10 Reasons Why the L.A. Angels Are Being Grossly Underestimated

Five out of the last six seasons the Los Angeles Angels have stood alone atop the American League West.

In 2009, the Angels finished 10 games ahead of Texas and 12 ahead of Seattle. The Mariners seem to be the trendy choice to win the division this season.

After seeing several sportswriters actually pick the Angels to come in dead last, it is time for a reality check.

Here is a breakdown of why the rumors of the Angels' demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez will not pitch 80 games each.

Even if they did, Cliff Lee, 31, had a modest 14-13 record last season and has only won more than 14 games twice in his 8-year career.

Although Lee did have a 3.22 ERA, he won't figure to get better run support playing for the Mariners. The Mariners scored 243 fewer runs than the Angels last season and 133 less than the Cleveland Indians, the team Lee pitched the most for last season.

Felix Hernandez, the Cy Young runner-up from 2009, is coming off the first truly dominant year of his young career. However, he won 19 games for Seattle last season and they still finished 12 out. Hernandez would need another Cy Young-quality season just for the Mariners to not lose any more ground.

The young power pitcher who threw 238.2 innings last year is also going to have to stay healthy.

The remainder of Seattle's rotation is made up of a relief pitcher, a second-year guy and Ian Snell, who has a lifetime ERA of 4.71 and has only won more than 9 games once.

The loss of John Lackey is highly overrated.

John Lackey has won more than 14 games only once in his eight-year career while playing for a team that wins 95-plus games every season. The last two years, the 31-year-old has not won more than 12. Since winning Game 7 of the 2002 World Series for the Angels as a rookie, he has won exactly one playoff game in nine starts.

Lackey has never been able to stay away from the 30-pitch inning. His emotions tend to get away from him when calls or plays go badly. It's also why he hasn't thrown more than 176 innings each of the last two seasons.

Lackey has benefited from having one of the best bullpens in baseball backing him up every year and he rarely pitches past the sixth inning.

He has been viewed as being mentally tough because of his World Series performance as a rookie and the image (seemingly shown on a loop since the ALCS) of him screaming at 2009 AL Manager of the Year Mike Scioscia when he was taken out of game 5.

Of course, Lackey would not have been taken out if he hadn't already thrown 104 pitches, and Scioscia wasn't aware that he was already on tilt from miscues in the field by his teammates.

It was a typical Lackey performance. He has never been an ace in the traditional sense, and certainly did not warrant the 5-year, $82.5 million contract Boston gave him.

If Lackey goes 4-4 with a 4.93 ERA before the All-Star Break like he did last season, the Boston fans may not be so willing to let him work things out like the Angels fans did.

Good luck pitching against New York, Tampa Bay and Toronto in Fenway Park, John. You'll need it.

The overlooked additions of Joel Pineiro and Scott Kazmir.

Say hello to the new fourth and fifth starters for the Angels.

Joel Pineiro was signed for a fraction of what Lackey received from Boston while having a better season than Lackey did last year. Pineiro's ERA was almost half a run lower. He threw 38 innings more than Lackey, had a WHIP of 1.14, lead the league in least walks per nine innings and won 4 more games than the so-called Angels ace did.

Scott Kazmir, a two-time American League All-Star at age 26, struggled during the first half of 2009 while attempting to pitch through injuries. However, he had a 1.73 ERA in six starts with the Angels to close out the season.

With a lifetime ERA of 3.83 in 151 career starts, Kazmir has already accomplished more than some do in their entire careers at an age when most pitchers are just breaking into the majors.

Not a bad way to close out your rotation.

The Angels now have four starters age 27 or younger, with a total of four All-Star Game appearances between them.

They may not have a traditional ace, but they have 5, number 2 guys that give them a chance to win every day.

One of the best catching tandems in baseball.

Under the direction of one of the best defensive catchers of his era, Manager Mike Scioscia has groomed Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis into a catching duo that knows how to manage games in big situations.

The two combined for 25 home runs last season, and many are predicting Naploi, 28, could reach the 30-homer plateau for the first time in his 4-year career.

The 2009 American League Manager of the Year.

In his 11th season with the club, Mike Scioscia has broken every positive Angels managing record you can think of.

Scioscia, Tony LaRussa and Bobby Cox are the only active managers with at least 900 wins with their current team.

With an average of 90 wins per season and a second Manager of the Year trophy under his belt, the Angels might get outplayed here and there, but they aren't going to get out-managed.

A major upgrade at DH.

There are three things you can count on in this world.

Death.

Taxes.

And Vladimir Guerrero will do something colossally stupid with the game on the line.

Guerrero may have been one of the best bad ball hitters of all time, but it derives from him having one of the lowest baseball I.Q.'s ever witnessed.

Hideki Matsui has far more left in the tank. Matsui hit 13 more homers than Vlad did last season, which would have ranked him second on the Angels. He also would have ranked 3rd on the team in RBI.

Unlike Vlad the Choker, who has 2 homers in 112 postseason at-bats, the reigning World Series MVP Matsui had 3 homers in the 2009 World Series alone. The Angels have clearly made a move toward acquiring clutch performers and purging their postseason dogs.

