 70 innings, has put up a 54/27/57 line (1.78 ERA)? I can't see much of a difference between the two and neither can you, so let's split any stray Cy Young votes between the first fella (K-Rod) and the second (Toronto's Scott Downs). Downs might be more deserving of award consideration, actually, in that he occasionally pitches more than a single inning in his appearances, which K-Rod hasn't done once in 2008.
09/09/2008
2
3
Forget the push toward the save record, which he'll nab before the week is out. The best possible news Frankie Rodriguez received this week was Billy Wagner's injury, which added another big-money team to his list of potential suitors. ... That Torii Hunter/Ivan Rodriguez slapfest likely won't make the cut for the next backyard fighting bootleg DVD. ... The Angels have been on autopilot since mid-August. They bore me.
09/02/2008
3
3
Two ejections for Mike Scioscia this week. The pressure of a 42-game division lead must be getting to him ... Howie Kendrick has a little bit of Bobby Crosby in him, not so much in the sweet arc of his swing as in his propensity to succumb to any ache or injury, no matter how minor ... Truth is, the Angels might as well get everybody healthy now, as they don't play a single game that matters this month. And before somebody gets on me about home-field advantage, please note that the Angels are the sole AL powerbroker that plays as well on the road as they do at home amid the Thundersticks cacophony.
08/26/2008
3
2
They're 4-8 in their last 12. Still, the schedule should cure what ails 'em, with an indifferent Oakland/Seattle/Detroit trifecta set to ease them out of the summer doldrums. ... I don't see how anyone can even briefly consider thinking about the possibility of maybe potentially giving MVP consideration to a player who only contributes in 70 of a team's 1,450 or so innings, but the Francisco Rodriguez drumbeats keep getting louder. I'm not sure he's a top-three candidate on his own team, much less in the AL as a whole.
08/19/2008
2
1
For this team, a 1-5 blip constitutes a massive, horrific slump. The Angels have been playing at such a high level for so long it's a shock when they lose a series, as they did this weekend against the still-tryin' Indians. ... The Maicer Izturis injury hurts, but Erick Aybar picks up the slack defensively. ... The middle-of-the-order trio of Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick put up a yucky 0-for-31 against the Indians. They're a better offensive team than they were before the Mark Teixeira addition, but you'd still like to see considerably more patience (they rank 17th in the majors in OBP) from a title contender.
08/12/2008
1
1
No single compliment does them justice. Best at everything. Worst at nothing. Sons of emperors. Daughters of destiny. They have neatly trimmed fingernails and a well-stocked wine cellar. Oh, to be an acorn on their lawn. ... Oh, and Vlad Guerrero has healed and is whacking the decency out of the ball. It's all too much.
08/05/2008
1
1
That 7-3 road trip, which included a sweep of the Red Sox and a four-game split with the Yankees, would've looked even better were it not for Sunday's bootfest, in which four L.A. errors led to ten unearned runs. ... The Angels are up something like 37 games in the AL West, which means they essentially snared Mark Teixeira for October. But how many times will he stride up to the plate in a crucial situation? Six? Eight? ... Garrett Anderson is so overrated he's underrated, or maybe vice-versa. It's hard to tell anymore.
07/29/2008
1
1
At 34-19 on the road, they are the only elite team that doesn't wilt like a posy away from home. But this week they entered the big-boy stretch of their road schedule, courtesy of three games at Fenway (the first followed the 2008 Angels script) and four in the Bronx. ... Angels starters have a 5-plus ERA since the break. Potential red flag, or mere speed bump? ... I'm still waiting for even a half-coherent explanation why Maicer Izturis and his .352 slugging percentage have been penciled into the three-hole with increasing regularity.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/28/2008
7
-
The new GM failed to acquire that impact bat (Miguel Cabrera or Miguel Tejada would have fit perfectly), but they did improve their pitching with Jon Garland and the outfield with Torii Hunter running things down in center. The prospects remain in the system, but they will have to start producing if the Angels are going to take the next step.
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