Baseball The Way It Never Was

Tag: Albie Pearson

Year II Season Preview: Los Angeles Angels

Expectations

Playoff contention.

Best Case

Gerrit Cole and Pud Galvin pitch as they have and someone, or actually a few someone’s, from the group of Doc Gooden, Elmer Smith, Chuck Finley, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, and Sid Fernandez make good on their immense potential while Mike Trout develops into a true superstar, Carlos Delgado holds off age for another year, and 1st round pick Ichiro Suzuki comes good.

Worst Case

The pitching remains a hot mess, Doug Rader reverts to form, and Delgado, Don Buford, and George Wright all feel the effects of age.

Key Questions

  • Who is going to fill out the rotation and the bullpen?
  • Will anyone step up at C?

In addition to Suzuki, draft picks Babe Herman, John Lackey, and Bryan Harvey all have a shot at making the team.

Trade Bait

Nothing immediately, but the team could do a rebuild at some point and there are some that could be valuable.

Roster Evaluation

POSEliteStrongSolidMehWeakUnknown
CPierzynski
Torborg
1BDelgadoLee
2BGrichEllis
3BRaderGarvey
SSWright
LF/
RF
Buford
Daniels
Suzuki
CFTrout
SPColeAnderson
Galvin
GoodenSeaver
EndNathan
Rodríguez
Teheran
RPVentersDeSclafani
Lowry
Patterson

Smith
New Addition | Injured

That’s a lot in the unknown column, and with Rader and Delgado both likely to regress … it could be a long California summer.

Talent Ratings

WBLMinors
Raw Power1B Carlos Delgado1B Jack Hannifin
Batting Eye2B Bobby GrichOF Jack Gleason
ContactOF Ichiro SuzukiOF Elmer Valo
Running SpeedOF Ichiro SuzukiOF Billy Hamilton
Base StealingOF Mike TroutOF Billy Hamilton
IF Defense3B Doug Rader3B Pedro Álvarez
OF DefenseOF Ichiro SuzukiOF Ender Inciarte
StuffP Elmer SmithP Nolan Ryan
ControlSP Pud GalvinP Brian Anderson
VelocityRP Joe Nathan
RP Francisco Rodríguez
P Nolan Ryan

Best In The Minors

RankAgePOSName
1 (19)25P/OFElmer Smith
2 (85)22PJohn Lackey
3 (90)21PRandy Tate
4 (92)21IFMarcus Semien
5 (95)23PJoey Lucchesi
6 (141)23PTom Seaver
7 (154)22PEsteban Loaiza
8 (157)25PRoss Reynolds
9 (178)25PBrian Anderson
10 (187)22OFBrandon Nimmo
Others: RP Bryan Harvey.

The lack of top end talent is a serious issue, but the presence of quite a bit of decent pitching is a very significant advantage, especially when considering how underrated some of the prospects are–Mr. Seaver, we’re looking at you.

MostLeast
AgeP Jose Contreras, 38P Blue Moon Odom, 19
HeightP Chuck Finley, 6’6″
P John Lackey, 6’6″
P John O’Donoghue, 6’6″
OF Albie Pearson, 5’5″
OPSOF Ned Harris, 1.230(—)OF Jack Gleason, .545 (—)
HROF Ned Harris, 58 (—)OF Albie Pearson, 1 (—)
SBOF Mike Trout, 37 (WBL)Many with 0
WAROF Mike Trout, 6.0 (WBL)OF Jack Gleason, -2.0 (—)
WGerrit Cole, 16 (WBL)Carl Willis, 1 (—)
SVJoe Nathan, 22 (WBL)
ERAJose Contreras, 3.04 (—)Jesse Tannehill, 6.72 (—)
WARJose Contreras, 6.5 (—)Brian Anderson, -0.9 (AAA)
Stats are across all levels. 200 PA / 75 IP min. Non WBL leagues indicated by —.

TWIWBL 56.8: Spring Training Notes – Los Angeles Angels

Spring Training Questions

Half the rotation and half the bullpen are undecided, as are C and, ultimately, how to sort out roles for Steve Garvey, Elmer Valo, and Kal Daniels.

