The 2015 Angels are not a 98 win team.........

[Ohtaniland]

They don't need to be.......let me explain.

Let's face it, the 2014 team was not suppose to win 98 games and a lot had to go right for them to accomplish that even though a lot went wrong. It's extremely difficult to win 98 MLB games and they did it with the losses of Richards and Skaggs. But, they were picked up by Shoemaker, some great bullpen work and Street was amazing.

Here's the catch..... I believe that the 2015 team will win the division with 92-93 wins but this year's roster will be better equipped for a much deeper playoff run than the 2014 "98" win team. I don't believe Seattle or any other AL West team did enough to close the gap. I like that Dipoto stayed away from the big splash's and has allowed the youth to compete.

Josh will most likely see some improvement but we now have Joyce to back him up. Albert will be one year removed from surgeries and should have a full healthy season. My point is that I think that last year's 98 wins was impressive but that team was soft. This year's team will not win 98 games because the Houston's of the world will pick off some games but we will be tougher and much better prepared to compete in the playoffs. I also believe that Kole Calhoun is going to catch some national attention this season.

Angels 93 wins

Mariners 89 wins

A's 82 wins

Astros 78 wins

Rangers 74 wins

Edited January 11, 2015 by CALZONE

[KevinJ14]

Dipoto stayed away from the big splash...so far. I don't think we will know for sure because Scherzer/Shields asking prices may drop.

[laagamer]

This is an interesting thing that I've considered.

The past few seasons have seen a dramatic fluctuation of power in the AL West on a yearly basis. Especially when you consider the preseason favorites.

Of course I'm fairly confident we'll compete, but it will be interesting to see which other team will step it up.

Seattle shouldn't be counted out. Neither should Texas.

[DW711]

This is still jumping the gun...we're not even at Spring Training yet and Texas is dismissed way too easily.

[Oz27]

This is still jumping the gun...we're not even at Spring Training yet and Texas is dismissed way too easily.

Indeed. There's four teams who I feel have a legitimate chance of winning the division. The Angels I still feel are the favorites but Seattle are strong, Oakland's pitching talent makes them impossible to rule out and Texas has to at least be some chance. It's an incredibly talented division and the winner might well end up having to win more than 95 games.

 

As for the original post and this point in particular...

 

"a lot had to go right for them to accomplish that (98 wins)"

 

Really that's just not true. What made last year's team so impressive was there was no shortage of things that went wrong. Pre season I'd have told you we could have won 98 games...if Pujols and Hamilton had returned to MVP-caliber form and Weaver and Wilson had also got back to their best. But none of those things came close to happening. In addition, of the starters we viewed as our top six heading into spring training, Mulder missed the whole season, Santiago stunk for quite awhile, Wilson stunk for much longer and Skaggs and Richards missed most of the second half. Don't get me wrong, lots of teams go through similar adversity. But any implication of good fortune in what we achieved last year is pretty ridiculous. It's not like we got a particularly good run with injuries or career years.

[QuinlansMinion]

A full year of this pitching staff will get 98 wins, if we were able to get 98 last year.  A dominant pen, a full year of dominant Shoemaker, a full year of Richards, an improved Weaver and Wilson, this team should be able to win 98 games again.  The losses of Kendrick and Jepsen are not enough to make the team that much worse.  

[Inside Pitch]

This is still jumping the gun...we're not even at Spring Training yet and Texas is dismissed way too easily.

 

I agree its early still but Texas was vastly overrated by people going into last year IMO.  Most projections models had them lumped in with the Angels as a 2nd/3rd place team and that may have been optimistic given they were projecting Harrison and Holland to see much more play time than they actually did.  Well, Holland is back, Harrison is trying to be the first to come back from whatever surgery he had last year (his fourth), and nobody has any clue what to expect from Prince Fielder.  It's been over a year now since Jurickson Profar played a game -- to say he might need to spend some time in the minors might be a bit of an understatement.  Choo is a good bet to rebound and they added a nice arm that should help solidify the middle of their rotation but they seem to have the most question marks and the least improved team in the AL West as of right now.     

