| Garrett Wilson. 1st August, 2006 - 3:31 pm
 It’s dejá vu all over again. Another trade deadline has passed and once again the Angels failed to add a significant piece to their roster. In fact, they failed to even add an insignificant piece. In the process, Angels’ GM Bill Stoneman has virtually guaranteed that his team will be making an abbreviated appearance in the post-season should they even manage to qualify.
For the second straight year, the Angels are knee deep in a fight for the division title and a play-off berth. And for the second straight year they are doing so with a mediocre and inconsistent offense. Fans and media alike had called for the 2005 Angels to add some offensive fire power at the deadline, but nothing came of it. Sure, the Halos managed to get every last drop out of that offense and get into the post-season last year, but once they got there, they ran out of juice, leading to an embarrassing series loss to the Chicago White Sox.
The 2006 version of the Angels suffers from the same offensive deficiencies as last year’s team, but once again, the Halo management has ignored the pleas to add a bat. Apparently, the front office has been duped into thinking that the current roster has plenty of production in it. Somehow, one recent month of torrid production has outweighed the three previous months of pathetic output. For Angel management to believe that this level of run scoring can be sustained is just plain ignorance. It would seem that they have never heard the term “regression to the mean.”
The dramatic boost in offensive potency for the Angels can be largely attributed to outfielder Juan Rivera who has bashed nine home runs this month. Rivera is notoriously streaky and seems poised to come crashing back to earth in a big way. The nine homers in July are impressive, but the seven dingers he notched the previous three months are certainly not. Additionally, Juan has already surpassed his career high for homers in a season of 15 with 16 this year. The Halos would have you believe that Rivera is finally realizing his potential, but that seems like an awfully flimsy theory to base your post-season chances on.
Even if Rivera’s production holds up, the Angels still have gaping holes at the corner infield spots. They have been trying to plug the hole at first base by moving around rookie Howie Kendrick, but the defensive issues of breaking a rookie in at a new position might potentially counteract any offense he might bring. Maicer Izturis has been holding down the fort at third base, but only barely. The Angels can only hope that the light-hitting Izturis can keep producing until Dallas McPherson recovers from his back troubles. Until then, the Angels are filling two positions that are traditionally big source of power and production with players that are unproven and with little pop in their bat. But who could blame Bill Stoneman for not making a deal with sluggers like Craig Wilson getting dealt for a dominant ace like Shawn Chacon (please note that dripping sarcasm).
It isn’t like the offensive deficiencies at the corners are a new development either. All year long the Angels have been inquiring into available bats, but have failed to pull the trigger. Stoneman has evidently become so infatuated with the prospects in his well-stocked farm system that he just cannot bring himself to part with any of them. Apparently, he hasn’t figured out that there isn’t room for all of them in the majors though.
Mike Napoli has won over manager Mike Scioscia and is poised to become the Angels catcher of the future, which would seemingly make top-prospect Jeff Mathis available. Mathis should be able to fetch some good value in return since good major league-ready catching prospects aren’t exactly easy to come by. Mathis’ teammate in AAA, Erick Aybar also seems like a great trade candidate. As a good defensive shortstop who can hit for average and a little bit of power, teams are lined up around the block to get a hold of Aybar, yet Stoneman sees fit to let him rot in AAA where he has little to prove. There isn’t a spot in the majors waiting for Aybar either as Orlando Cabrera has two years left on his contract and is developing into a team leader. With as many rumors as the Angels have been involved in, it is hard to believe that they have not received one fair offer.
For now, the boys from the mythical city of Los Angeles of Anaheim will have to make due with what they have. Unfortunately for Angel fans, what they have is a roster good enough to barely squeak into the post-season only to get quickly swept aside once they get there. Who wants another World Series title anyway when you can have the best Triple-A team ever assembled? |
