Should Fans Be Upset About The Angels

The Los Angels Angels of Anaheim had the best record in all of baseball last year. They had expectations of nothing less then a world championship, and rightfully so. They had one of the best run producing lineups in baseball, an excellent starting five, and the best closer in all of baseball.

What happened? Well they ran into the Boston Red Sox, a team that they had gone down in the first round twice, both being sweeps. They avoided a sweep, but were still taken down in four games, and quickly their hopes of a world championship were diminished.

That was only the beginning of their problems. Their best hitter, and All-Star closer were both free agents, and were not afraid to look elsewhere for more money. Teixeira signed with the Yankees and will no doubtfully make them a much better team then they were last season. K-Rod went to the Mets (who are in desperate need of just getting to the postseason). He will no have an easier time in the NL pitching in a weaker conference.

As it seams the Angels did not make a very big effort to sign either of those two back. It was very odd to watch other teams bid on these two All-Stars and in a market like Los Angels you would think that they would offer at least something decent. Not even being an Angels fan I found that rather disturbing.

Then there were the other big names out there. C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Ben Sheets, Manny Ramirez. Ramirez is one player that seems like would be an excellent fit in a town he is already familiar with, and would be playing with Vladimir Guerrero, who is an amazing player. They have not offered Manny a deal as far as we know and will need someone like him when the season comes around.

The there is Adam Dunn, another player out there that I did not even mention. Yes his average is down, but his power numbers are incredible, and Los Angels is certainly a market that could afford him, but of course, no such offer has been made to him.

The team that won 100 games last year seems to be destined to a much weaker team, and one that could possibly be challenged next season by perhaps Oakland, who did make the big move and traded for Matt Holliday, a player that will help them out a lot.

The one positive is that John Lackey will be healthy and ready for the season, and Santana should only improve, but there are still a lot of questions about who will be at the back end of the bullpen, and who their power hitter will be, because Guerrero has been declining for the past few years and will continue to do so.

I remain skeptic about their ability next year, and I think Angel fans feel the same way.