Edited January 11, 2015 by Inside Pitch

[eligrba]

I do not care how many wins the Angels have in the season.  I do care on about many wins they have in the playoffs. The question for me is, Can they win enough games to get to the playoffs and then win 11 more games?

 

Scioscia's teams have not yet demonstrated an ability to win playoff games consistently.  Not sure why.  Bruce Bochy's teams seems to elevate their play in the playoffs while Mike Scioscia's teams do not.

[AngelStew43]

The 2014 Angels weren't even supposed to win 81.

[Glen]

It's never too early to predict how a season will unfold.

[wopphil]

I agree its early still but Texas was vastly overrated by people going into last year IMO. Most projections models had them lumped in with the Angels as a 2nd/3rd place team and that may have been optimistic given they were projecting Harrison and Holland to see much more play time than they actually did. Well, Holland is back, Harrison is trying to be the first to come back from whatever surgery he had last year (his fourth), and nobody has any clue what to expect from Prince Fielder. It's been over a year now since Jurickson Profar played a game -- to say he might need to spend some time in the minors might be a bit of an understatement. Choo is a good bet to rebound and they added a nice arm that should help solidify the middle of their rotation but they seem to have the most question marks and the least improved team in the AL West as of right now.

Yep, I agree, Texas doesn't concern me in the least. Not only the number of injuries they sustained, but the severity of those injuries means a number of those guys either won't be playing this year or won't be playing at a high level.

If Darvish, Fielder, Holland, Harrison, Perez and Profar all returned in perfect health and prior form, the Rangers would be good. But that just simply won't happen.

[Angelsjunky]

I think the main difference between the 2014 and 2015 teams is that the floor is much higher on this year's team. I just don't see how they can win fewer than 85 games, unless all hell breaks loose. That's what depth brings you--not necessarily a higher ceiling; for that you need a bunch of career years, timely hitting, and luck--but certainly a higher floor, which means we can breathe a bit easier going into the year, and also our chances of making it to the postseason are greatly increased.

 

As for 98 games, I find it unwise to predict more than 95 wins for ANY team. When predicting, I think you can say that a truly great team is a 95+ win team, a very good team is 90-95ish, a good team 85-90ish, a decent team 75-85ish wins, a poor team 65-75ish, and a totally crappy team 65 or less. Anything outside of that 65-95 range is quite rare and a lot has to go wrong or right to make it happen. In other words, even for the most stacked team I wouldn't say anything more than "this team could very easily win 95+ games."

 

Right now I'd put this team in the very good range, with a likely range of 90-95 or so, but I think it within the realm of reasonable possibility that they win anywhere from 85-100. Below or above that would be a pretty big surprise.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Angelsjunky

[Stradling]

I have no idea how many games they will win, however to say a lot of things went right only tells half the story. Sure Calhoun had his best season, Cowgill played well in Hamilton's absence, Shoemaker pitched great all year as did Richards, but let's look at what went wrong. Hamilton and Wilson were just plain awful. Santiago had to be taken out of the rotation. Richards and Skaggs were hurt and didn't finish the season. Freese was not good in the first half and we were hoping Ian Frickin' Stewart would help us at third. The bullpen the first six weeks or so was as bad as it gets. Hamilton spent a couple months on the DL. Albert played decent but not great, and Trout led the world in K's, and arguably had his worst season to date. Not to mention we finished the last month of the season having "bullpen" games every fifth day. So to say a lot of things went right is true, but the exact opposite article or post could be written, "Considering all the things that went wrong this past year, we could easily win 98 games this year". All that being said I expect 90-95 wins because, baseball.

[LAAMike]

With a stronger bullpen, we should get off to a better start than 2014. What I am still concerned about is our hitting with runners in scoring position. I hate the fact that we are not a running team anymore in terms of stolen bases although we do seem to go from first to third at a high rate.

