Lack of Power Is Causing the Golden Halo to Flicker, and Not Shine As Brightly As It Could

Post date: May 31, 2011 2:20:54 AM

The American League West has the distinction of having all four of their teams lead in that category over the lowest team Earned Run Average in all of Major League Baseball number one through number four. The starting rotation for each of these teams is nothing to sneeze at. The offense however, at least for the Angels is a different story.

Over the last few days Angels' broadcasters and fans alike, have been highlighting the lack of Angels' offense. And I can't really say I disagree even with the offense of explosion that allowed them to defeat the Kansas City Royals by a final score of 10-8 today, I would have to say that the increase in offensive production is more due to the weather conditions of today's game rather than a sudden discovery of an offensive groove.

I am not for a minute taking away the Home Runs launched by Mark Trumbo, Peter Bourjos or the two Home Runs by Torii Hunter, who also was able to score his 1000th Run Batted in of his career. The Angels lack power not because they don't have it, but because they haven't discovered how to use it properly. Power in the lineup is something that develops naturally over time, it's something that naturally happens. If one swings for the fences in every at-bat of eventually that player is going to over extend themselves and become tired and ineffective. Even with the signing of Russell Branyan who was designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks but Angels total resolve the power outage at the Halo power plant.

Angels' fans have pointed out on Angel talk that the Angels or in need of making a major trade or transaction, some callers were asking for reasonable trades, while some proposals by fans border on the ridiculous. I would venture to say these are fantasy owners that know nothing about the game of baseball.

Although I tend to agree that the Angels need power why not look for the answer within the organization? For example somebody like Mike Trout? Some would argue that he is not ready for the big leagues, I would argue on the other hand, that he is, keeping him in the minor leagues for two long may have a detrimental effect on his career, Brandon Wood is a prime example that I believe that the Angels kept Wood in the minor leagues too long and that may have hindered his development. Wood was eventually designated for assignment about a month ago.

There is a lot of money coming off Angels' payroll next year perhaps they will be able to re-sign Jared Weaver to a long-term contract and keep their spectacular starting pitching rotation intact, and possibly pursue a power bat.

I think the issue is that a lot of Angels' fans want to win now and don't really see or care about their long-term welfare of this fabulous organization. I think it is best determine the direction that this team is going before we start talking about who were going to sign or trade for.

It's still a long season and we all have yet to see where the Angels end up. I will tell you this much we are in a much better position this year than at the same point last season. Last year everything was falling apart, the Angels were freefalling in the standings and every facet of the game went wrong. Today all we have to complain about is the lack of power and lack of performance of some pictures in the bullpen. Like I said before, the power will naturally come, although we are lacking power we are still in the mix to contend for the American League West title. At this point in the season as an Angels' fan what more can one ask for?

-ICE