2013 L.A. Angels Team Preview By Rob Vinciletti The Angels have made big headlines once again this off season with acquisition of Josh Hamilton,after signing the biggest name free agent, Albert Pujols, in 2012, the Los Angeles Angels quickly became the odds on favorites to win the AL West. However, a slow start to the season ruined any chance the Angels had, and they were unable to recover in the standings, They wound up finishing five games behind the Oakland Athletics with an 89-73 record. While many teams would have looked to reduce their payroll after such a disappointing season, the Los Angeles Angels decided to go even bigger by adding Josh Hamilton. Hamilton will join Pujols, Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout to form one of the most potent lineups in all of baseball, and perhaps one we will be speaking about in years to come. 2013 Expectations The Angles signing of Josh Hamilton to a long term deal,has signaled a change out West where Texas is no longer the head of the division. the Los Angeles Angels made a bold move and are looking to win a World Series now, and have the pieces in place to do it, Last year’s disappointing season definitely played a role in the sweeping changes made by the Los Angeles’ front office and the team tried to do everything it could in the off season to prevent it from happening again. In addition to Hamilton, Los Angeles brought in Ryan Madson to take over the closers role in 2013 and shore up a somewhat leaky bullpen. While offense wont be an issue for the Angels in 2013, the starting pitching could be. Jeff Weaver will be the ace once again for the starting rotation, but the remaining starters all have some issues they need to overcome in order for the Angels to become a dominant team in the AL West. Tommy Hanson, Joe Blanton and Jason Vargas were all brought in during the off season to help fix the starting rotation, but it is yet to be determined how effective Hanson and Blanton will be in the powerful American League, which has melted some of the National league pitchers that have changed venues in the past. The expectations are high once again for the Los Angeles Angels. A win total between 90-98 can reasonably be expected in 2013 as the Angels figure to be the team to beat in the AL. West. Below is what their opening day lineup and Roster should look like barring any unforeseen injuries. Probable lineup 1. Mike Trout, LF 2. Erick Aybar, SS 3. Albert Pujols, 1B 4. Josh Hamilton, RF 5. Mark Trumbo, DH- Has 61 home runs over the last two seasons 6. Howie Kendrick, 2B 7. Alberto Callaspo, 3B 8. Chris Iannetta, C 9. Peter Bourjos, CF Probable rotation 1. Jered Weaver 2. C.J. Wilson 3. Tommy Hanson 4. Jason Vargas 5. Joe Blanton Building a bullpen Closer: Ernesto Frieri Righties: Kevin Jepsen, Bobby Cassevah, Garrett Richards, Jerome Williams Lefties: Scott Downs, Sean Burnett The Angels signed right-hander Ryan Madson to serve as their closer, but he was recently shut down with soreness in his elbow. He's coming off Tommy John surgery and it remains to be seen if he will be ready in time for Opening Day. For now, lets be conservative and say he won't. Both Richards and Williams serve as rotation depth. Notable bench players OF Vernon Wells IF Andrew Romine UTIL Bill Hall Biggest strength The Angels can and will flat out Hit. With, Trout, Pujols, and Hamilton all have the ability to produce like the best player on any individual team, let alone the same lineup. There would be no surprise if all three hit .300+ with 30+ home runs in 2013. Only nine teams in history have had three players do that in one season -- three are the 1995-97 Coors Field Rockies -- with the 2004 Cardinals being the last. Which gives you an idea of how hard it is to to do it. Trumbo's power, Bourjos' speed, Callapso's clutch hitting are also an interesting dynamic and one surely to have odds makers posting totals over 10 on Angles games on a nightly basis. This perhaps will be one of baseballs most diverse and devastating lineups we have seen in quite sometime. There hasn't been a 900-run offense since the 2009 Yankees, but the 2013 Angels can definitely be right there. The other Biggest strength will be Jered Weaver. With this team he may win over 20 games in a relatively short period of time, we will probably see lines of -300 on a regular basis when he starts. Best-case scenario: The best-case scenario for the Angels is very easy to imagine. Albert Pujols puts his early season struggles form a year ago behind him and takes advantage of the Pitches he will see with Trout, Trumbo, and Hamilton in a super solid lineup. J. Weaver has another Dominating season and they get solid quality starts particularly from the back end of their rotation. The Angels have a solid bench and two guys who could close in Madson and Frieri. This team looks almost like a shoe in to win the division if all of the aforementioned comes to fruition. Worst-case scenario: The Only thing that can stop the Angles this season is injuries, particularly to their pitching staff, as they have what appears to be the most lethal lineup of Power and clutch hitting in the majors. Should they get numerous injuries and guys don't put up the numbers they are accustomed too, the Angles could crash and burn. Most-likely scenario: The Most likely scenario is that the Angles behind a plethora of Offense and enough pitching win the Division and become major players in the Playoffs. Whether or not they can advance deep into the playoffs, get to and win the World series will depend on how their pitching staff holds up. In Closing I hope you enjoyed the 2013 LA. Angels Team preview and wish all of you the best this upcoming Season. Be sure Check out my home page for free daily picks as well as the Monday night sports talk radio show at 7:05 eastern. Listen Online at 88.9 wsia.fm at the aforementioned time, for additional free selections. In 2012 we finished the #1 MLB service at many of the other Popular sports networks using our Cutting Edge MLB Diamond cutter systems which have produced winning results in 4 of the last 5 seasons overall. In NCAAB Action We just Completed Another Huge Season Cashing over 70% on TOP plays. NBA Has been cashing daily too. 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