All Time Angels

All Time Angels

                The Angels were founded in 1961 as one of the league’s first two expansion teams, headed by Gene Autry, a famous singing cowboy actor and are now owned by Arte Moreno. The Angels won the World Series in 2002 against the Giants, and was the first time both teams in the series were wild card entries. They have some fish guy people like talking about, and some other really good players in their history, although this team is going to fall a bit short of the dominant type teams. Their offense is solid, but lopsided, and their pitching isn't going to scare anyone off, but won't quite wimper and fold either. There’s a handful of players who have worn the Angel’s uniform that made it to the Hall of Fame, although Vladimir Guerrero’s induction in 2017 marked the first time a player has gone in as an Angel.

                This lineup has some very, very good players, and some not very good players. It is never good when you have an 8 OB who doesn’t hit a HR. That being said, Erstad leads things off with his classic 2001 card, giving you 10 OB, A speed, a couple of home runs and a solid chart. Fish man is next with one of the best cards in the game. His 2017 and 2018 cards are almost identical, and although his 2018 chart is technically better (by .01 runs), their runs created per game are identical. I’m going to go with his 2017 card due to it having better speed and fielding. 11 OB, 22 speed, 18-20 HR, only 2 outs, oh and throw in +3 defense to boot. It’ll be interesting to see where his 2019 card comes in, as he is on pace to have his best year yet. Vlad Sr. rounds out the outfield with a powerful 10 OB, 3 outs, 3 HRs and a ridiculous four doubles chart to give Trout some protection. This is definitely one of the better outfields, and they also give you +7 def which is awesome to get when you also have massive offensive production. Glaus’ ’09 chart is one of the better third base cards in the game, and the third best from the originally made cards behind Chipper and Tatis. He will have plenty of RBI opportunities coming his way. 

                 Tim Salmon as a 5-hole hitter isn’t bad, although compared to how the rest of the lineup fares, it could be a lot better. He brings a respectable 9 OB, few home runs, four doubles and +1 fielding. Iannetta is decent for a catcher, and his +6 arm will get the job done, although having to have Spiezio be the 1B for this squad shows the lack of options. For a traditional power hitting position, they are really missing out here, and with 8 speed and no help on defense there really isn’t much upside. Brad Fullmer comes in right behind him with 8 OB, but better chart. Kennedy and Eckstein fill out the lineup and really only bring some speed and defense to the equation. No home runs with 8 and 9 OBs is not the way you want to be finishing up your lineups. Their rotation will get the job done, although the job is going to be iffy. Washburn leads the way with 3 Control, a walk and a single after 18 outs over 6 IP. Finley is next with a 5 Control, 6 IP, 15 outs and two walks/singles and a double, although I might be temped to throw Finely out their first. Lackey is in the three hole with another 3 control 6 IP card, though with only 17 outs and a walk, single and double each.

                  After Lackey, Appier and Ohtani technically fill out this rotation, although I’m going to elect to add Bottenfield to this rotation, as Ohtani will play both ways and fill an interesting role. Looking at the bottom of this rotation, and since they only have one 5 control, they are going to run into some serious issues against most of these lineups due to losing the advantage often. The bullpen has a bit more strength with Percival leading the way with a great 6 control, two walk and double card. He’s going to be able to nail the door shut in the few instances this team has the lead. Weber also trots out a solid card, with 4 control and 18 outs, although giving up a double. Donnelly and Pote aren’t absolutely terrible by not giving up a double, but their 3 Control will probably lead to problems. Petkovsek, Holtz and Hasegawa all trot out iffy at best cards, though 4 control will help them out a bit.

                   Overall this team really does not jump out at you, especially in the pitching department. They're not going to be bottom dweller necessarily, but they're not going to come in and dominate teams. Chone Figgins is the one card that is surprisingly good, although he’s knocked down a bit due to his lack of home run on his chart. Ohtani will also slot in due to his great chart and dual usability. Brad Fullmer is the next option, although I’m inclined to use either Andrew Heaney or Al Levine for extra arm support since they’re undoubtedly going to be used up quickly. 

This lineup totals to 3,540 which is definitely on the lower end, which shouldn’t be surprising. The rotation, with Ohtani, comes in at 2,360 which when you realize its 6 people is really atrocious. The bullpen is 1,320 which is about the same as the Rangers, which isn’t exactly something to brag about. The bench is 1,070 points which is also going to be low comparatively, although taking a reliever will do that. While there are some awesome cards on this team, I really don’t think it’s going to hide the fact that there is a serious lack of depth here. 

Hitters

SP

RP

              Unsurprisingly, Trout dominates the leader board of the Angel’s single season performances, taking 8 of the top 9. His 2013 tops this lift, although I think his 2019 season should top that one shortly. Surprisingly, Doug Decinces’ 1982 comes in as one of the best offensive performances, where he turned in a .301/.369/.548 slash line with 173 hits, 42 doubles, 30 home runs, 94 runs and 97 RBIs.  This is slightly better than Glaus’ 2000 season, despite the 47 home runs Glaus hit. Tim Salmon’s ’95 was also much better than his 2002, where he finished slashing .330/.429/.594 with 111 runs on 177 hits, 105 RBIS and 34 doubles and home runs. In 1979 Brian Downing started the majority of his games at catcher, and would probably provide an upgrade over Ianetta offensively. His All-Star performance came in at .326/.418/.462 with 166 hits, 87 runs, 27 doubles, 75 RBIs, although only 12 home runs. Jim Fregosi played short stop, and his 1964 season might bump Eckstein, although Kennedy is by far the weakest link in the lineup. Bobby Grich is the answer to that, as his 1979 All-Star season is the highest ranked offensive season for a second basemen in Angel’s history. He slashed .294/.35/.537 with 157 hits, 78 runs, 101 RBIs and 30 doubles and home runs. Those upgrades wouldn’t make this lineup unstoppable, but would add a lot of needed help. The rotation has a lot of help out there, as Washburn’s 2002 doesn’t even come remotely close to the top of the charts. Dean Change in 1964 was an All-Star and took home the Cy Young, in a year in which he lead the league in wins with 20, ERA at 1.65, 15 compete games, 11 shutouts, 278.1 IP in 46 games and an ERA+ of 200. He also racked up 207 strike outs. Talk about a dominating year. Mark Langston is next with his ’93 season, which he pitched 256.1 innings over 35 games, a 3.20 ERA and a 16-11 record. Doesn’t seem too special, but compared to what they have? He easily would help. Frank Tanana and Nolan Ryan’s 1977 are next, as they powered the Angels to a miserable 74-88 record. Tanana led the leagues with a 2.54 ERA and 7 shut outs, while also racking up 205 Ks. Ryan led with league with 22 complete games, 204 walks albeit while racking up a ridiculous 341 strike outs. He struck out 341 out of 1,272 batters he faced, which is absurd. K-Rod’s dominant 2008 season would definitely help this bullpen, as would Fuentes’ 2009. Bryan Harvey in ’91 racked up 46 saves too, so I’m sure he’d help. As you can tell with how long this list is, there are plenty of seasons out there that would make a big impact on this team. Even with them I doubt they would stand up against some of the better teams out there, but would definitely make it a lot better.