Anyone who questions the legs of Matsui must not have been watching Vlad hobble around the bases for the past three seasons. Vlad makes Matsui look like Chone Figgins.

Speaking of postseason dogs...

This image of Chone Figgins failing to get a bunt down in the 2009 ALCS pretty much sums up his career as an Angel. The ball hit him and he was called out at a crucial point in the game.

I know. I know.

He was your favorite player Angels fans, and you are sooo sad to see him go.

No longer will you be able to "get Figgy with it," and he's the reason why Seattle is going to fly by the Angels into first place.

Well, fortunately Angels GM Tony Reagins (who obviously got a copy of Moneyball for Christmas) makes the personnel decisions and not the fans.

Here is what I will "miss" about Chone Figgins:

The way he skillfully runs his team out of innings by leading the league in being caught stealing.

The way he strikes out 100-plus times each year from the lead-off spot.

The way he can't bunt.

The way he refuses to let a pitch hit him (he has been hit by a pitch 6 times in his 8-year career as a lead-off hitter).

The way his 5-foot, 8-inch frame can't field line drives hit down the third base line.

But most of all, I think I will miss his .173 AVG, .223 OBP and 35 strikeouts in 122 playoff at-bats. Numbers that would make Bill Buckner blush.

Try not to choke on any bones while visiting the fish market up in Seattle, Figgy.

The Angels have no less than four hitters that would fit perfectly in the lead-off role. Whomever leads off for the Angels will score 100 runs this year, and chances are they won't strike out 100 times in the process.

Figgins certainly wasn't worth the $9 million per year he got from Seattle. Another great non-panic move from Reagins, who opted to spend the money on power hitters Bobby Abreu and Matsui instead.

X = Brandon Wood.

The departure of Chone Figgins gives way to the most intriguing storyline of the Angels' season.

WWWD?

What will Wood do?

Angels fans have been hearing about the second coming of Troy Glaus for five years now, but this could be the year the 25-year-old finally gets the opportunity to solidify himself as an everyday major league third baseman.

Wood has excelled at every level he has played at, and has been ranked among Baseball America's top 10 prospects for years. He has been brought up as a person of interest in every trade negotiation the Angels have had since he was drafted.

Angels GMs Bill Stoneman and Tony Reagins passed on names like AROD, Tejada, Soriano and Halladay in the hopes that Wood could turn into gold.

He has struggled in limited big league appearances, but has never been given enough starts to get his timing down in the majors. This is his big chance to have the breakout season Kendry Morales had last year.

If Brandon Wood can hit 25 homers this season, the Angels will once again run away with the West.

Look for Sciosica to give Wood until the All-Star Break to prove what he can do. If he falters, Maicer Izturus will be a highly capable alternative.

In the words of Whitney, "I believe the children are our future..."

Just like Wood, the highly touted Howie Kendrick struggled when he first arrived in the majors. With every at-bat, Kendrick seems to get more confident.

His swing is so pretty, it's easy to see why every scout billed him as a future batting champion. This could be the year the name "Howie Kendrick" becomes as well-known as Dustin Pedroia and Chase Utley.

The Angles lineup is filled with young studs that were just getting themselves established last year. This year will be another level of growth for most of them.

Eric Aybar is on the verge of becoming a Gold Glove shortstop.

Kendry Morales will be looking to add on to his breakout 34-homer season.

Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis will be only more savvy behind the plate, and the young Angels pitching staff has had another year to develop and learn.

There is no reason to believe they won't all be even stronger this season.

He's Baaaaaaak.....

It's as if the Angels pulled off a blockbuster trade without having to do a thing.

Scot Shields, the perennial best setup man in baseball, is pitching pain free for the first time in two years. It's the reason why Reagins felt Darren Oliver was expendable.

Look for Shields to be a front runner for Comeback Player of the Year.

Add on Brian Stokes and Fernando Rodney, and you are looking at the Angels possibly having the best bullpen in baseball once again.

The only problem the Angels' pen should have is finding the innings to get everyone enough work.

Jason Bulger, Kevin Jepsen, Matt Palmer and Brian Fuentes give the Angels so much depth in relief that games could be shortened by four innings.

What, me worry?

Quit gripping Angels fans. Your team is fine.

The Angels are the victims of Bold Prediction Syndrome (BPS).

BPS is a disease that primarily affects East Coast sports homers, who feel they need to make bold predictions before the start of every season (see Woody Paige, the poster child for this growing pandemic).

In order to be bold, and therefore "relevant," BPS sufferers take the obvious choice to win the division, and throw them under the bus in favor of teams that are nowhere near as good.

These are the same poor souls who picked Texas to win the West last year and the Angels to finish third.

The reality is, the Angels have better starting pitching, better clutch players, a better bullpen, the best coach in baseball and more power hitters than ever before.

The other teams in the West are still completely thin on pitching and Seattle in particular will not have the bats to compete.

Certainly, none have the depth of the Angels.

The Angels should win their division by at least 7 games.

Sorry BPS sufferers. Wanting something to be the case does not make it so.