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Today we reach the favorites to win the AL West, the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels won the West last season by a staggering 21 games, and are probably the one team in all of baseball most likely to reach the postseason.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Last Season’s Result: 100-62

Major Offseason Changes

• Added RF Bobby Abreu (Signed from New York Yankees)
• Added RP Brian Fuentes (Signed from Colorado)
• Lost LF Garret Anderson (Signed with Atlanta)
• Lost SP Jon Garland (Signed with Arizona)
• Lost RP Francisco Rodriguez (Signed with New York Mets)
• Lost 1B Mark Teixeira (Signed with New York Yankees)

Letter Grades

• Offseason Moves: D There’s no other way to look at it, the Angel aren’t as good as last year. Abreu is better than Anderson, but Rodriguez is superior to Fuentes, so that’s a wash at best. That also doesn’t account for the departures of Jon Garland and Mark Teixeira, both of which are huge blows to this team. With Santana going down early, the Angel will surely miss Garland, and well, Tex is Tex, there ain’t no replacing that type of production.

• Rotation Grade: C+ The loss of Ervin Santana lowers the grade on this rotation. Lackey and Saunders can be counted on, but after that everything is up in the air.

• Bullpen Grade: B This group was among the league’s best in 2008, and despite the loss of K-Rod, they are poised to remain an elite group. I like Fuentes as closer, although he’s in an impossible spot following Rodriguez’s record setting season.

• Lineup Grade: B- Not enough power for my liking, or anybody’s for that matter. I don’t know if a single player in this lineup gets to 25 HRs. No, not even Vlad. If I had to wager on somebody, it would be Mike Napoli.

Player most closely linked to team’s 2009 hopes: Jered Weaver. Weaver is a quality starter, but the Angels need more than that this season. With a weaker lineup and bullpen, not to mention better division opponents, the Angels need to get the most from their rotation. Now that it appears Ervin Santana may miss some time, Weaver becomes all the more important.

Biggest Breakout Star Potential: Brian Fuentes. In 2008 K-Rod set a record for saves, and then bounced for New York City. What he left behind was an opportunity and a spotlight. Everybody will be watching to see how the new guy answers the challenge. With an abundance of attention, Fuentes will get the chance to become a star as LA’s new stopper.

Best Case Scenario: The rest of the division continues to be lousy. If that’s the case, then the Angels coast to the title, whether they win 88 or 100.

Worst Case Scenario: The rest of the division picks it up after a down year. The argument could be made for each of the Angels’ division foes to improve this season. If the Angels slip up, they may lose their shot at the playoffs, and being swept by Boston

Prediction for 2009: 93-69. 1st place in the AL West.

Local Thoughts

Sorry, no local thoughts for the Halos.