Halo Heaven: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (OOTP12)

[Birdy]

Paul DePodesta Named Angels GM

After public outcry over the trade that bought Vernon Wells to Anaheim, along with $81,000,000 of his salary Tony Reagins has been forced from his post as General Manager of the Los Angeles Angels just a week before opening day.

Today, owner Arte Moreno announced that 38 year old Paul DePodesta, vice President of player development and scouting for the New York Mets, will be taking over the reigns. He was general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from February 16, 2004 to October 29, 2005 - however was fired after the 2005 club finished with its worst record in eleven years.

DePodesta comes from the Moneyball school of Billy Beane in Oakland and it is believed that he will work well with manager Mike Scioscia who is widely renowned for playing smallball. Below is a list of the deals that have been made over the offseason that DePodesta has to work with:-

Major League Signings

Scott Downs, RP: three years, $15MM.
Hisanori Takahashi, RP: two years, $8MM.
Total spend: $23MM.

Trades and Claims

Acquired LF Vernon Wells and $5MM from Blue Jays for OF Juan Rivera and C/1B Mike Napoli

Notable Losses

Juan Rivera, Mike Napoli, Hideki Matsui, Kevin Frandsen, Scot Shields

If you’re looking for 2010′s best example of an average team, look no further than the Los Angeles Angels. They seemed to do everything fairly well, but not well enough to be the best. They were just okay–hence their 80-82 record. Torii Hunter (.819 OPS), Hideki Matsui (.820) and Bobby Abreu (.787) all had fine seasons, but they certainly weren’t exceptional. The same can be said for Catcher Mike Napoli, who hit 26 HRs, and Second-Baseman Howie Kendrick, who was finally able to stay healthy for a full season.

The pitching didn’t do much better. Jered Weaver was brilliant, and they got good production from Ervin Santana, everyone else was more or less a bust. Even Dan Haren, a mid-season acquisition, put up only average numbers once traded to the team. All in all, it was a forgettable year for Mike Scioscia’s often competitive club, who will be looking to turn things around in 2011.

[Birdy]

Angels Announce Depth Chart to begin 2011

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Depth Chart - 2011

• Catcher
• Jeff Mathis vs LHP
• Hank Conger vs RHP
• Bobby Wilson

• First Base
• Mark Trumbo
• Howie Kendrick
• Bobby Wilson

• Second Base
• Howie Kendrick
• Maicer Izturis
• Alberto Callaspo

• Third Base
• Maicer Izturis
• Alberto Callaspo
• Brandon Wood

• Shortstop
• Erick Aybar
• Brandon Wood
• Maicer Izturis

• Left Field
• Vernon Wells
• Bobby Abreu
• Howie Kendrick

• Center Field
• Peter Bourjos
• Torii Hunter
• Vernon Wells

• Right Field
• Torii Hunter
• Bobby Abreu
• Mark Trumbo

• Starting Pitcher
• Jered Weaver
• Dan Haren
• Ervin Santana
• Scott Kazmir
• Trevor Bell

• Relief Pitcher
• Kevin Jepsen
• Fernando Rodney
• Jason Bulger
• Hisanori Takahashi
• Rich Thompson
• Michael Kohn

• Closer
• Jordan Walden

• Designated Hitter
• Bobby Abreu
• Alberto Callaspo

• Disabled List
• Kendrys Morales (60 Day)
• Joel Piniero
• Scott Downs
• Reggie Willits

[Birdy]

Kyle Davies shuts down sorry Angels

LAA at KAN - Kauffman Stadium
Mar 31, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles Angels (0-0)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
Kansas City Royals (0-0)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	-	2	10	1
W: Kyle Davies (1-0) L: Jered Weaver (0-1) S: Joakim Soria (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			LAA	KAN
	4	Mike Aviles homered to left. Aviles and Gordon scored.	0	2
	6	Maicer Izturis grounds out to second. Bourjos scores.	1	2

Los Angeles Angels
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Maicer Izturis 3B	4	0	0	1	0	1	0	.000
Howie Kendrick 2B	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	.000
Bobby Abreu DH	2	0	0	0	2	1	0	.000
Torii Hunter RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Vernon Wells LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mark Trumbo 1B	3	0	1	0	0	1	0	.333
Erick Aybar SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Hank Conger C	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Peter Bourjos CF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	.333
BATTING: 3B: Bourjos (1) RBI: Izturis (1)
BASERUNNING: CS: Abreu (1)
FIELDING: DP: 1 (Aybar - Kendrick - Trumbo)

Kansas City Royals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Alcides Escobar SS	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	.750
Jeff Francoeur RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Billy Butler 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Alex Gordon LF	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	.333
Mike Aviles 2B	4	1	2	2	0	1	1	.500
Chris Getz DH	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.500
Brayan Pena C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a- Matt Treanor C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mitch Maier CF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
b- Lorenzo Cain CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Wilson Betemit 3B	3	0	1	0	0	2	0	.333
BATTING: 2B: A Escobar (1) HR: M Aviles (1) GIDP: J Francoeur HBP: A Gordon RBI: M Aviles 2 (2)
BASERUNNING: SB: M Maier (1)
FIELDING: E: K Davies (1)

