Angels Content With Roster

The Angels should have no problem running away with the AL West, but can they match up with the big guns in the playoffs with this lineup? Unless the bats get hot in the home stretch and the underachieving guys step up, I think they are destined to be bridesmaids again.

Come on Angels just go Willits for Dunn. Heck I bet the Reds would throw in cash...anything to get Dunn off our hands and a CF/leadoff hitter into our lineup

Anderson's more recent numbers:

Last 7 days: .444 .524 .833

Last 14 days: .333 .395 .545

Last 28 days: .290 .338 .464

And his clutch stats:

RISP: .301 .349 .411

RISP, 2 out: .342 .375 .395

Late & Close: .356 .420 .511

And that doesn't even include his defensive numbers:

FP 1.000 lgFP .985 RF 2.02 lgRF 1.70

4 assists in just 49 games in the field.

Anderson was the victim of a lot of hard luck ABs earlier in the season, much like Maicer Izturis was. He is still incredibly valuable to the team, both on his own and as left handed protection for Vlad.

As for Matthews, he hasn't been great, but his clutch stats have been much better than his non-clutch ones and that has meant a lot of RBI for such a low average.

"I think Halos fans that are clammoring for a new bat would be hoping the Braves hit a losing skid and warm up to moving Teixeira."

What for? Kotchman is on pace for less than 40 Ks this year while Tex will go down at least 100 times. Kotchman hits for a higher average and plays better defense. He is also 3 years younger, significantly cheaper and the son of a top scout in the organization. Kotchman is also the much better clutch hitter.

What the Angels need is what they have gotten recently, their support outfielders to heat up.

The Angels have a good option on the bench- Juan Rivera but hes is getting zero playing time.
Yes his stats stink with no playing time, but he's shown in the past that he can hit when he is in the lineup on a regular basis.
They should play him or trade him.

Raddude-I agree. Rivera should get some more AB's. I don't see him being traded as a rental for another club though, its more likely a play him before he walks at the end of the year scenario.

"I'm merely pontificating what the restless fans that always clammor for a "big bat" will be hoping for."

The Angels have a big bat. He plays right field. The problem with a move to get Tex is that he becomes more expensive next year and you end up giving up a better option in Kotchman. While Kotchman will probably never get close to 40 HR, he provides plenty of other qualities that make him nearly as or just as valuable to have as Tex.

"The Angels have a good option on the bench- Juan Rivera but hes is getting zero playing time."

Problem with that is Rivera has no real trade value right now as he hasn't seen regular time since 2006 (when he mashed the ball and played good defense at all 3 OF positions). The funny thing is, he was doing what GMJ has done this year, playing a mix of the OF positions and DH. Actually, it is probably Rivera's injury that brought GMJ to the team, as Rivera could have probably been the everyday CF last year if he hadn't broken his leg. Hindsight, however, is 20/20 and Rivera did break his leg and the Angels signed GMJ off a career year.

"There is also still plenty of time for a guy like Brandon Wood to get hot and return to LA."

Two problems there. First, there is no way he displaces Figgins at 3B. Figgins is superior defensively, both at 3B and with his versatility, and has more to offer on the offensive side, particularly since Wood has never proved that he can hit MLB pitching, despite a long look this year when Figgins, Aybar and Kendrick were hurt. The Angels are much better off going with Figgins at 3B and the Aybar/Izturis tandem at SS.

The Angels are playing right where they should be.

I think it's very fair to say that their pitching in the 2nd half will significantly regress while I expect their offense to significantly improve. Net, net, you are looking at a very good ball club.

Considering the injuries the team has endured and the prolonged slump of some of their offensive players Angel fans have to ecstatic with where the team is today.

Finally, as for hanging with the big boys, the Angels have done just fine. They sport a winning record against EVERY team in the AL except Tampa and NY (who they haven't played).

One other note - the Angels don't have a lot of positions in which an upgrade would work. They are locked in at:

1B
2B
3B
CF
RF
C

They could do something at short but there aren't a lot of options that would improve on Aybar. LF is the next best spot but in order to trade for another OF they would need to send back an outfielder (or three). DH is the last option but between Vlad and GA I like having the DH spot empty for giving their inevitable ailing backs/knees, etc a break.

RedHawk,

That Adam Dunn for Reggie Willits offer seems pretty fair. The Reds get a center field, leadoff guy, the Angels get a big masher to hit in the middle of their lineup. I seems to make sense and then the Angels would be able to go move Juan Rivera.

"When theres a 7+ game difference between your pythag W-L and real life"

Do we live in real life or a giant Faux-Pythagorean Theoreum? The problem with relying on those numbers is you don't account for massively lopsided games and you discount situational hitting and a top notch bullpen.

"One other note - the Angels don't have a lot of positions in which an upgrade would work. They are locked in at:"

I wouldn't say they are "locked in" at Catcher, especially with Napoli hurt, but the combination of defense and the ability to put just enough of a scare in pitchers with the bat is there.

"I think it's very fair to say that their pitching in the 2nd half will significantly regress while I expect their offense to significantly improve."

Why should their pitching regress? Santana has been projected as a future ace for years and Lackey could have easily won the Cy Young last year. Saunders was a first round pick and Weaver has under-, not overachieved. The only one who seems to be pitching a bit over his head is Garland recently, though he has the perfect style for Angel Stadium and the Angels top notch defense.

"When theres a 7+ game difference between your pythag W-L and real life, then your record can certainly be called flukey or lucky."

Go figure it would be an A's fan that would pull out the Pythag to try to belittle what the Angels have accomplished.

So the Angels lost 10-2 last night. Basically, if they won 3 straight by 2 runs after this, they'd still have 2 more runs against than runs for...which would give them a 3-1 record, but a 1-3 pythag. Would you say that a team in such a case is merely "lucky" to be 3-1, or that they are, in fact, just good at winning baseball games with an occasional blowout? C'mon, dude. Think about this outside of the realm of statheads for a minute. The Angels have a lights-out rotation, a solid bullpen with one of the best closers in the game, and an underachieving offense. They also have been blown-out quite a few times this year.

So you're going to say they're merely "lucky" to have a roster that can create and hold close games on a consistent basis? That sounds more like good franchise building to me. It's certainly better than the A's method of operation...score 10 runs one day, and 0 the next, for an OVER-inflated pythag.

Why release Anderson, DarkStar? He's a second-half type of player, who has just started to hit again in the last 3 weeks on a pretty consistent basis (.306/.375/.452 in those 3 weeks). He's not the hitter he once was, but he's stepping up again, and if he does even HALF of what he did in the second half of last season, then he'll be a welcome asset to the offense. Seeing as he's in the last year of his contract, releasing him serves essentially no purpose.