Injuries

Damage to Julio Teheran‘s rotator cuff probably took him out of the running for a spot in the Angels’ bullpen to start the season. Of more concern, Jonny Venters, one of the most effective relievers in the league last season, will miss the entire year with an injury to his rotator cuff.

First Cuts

Despite Nolan Ryan and Harry Howell‘s early struggles, John Lackey and John Harshman were the only starters sent to the minors, along with bullpen arms Joey Lucchesi and Bryan Harvey.

None of the catchers in camp have done much of note, but only Gus Triandos was demoted, although Mark Salas has certainly plummeted in the pecking order. Mike Jorgensen, Wally Pipp, and Pedro Álvarez were also sent to the minors, with Wally Joyner looking likely to follow.

Marcus Semien was returned to the minors along with Xander Bogaerts as the Angels are clearly focused on going with their veteran talent on the IF.

In the OF, early struggles by Kal Daniels, Mike Trout, and rookie Ichiro Suzuki keep the situation a bit muddled, although Billy Hamilton, Curt Motton, and Brian Giles were all moved out. Nobody has hit very well, although Jack Gleason has been the best of the bunch.

Second Cuts

Harry Howell and Carlos Mármol were sent down, and while Nolan Ryan has struggled, the young flamethrower will be given some more opportunities in WBL camp.

Gus Triandos and Mark Salas were sent down, with John Stearns staying in camp by the thinnest of margins. Wally Joyner and Marcus Semien joined them.

But that was it, and the Angels still face a dilemma in the OF, where Ichiro Suzuki has yet to really show his talent and everybody else is essentially indistinguishable.

Third Cuts

Julio Teheran came back from injury and pitched well, keeping all 15 arms in camp for the time being.

C continues to be a mess. John Stearns is struggling mightily, but his performance last year keeps him in the conversation. Jeff Torborg–the longest of shots when camp opened–is tearing the cover off the ball. So the Angels are one of the few teams retaining 4 catchers at this point in camp.

Late season star Wally Backman was sent down, as was Bill Doran and young SS Xander Bogaerts.

The OF situation cleared up a bit as Ichiro Suzuki caught fire and Frank Catalanotto, Albie Pearson and Ender Inciarte were all sent down.

Final Cuts

RP Ross Reynolds was the first to see the door. He is likely to be followed very soon by Nolan Ryan, whose talent is only matched by his wildness at this point. But for now, Ryan is safe as the Angels remain more committed to Steve Garvey than Wally Moon, sending down the 31 year old Moon.

Los Angeles is a bit of a mess behind the plate, but they’ve decided to trust John Stearns‘ potential over Ron Hassey‘s, sending Hassey to AAA to start the season. A few days later, they even jettisoned Stearns, preferring to go with two rookies behind the plate in Jeff Torborg and AJ Pierzynski.

Ichiro Suzuki has looked excellent, stepping directly from the draft into the starting RF spot and costing Jeromy Burnitz his spot on the WBL roster.

Bobby Grich‘s ability to backup George Wright at SS means Andrelton Simmons needed a fantastic Spring to make the opening day roster. He didn’t have one, so he’s off to AAA.

Neither Cookie Lavagetto nor David Wright are particularly likely to see much time at 3B for the Angels. Lavagetto has hit slightly better in the Spring, while Wright seems to have more strike zone control. In the end, Los Angeles retained Lavagetto at least for a few more days with Wright heading to AAA.

Randy Tate was a pretty easy choice, bringing the staff down to a dozen. If they need to jettison more arms, the decisions will become much harder.

Especially with Elmer Smith being used both ways and able to fill in at the corner OF spots, veteran Elmer Valo was moved to the minors, as was CF Jack Gleason, despite his solid Spring performance, along with Cookie Lavagetto. That leaves the Angels without a reserve RF, but an assumption that Mike Trout can fill in there occasionally.

That leaves another pitcher needing to be sent down. The challenge is Nolan Ryan was a hot mess all Spring, with 13 walks and 15 hits–and 4 homeruns allowed–in 15 innings. Anthony DeScalafani, Roy Patterson, and Noah Lowry were all significantly better than Ryan, but lack the fireballer’s ceiling for sure. In the end, the Angels moved Ryan to AAA, hoping that regular starts helped him find his form.

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