Three weeks in and the season has been anything but heavenly for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. They’re several games below 500 and near the bottom of their division… things could be worse, but they are not looking like championship contenders.
Starting pitching has been an unexpected strength, but the bullpen is shaky and the hitting has been dismal. The club’s two biggest stars – Mike Trout and Albert Pujols – are among those not swinging the bats well. Everyone expects Trout to come around, but the Pujols situation is troubling. The first baseman/designated hitter still has five years and more than $150 million left on his contract.
Meanwhile, there’s not a lot of help on the way from the Angels weak farm system. And owner Arte Moreno -one a vocal booster of the club – has been strangely quiet.
Now in 2016, the Angels sole World Series title, in 2002 against the San Francisco Giants, is beginning to seem like a long tome ago for Halo fans.
“There kind of teetering in a dangerous spot because their Major League team has some issues, they’re probably an average Major League team right now,” says Jeff Fletcher, who covers the Angels for the Orange County Register newspaper. “And the farm system is very bad. It’s probably the worst in all of baseball. They need to make some decisions I think. If they don’t have a good season this year, they may need to have to trade some guys.”