Los Angeles Angels
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jered Weaver	6.2	8	2	2	0	4	1	2.70
Kevin Jepsen	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Fernando Rodney	0.2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Hisanori Takahashi	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
TEAM TOTALS	8.0	10	2	2	0	4	1	2.25
PITCHING: HBP: Weaver Pitches-Strikes: Weaver 101-64, Jepsen 9-7, Rodney 16-10, Takahashi 1-1

Kansas City Royals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Kyle Davies W (1-0)	8.0	2	1	1	1	7	0	1.13
Joakim Soria S (1)	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	2	1	1	2	7	0	1.00
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Davies 100-65, Soria 18-8

On opening day, Kyle Davies pitched a masterclass against the Angels allowing just 2 hits and one run over 8 innings before stepping aside and allowing Joakim Soria to shut the door. Davies, who was perfect through the first 4.2 innings struck out 7 and earned the honour of player of the game.

On offence the Royals found no trouble collecting hits, but struggled to get runners home knocking in just 2 runs on 10 hits, both courtesy of a homer from Mike Aviles in the bottom of the 4th inning. Those were to be the winning runs for the Royals, with the Angels only managing to score after Peter Bourjos tripled to lead off the 6th.

Coming off the back of a breakout 2010 season, Jered Weaver allowed 8 hits and struck out 4 through 6.2 before handing it over to the bullpen with runners on first and third.

This was not the start to the season that the Angels were looking for, looking to rebound off the back of a poor 2010 campaign. After the game Mike Scioscia was heard to say, "It's as simple as a lack of hitting today. We pitched well, we fielded well, but didn't seem to be able to make clean contact. We've gotta give it to the guy (Kyle) Davies today, he came out here with great stuff and we didn't match it".

The Angels will be looking to bounce back tomorrow as they send Dan Haren to the mound to take on Jeff Francis.

[Birdy]

Angels Offence Awakens

LAA at KAN - Kauffman Stadium
Apr 1, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles Angels (0-1)	2	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	1	6	12	0
Kansas City Royals (1-0)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	9	1
W: Dan Haren (1-0) L: Jeff Francis (0-1) S: Jordan Walden (1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			LAA	KAN
	1	Howie Kendrick doubles. Aybar scores.	1	0
	1	Vernon Wells singles. Kendrick scores.	2	0
	1	Jeff Francoeur scores on wild pitch.	2	1
	1	Mike Aviles singles. Butler scores.	2	2
	4	Mark Trumbo singles. Hunter scores.	3	2
	4	Alberto Callaspo doubles. Trumbo scores.	4	2
	6	Vernon Wells homers. Wells scores.	5	2
	8	Alcides Escobar homers. Escobar scores.	5	3
	9	Erick Aybar singles. Mathis scores.	6	3

Los Angeles Angels
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Erick Aybar SS	5	1	1	1	0	1	0	.125
Howie Kendrick 2B	5	1	1	1	0	1	0	.111
Bobby Abreu DH	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.167
Torii Hunter RF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.125
Vernon Wells LF	4	1	3	2	0	0	1	.429
Mark Trumbo 1B	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	.286
Alberto Callaspo 3B	4	0	2	1	0	0	0	.500
Jeff Mathis C	4	1	1	0	0	2	0	.250
Peter Bourjos CF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
TEAM TOTALS	37	6	12	6	0	4	11
BATTING: 2B: Kendrick (1), Callaspo (1) 3B: Hunter (1) HR: Wells (1) GIDP: Trumbo SAC: Bourjos
BASERUNNING: CS: Bourjos (1)

Kansas City Royals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Alcides Escobar SS	4	1	2	1	0	0	1	.625
Jeff Francoeur RF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.125
Billy Butler 1B	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.250
Alex Gordon LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.286
Mike Aviles 2B	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.500
Chris Getz DH	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	.250
Brayan Pena C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.143
Mitch Maier CF	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.167
Wilson Betemit 3B	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	.143
TEAM TOTALS	35	3	9	2	1	7	12
BATTING: HR: Escobar (1)
BASERUNNING: CS: Escobar (1)
FIELDING: E: Betemit (1) DP: 1 (Escobar - Aviles - Butler)

Los Angeles Angels
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Dan Haren W (1-0)	7.1	7	3	3	0	5	1	3.68
Michael Kohn H (1)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Jordan Walden S (1)	1.0	2	0	0	1	2	0	0.00
PITCHING: WP: Haren Pitches-Strikes: Haren 98-70, Kohn 8-3, Walden 22-14

Kansas City Royals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Jeff Francis L (0-1)	7.0	8	5	3	0	4	1	3.86
Sean O'Sullivan	2.0	4	1	1	0	0	0	4.50
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Francis 114-79, O'Sullivan 27-18

The Angels offence comes to life with every player collecting a hit as they down the Royals 6-3. Vernon Wells was the star of the show going 3-4 including his first homer as an Angel.

