Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over. Meet the...
Team about to win about 15 less games this season. Teams in their division have closed the gap on the Angels, who are aging in some spots and not yet developed at others. The biggest factor to consider in fantasy is how many less games their starting pitchers will likely win.
The Breakout
It is time. Brandon Wood has been pined over by fantasy owners for the past two seasons, but he has yet to fulfill his gargantuan promise in several short major league stints. This year, at age 24, he will start to show what he's got.
Thus far, in his 187 plate appearances in the majors, he's shown no grasp of the strike zone, putting up a mind-boggling 55 strikeouts to only four free passes. That's the type of ugliness that can ruin careers. This spring, though, he's doing much better. Through Monday, he had 34 plate appearances and had only struck out three times. He also garnered two walks, and is killing the ball. Wood is hitting .375 with a .719 slugging percentage this spring.
Yes, it's true that spring stats don't necessarily translate, but we're talking about a kid who absolutely obliterates minor league pitching. In 2005, he hit .321 with 43 home runs and 116 RBI in 134 games. Last season, he hit 31 homers and drove home 84 runs in only 103 triple-A games.
This season, he eventually earns a full-time job with the Angels -- and progressively moves his way to the middle of the lineup. He's even slimmed down, in an attempt to gain more agility, in case he needs to play shortstop.
The Bust
Joe Saunders was way too good last year. With a mediocre-at-best and embarrassing-at-worst strikeout rate (only 103 punch outs in 198 innings), you better be able to count on that 3.41 ERA and those 17 wins again. And that, you just can't do. First of all, wins are not to be counted on -- and the Angels aren't winning 100 games again. Secondly, his peripherals show he was the beneficiary of some nice fortune last year. His BABIP was only .267 and the Angels defense played like world beaters behind him. Things will normalize this season.
If you get ready to draft Saunders, ask yourself if you want a 4.30 ERA and 12 wins with those lackluster Ks. I'll take Kevin Slowey, Ted Lilly, or Clayton Kershaw instead (all of whom are behind him on current ADP charts).
The Lineup
1. Chone Figgins, 3B
2. Howie Kendrick, 2B
3. Bobby Abreu, LF
4. Vladimir Guerrero, RF
5. Torii Hunter, CF
6. Juan Rivera, DH
7. Kendry Morales, 1B
8. Mike Napoli, C
9. Erick Aybar / Brandon Wood, SS
The supremely overpaid Gary Matthews will also participate in the outfield logjam. Figgins could lend a hand as well, clearing a better path for Wood, if injury issues arise. In that outfield, it's hard to see them not arising.
The Rotation
1. John Lackey
2. Ervin Santana*
3. Joe Saunders
4. Jered Weaver
5. Dustin Moseley
Nick Adenhart could factor here eventually, but he took some steps backward last season. Also, Kelvim Escobar is slated to come back around the All-Star break. Take note in DL leagues.
*Santana is out for at least a few starts, so downgrade his status a bit in all leagues.
The Bullpen
CL - Brian Fuentes
SU - Jose Arredondo
SU - Scot Shields
The Skinny
It's a pretty deep fantasy squad here, as there are quality options nearly everywhere. Vlad, Abreu, and Hunter aren't what they once were, but they should definitely be owned in all leagues. Lackey is a fantasy ace in larger leagues, and a very solid SP2 in shallow leagues. Fuentes should fill in nicely for K-Rod, but you aren't seeing anywhere near those save chances again. Some others ...
- Figgins is versatile enough to keep himself on the field, but injuries have prevented that the past two seasons. With no power and a chance his speed starts to deteriorate at age 31, he's not as solid a pick as he used to be.
- Several owners in your league may have soured on Kendrick. You see, he's from the same school as Delmon Young, Matt Cain, and even Alex Gordon. We've waited the past three seasons for his big breakout season, and it hasn't come yet, as he's still never played more than 92 games. Remember, though, Kendrick is only 25 years-old. Also remember, Figgins has a .360 career batting average in the minors. This kid has 15-homer, 25-stolen base potential, in addition to winning the batting title. It could happen as early as this year.
- Another still-young player some seem to have written off is Weaver. Though he's spun over 460 innings in his career, he's still only 26. His strikeout rate rose significantly last season, but so did his ERA. Still, I believe he's headed in the right direction and has 15 wins, an ERA under 4.00, a WHIP around 1.25 and 175 strikeouts in him.
- There aren't many, if any, non-closing relievers more valuable than Arredondo.
- Finally, if we could ever get regular playing time out of Napoli, he'd be a monster. Last season he hit 20 home runs and stole seven bases with a .273 average. He did this in only 78 games. At 27 years-old, he's still got some room for growth as well. If he stays healthy and the Angels can overlook his sub-par defense enough to get him in the lineup 125 times, he's going to be an elite fantasy catcher.
