Orange County Register

In Buster Olney’s mind, they’re fourth, behind the Yankees, Red Sox and White Sox:

“Lackey is gone, but if Santana is healthy, this could be an excellent group.”

Perhaps. The Angels rotation is balanced, for sure, but what they gain in depth they lose by not having any one (or two, or in the Red Sox’ case three) true aces. I’d probably take the Rays over the Angels, and I’d definitely take the Mariners, too . Seattle’s top 2 pitchers alone accumulated more Wins Above Replacement in 2009 (13.5 WAR) than the Angels entire five (13.3). Ryan Rowland-Smith’s 3.74 ERA would have been tops among the Angels rotation last year, and Erik Bedard — whenever he is healthy enough to join the team this summer — is better on an inning-per-inning basis than anyone the Angels have. Seattle’s starters led the American League in ERA last year by a wide margin before adding Cliff Lee. And a post-season rotation of Hernandez, Lee and Bedard lets the Mariners mimic the 2009 Yankees — give 70 percent of their postseason innings to three great pitchers.

So, yeah, I think the Mariners have the edge there. The lineup, though, is a whole different story.

Chris Jaffe’s been to 14 Major League stadiums, and today he ranks them. Jonah Keri and Tangotiger follow with their own rankings. Jaffe has Angels Stadium ninth, but only came here when the stadium was being renovated and much of it was closed off.

My travels have been limited. San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium was cavernous and, from the outfield, it was impossible to find the count or how many outs there were. Same with Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. I hate Dodger Stadium because security can’t control the bleachers, and my friend once had her Giants hat ripped from her head, torn in two, then flung away from her. Candlestick was obviously far too cold, but I didn’t mind that — I minded the congested parking lot when trying to leave the stadium, and the low, distant left field seats they had in the 1980s. I haven’t been to McAfee Coliseum in Oakland since they started covering the top tier, but it felt I love the concourse areas of Petco — feels like you’re walking through a cool downtown, even when you’re in the stadium. Angels Stadium is an underrated jewel, especially from any seat in the inner half of the stadium — plus, free street parking not far away. AT&T Park in San Francisco is the best park I’ve ever been to by any standard other than parking rates (as I recall, it was $25 or $30 this year). Great cheap seats, amazing ballpark food, reliable sight lines, opportunities for photography, dimensional quirks, and a solid enough surrounding area.

What’s your top stadium, and where does Angels Stadium rank?

• We’ve talked about Baseball America’s top 10 Angels prospects, but Stephen C. Smith got his hands on the publication’s top 31, which includes what could probably be taken as the most promising statement of Mark Trumbo’s upside from anyone this winter.

• Of MLB Trade Rumors’ All-Unsigned team, three players are Boras clients — Johnny Damon and Felipe Lopez, who seem likely to be way underpaid based on production, and Jarrod Washburn, who probably expected (but didn’t necessarily deserve) a healthy contract by now. So MLBTR follows up with the question: Did Boras let these guys down?

“Since Damon, Washburn, and Lopez remain unsigned, we can’t label Boras a failure with these three clients quite yet.  However, they’ll likely illustrate cases where Boras’ long-standing strategies of ridiculous initial demands and signing late cost his clients millions.”

• The reviews of the 2009 projection systems are in, and (via the Book) some takeaways:

• PECOTA, once the industry leader, was as ineffective in 2009 as simply taking each player’s 2008 stats and expecting them to replicate them.
• I had never heard of the Steamer projections, but it had a very credible debut, and the methodology is promising.
• And Tangotiger’s conclusion: “It looks to me like we found our secret recipe: Chone/ZiPS forecasts for rate, with Fantistics for playing time.”

• Like True Grich, I assumed Torii Hunter was universally popular, the heir to Sean Casey’s status as “The Mayor.” But James finds some Twins fans who don’t like Hunter. I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising, but … it is.

• If Mike Scioscia really wants to make the case that Mike Napoli is an inferior defender, he should give him one of these nicknames. I like Pat  ”Whoops” Creeden the best.

• Rogues Baseball Index has been absolutely killing it lately, and the definition for the UnManny Valley might set a new standard.

• Bud Selig is getting a statue.

With a week to go before players begin to report, MLBTradeRumors has the all-unsigned team. How good would that team be? According to the CHONE projections, not terrible.

A starting lineup of Rod Barajas, Russ Branyan, Felipe Lopez, Nomar Garciaparra, Joe Crede, Johnny Damon, Endy Chavez, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Delgado would hit .258/.323/.423, pretty much a dead ringer for the 2009 Chicago White Sox and a better OPS than four AL teams last year. Nomar would be out of position at shortstop, and Jermaine Dye is a disaster in right field, but otherwise it’s a solid defensive team — Branyan, Lopez, Crede and Chavez were all above-average defensively last year, according to Ultimate Zone Rating.

The pitching staff of Pedro Martinez, Chien-Ming Wang, Jarrod Washburn, John Smoltz and Braden Looper would combine for a 4.86 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP, just a shade higher than AL starters’ 4.62 ERA in 2009. But they would only average 137 innings per starter, and this make-believe team doesn’t have a ton of depth.

I’d guess all these guys sign for a combined $50 million or so, so once the bench is filled it’s about a $65-$70 million team with a moderate chance at finishing as high as fourth place.  Like the Blue Jays.

Injury maven Will Carroll has released his annual Team Health Report spreadsheet, where every projected starting player, starting pitcher and 8th/9th inning reliever is given either a red, yellow or green ranking based on how likely they are to hit the disabled list this year.

Eleven of the Angels’ 16 key players get a green rating (green is good), the highest number of any team. Only two other teams have as many as 10 players in green, and the Rangers and Red Sox have just four greens. Three Angels — Hideki Matsui, Ervin Santana and Fernando Rodney — get reds.

That would obviously be a huge turnaround from last year, when the Angels lost 873 days and 24 percent of their payroll to injuries.