The Los Angeles Angels are a team which always seem to be in contention, but always come up short. Last season, they fell to the Red Sox, losing 3 straight in the first round of the playoffs.
The Angels will have their work cut out for them in 2008. Their ace John Lackey will miss the entire month of April and 18 game winner Kelvim Escobar may be out for the season with a shoulder tear. So to start out, their rotation will rely heavily on Jon Garland and Jered Weaver. Weaver may emerge this season as an elite and will be a nice number 2 behind John Lackey. Young pitchers Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana will fill out the rest of the rotation. So if they can get through April still standing, a rotation of Lackey, Weaver, Garland, Saunders and Santana may be good enough to keep them in the hunt. Their bullpen will be just fine with one of baseball's top closers in Francisco Rodriguez and two solid setup men in Scott Shields and Justin Speier. All in all though, the temporary absence of John Lackey and the questionable status of Escobar will set the Angels back a bit as they struggle early on.
The Angels lineup has lacked punch of late and they needed another bat to compliment Vladimir Guerrero. Tori Hunter was signed during the off season and this should help run productivity. With Chone Figgins, young talent like Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick and Casey Kotchman, there is now a nice blend of speed, power, veterans and youth. Garrett Anderson and Gary Matthews Jr. however, are experiencing health setbacks this spring so there are some question marks in their batting order.
You have to think that a team with this many injury woes this early on in the season will struggle. And struggle they will. I'll still pick them to have a winning season and even be in the race down the stretch. But the injuries to Lackey and Escobar as well as health concerns with Anderson and Matthews make me feel that Seattle is in better shape and will finish ahead of the Angels. Expect a 84-78 second place finish in 2008 for the Los Angeles Angels.
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Mark
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