After the game he was kind enough to give us an interview, saying 'I knew Torii (Hunter) really well before but to be honest most of these guys I hadn't really spoken to before. I couldn't have been made to feel more welcome here, to a person everyone has been great. This could be the start of something special here, I've got a great feeling about this club.'

Dan Haren started 2011 as he means to go on picking up the win after pitching 7.1 innings allowing 3 runs and striking out 5. The pitching truly looks to be a strong suit for the Angels this year, especially when Joel Piniero returns from the DL.

The Halos look to go above .500 tomorrow as they send Ervin Santana to the mound to take on Luke Hochevar

[Birdy]

Angels beat Royals, move to 2-1

LAA at KAN - Kauffman Stadium
Apr 2, 2011	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles Angels (1-1)	0	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	5	13	0
Kansas City Royals (1-1)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	0
W: Ervin Santana (1-0) L: Luke Hochevar (0-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			LAA	KAN
	2	Erick Aybar singles. Hunter scores.	1	0
	2	Chris Getz hits sacrifice fly. Gordon scores.	1	1
	5	Hank Conger doubles. Aybar scores.	2	1
	6	Erick Aybar doubles. Hunter scores.	3	1
	7	Hank Conger homered. Conger scores.	4	1
	7	Alberto Callaspo hits sacrifice fly. Bourjos scores.	5	1
	9	Billy Butler homered. Butler scores	5	2

Los Angeles Angels
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Maicer Izturis DH	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	.111
Alberto Callaspo 3B	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	.286
Brandon Wood PH, 3B	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000
Howie Kendrick 2B	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	.071
Torii Hunter RF	5	2	2	0	0	2	0	.231
Vernon Wells LF	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.300
Mark Trumbo 1B	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.364
Erick Aybar SS	3	1	2	2	1	0	0	.273
Hank Conger C	4	1	3	2	0	0	1	.426
Peter Bourjos CF	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.400
BATTING: 2B: Aybar (1), Hunter (1), Conger (1), Trumbo (1), Wood (1) HR: Conger (1) GIDP: Trumbo SF: Callaspo
BASERUNNING: SB: Izturis (1), Bourjos (1)

Kansas City Royals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Alcides Escobar SS	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.500
Jeff Francoeur RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.167
Billy Butler 1B	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	.250
Alex Gordon LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.273
Mike Aviles 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.364
Chris Getz DH	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	.200
Brayan Pena C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.100
Mitch Maier CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.111
Wilson Betemit 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
BATTING: 3B: Gordon (1) HR: Butler (1) SF: Getz
BASERUNNING: CS: Escobar (2)
FIELDING: DP: 1 (Betemit - Aviles - Butler)

Los Angeles Angels
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ervin Santana W (1-0)	7.0	4	1	1	0	1	0	1.29
Rich Thompson	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Jason Bulger	1.0	1	1	1	0	2	1	9.00
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Santana 83-51, Thompson 12-6, Bulger 14-11

Kansas City Royals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Luke Hochevar L (0-1)	8.0	12	5	5	2	3	1	5.63
Jesse Chavez	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
PITCHING: Pitches-Strikes: Hochevar 111-71, Chavez 13-9

The bottom of the lineup came through today with batters 6-9 contributing 9 hits, 3 runs and 4 RBI's. Hank Conger repaid the faith shown in him to have him platooning in his rookie year going 3-4 with a homer, a double, and 2 RBI's. Erick Aybar also drove in a pair on two hits including a double, and is looking to return to some of the numbers he put up in 2009 after the dissapointment of last year.

Ervin Santana earned the win after limiting the Royals to 4 hits through 7 innings. Another promising sign for the Angels is the bullpen this year, who today allowed only their first run all year after combining for 4.2 scoreless innings up to that point.

Many questioned the decision making of the Royals in this game after they left Luke Hochevar in to pitch 8 innings whilst the Angel hitters were clearly getting to him, scoring in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings to take the game away.

A very interesting proposition looms tomorrow as Scott Kazmir takes the mound coming off a horrendous 2010 with an ERA of 5.94 and a WHIP of 1.58. He will certainly need to improve on that if he hopes to keep his spot in the rotation this year with Trevor Bell currently sitting in the rotation until Pineiro returns from the DL, along with Matt Palmer and Tyler Chatwood both looming in the minors. The Royals counter with lefty Bruce Chen as they look to split the series.

[Birdy]

Unfortunately the save file for this game has been corrupted. Will be starting up a new one most likely on MLB The Show later this week.