[Bruce Nye]

IMO injuries are a major part of a team's success.  This year it seems JD has loaded the farm with more help than in prior years.

[Second Base]

I agree and disagree, the 98 wins were a soft 98. But what are the chances Trout is better? Hamilton? Calhoun? Joyce/Cron? Freese?

I feel like all the guys I just listed are going to be better than they were last year. I get the feeling Weav will take a step back, Wilson will crap the bed and be dealt, but I also think Santiago will be better and Heaney and Tropeano will be at least as good as Skaggs last year.

The bullpen will be better. A full year of Street plus no Frieri offsets the loss of Jepsen. Morin will be great, Pestano will make a huge difference, and if things shake out the way I think they will, the bullpen will likely have two good lefties in Cesar Ramos and Hector Santiago.

No predictions on how many they'll win, except to say I think they'll repeat as AL West champions.

[Troll Daddy]

Picking win totals are meaningless but fun. It's what makes the off season interesting. There are a lot of AL teams that got better in the off season.

The Angels are definitely the favorites going into the season with the Mariners closely behind. The A's have announced there still in it to win it. The Astros should improve there win total. Rangers are anybody's guess ... I expect them to compete.

It's a race to 90+ wins ... first one there gets into the playoffs. Injuries will play a big factor as always.

[Angelfaninidaho]

I was working in Seattle and Portland the last few days so I had a lot of time to listen to Doug Gottlieb and the other local sports radio guys.  They are all 100% convinced that the Mariners will destroy the AL West.  One (not Gottlieb) going as far as saying the separation between them and the Angels will be "the biggest gap between 1st and 2nd place in any division in baseball.."  They'll be good, but the myopia was comical..

[Troll Daddy]

If Wilson falters like some here predict ... it will be a blow to the team. I believe he comes back strong next season. It wouldn't surprise me if he's our third best pitcher.

[Stradling]

I would love for Wilson to have a bounce back season, but if he doesn't I hope Scioscia has no problems calling on the next guy in line. Because he is a veteran, I would give him the first month to get it figured out, if he doesn't then simply move him to the pen and hand the ball to Tropeano, or Santiago, or Heaney, whoever isn't currently starting.

[Troll Daddy]

I would love for Wilson to have a bounce back season, but if he doesn't I hope Scioscia has no problems calling on the next guy in line. Because he is a veteran, I would give him the first month to get it figured out, if he doesn't then simply move him to the pen and hand the ball to Tropeano, or Santiago, or Heaney, whoever isn't currently starting.

Don't put the decision solely on Scioscia. It's not a in game decision.

[Stradling]

I will put the decision completely on Scioscia. It is his choice how to use his players, whether a pitcher should be a starter or a reliever. TD, if you have read anything during the season that I have ever written, then you would know that I am at the absolute minimum, fair to Scioscia.

[Troll Daddy]

I will put the decision completely on Scioscia. It is his choice how to use his players, whether a pitcher should be a starter or a reliever. TD, if you have read anything during the season that I have ever written, then you would know that I am at the absolute minimum, fair to Scioscia.

Don't take this personally but you're wrong.

[Troll Daddy]

Here is another one of my theories. I believe if you take Hamilton and Wilson off the roster we are no longer the favorites. I'm not saying we can't win the division .., so don't go postal on me.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Troll Daddy

[Stradling]

Here is my theory, if those two produce we are the favorites. If they don't produce we can still win the division, as last year is proof of that. We will all root for them to play well, but I don't begrudge anyone that is frustrated by either player. Hell Wilson, even when pitching well is very difficult to watch. He throws a ton of pitches, and seems to pitch around way too many hitters, which in turn means he doesn't go as deep into games as he could if he would be a little more efficient, especially against the bottom third of line ups. As far as Hamilton goes, I only care about his production. I don't pretend he doesn't care like others on the board, because only he knows if he is giving it his all. I don't even get pissed at him for diving head first into first base last year. I looked at that as an effort play, just not a real smart effort play. If he doesn't produce, then I will want him platooned, which once again will be on Scioscia.