Before the 2013 season started, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were expected to be the team to be reckoned with this year. With a lineup as stacked as theirs, how could they fail? Not to mention the money they spent to add some big name free agents the past couple of years. The Angels 2013 team salary is a whopping $127,896,250. Despite the expectations, a month of the season is already gone and the Angels sit in fourth place of the AL West as they are 13-22 and nine, yes nine games out of first place. The AL West has some immense competition and the Angels may be digging themselves to deep.
The team is just struggling as a whole. They lost their ace Jered Weaver to a fractured elbow on April 9th and has been expected to miss at least four weeks, but probably more time. Weaver has been the Angels best pitcher and they are missing him in the rotation. They still have C.J. Wilson, Joe Blanton, and Jason Vargas in the rotation, but they aren’t Weaver. Not only has the rotation struggled, but the bullpen as well. Entering the season, the pitching was an area of concern, but the offense was expected to be so dominant that a poor start by the pitchers wouldn’t be detrimental.
The offense has been swinging a cold bat as well. Key offseason acquisition, Josh Hamilton, was expected to be the guy to push the offense and be an added threat to the lineup. Instead, he has been off to a slow start and is batting .206 with four homeruns and 11 RBI; not the numbers he was expected to produce. Last years rookie of the year, Mike Trout is also off to a somewhat slow start as he isn’t providing the Angels with the offense he was expected to. He’s batting .277 with five homeruns and 23 RBI. Mark Trumbo has been a bright spot for the slumping Angels as he is batting .285 with nine homeruns and 26 RBI. Now, in his second year with the Angels, Albert Pujols is off to, yet again, another slow start. He’s batting .239 with five homeruns and 20 RBI. Last year there was some reasoning and defense for his slow start, switching leagues, new team, new division, etc, but now he should be used to the American League. Last season Pujols’ and the Angels slow start cost them a playoff appearance, will it happen again?
In 2012, the Angels made a run at a wild card spot, but came up short. They battled the Baltimore Orioles, Oakland A’s, and Texas Rangers until the last week of the season, but it was too little too late. With a payroll like the Angels have had these past two seasons, missing out on the postseason is unacceptable, but it seems like that’s what they’ll do.
The season is still young, but the Angels are falling so far behind that the playoffs are becoming out of reach. The Texas Rangers have a comfortable lead in the West and the Oakland A’s, while currently struggling, have a decent lead over the Angels. The Halos have struggled against AL West opponents this season as they are 7-15 in games against division rivals. Can’t win a division or make the postseason when struggling within the division. The Angels seem to be missing team chemistry as well. They have the talent on paper, but as a team they aren’t geling.
This is baseball and anything can happen. The Angels may be able to turn it around, get on a hot streak, reach the .500 mark and beyond, but with the way they’re playing that isn’t likely.