Power Rankings: Angels banking that prospects are ready

Updated March 26

The Angels organization made a choice years ago: Focus on pitching and defense. It also vowed to avoid the temptation to raid its farm system to support its offense with a big bat.

Now it has a chance to lay out the big ol' "Told you so."

Is Jered Weaver ready to assume the role of ace for the Angels? (Getty Images)

With John Lackey (triceps) out at least a month and Kelvim Escobar (shoulder) recently shut down, the Angels will have a chance to showcase all of the pitching it horded in lieu of a big bat. It will also have opportunities for the farm talent that once made it the No. 1 in Baseball America's prospect rankings.

Losing one front-line veteran arm was enough, but make it two and then add No. 1 starter Erik Bedard to a live underdog in Seattle. There you have a formula for a changing of the guard in the AL West.

"We know in order to catch the Angels it's going to be about good pitching," Seattle manager John McLaren said after dealing the prospects, including Adam Jones, to Baltimore.

Jones was the type of player the Angels always feared letting get away.

Even this winter, they couldn't pull the trigger to add Miguel Cabrera or Miguel Tejada when everything added up for them to finally get a protector for lonely slugger Vladimir Guerrero. Instead, they deal their starting shortstop for former 18-game winner Jon Garland and sign a yet another Gold Glove caliber center fielder in Torii Hunter, one winter after spending $50 million on Gary Matthews.

But the Angels, who we drop from No. 7 to No. 9 in our preseason Power Rankings, not only feel they have the pitching, they expect to have the bats to get the job done over the upstart Mariners and rebuilding Rangers and A's in the AL West.

With Lackey and Escobar out -- Escobar perhaps for the year -- the Angels turn to lefty Joe Saunders and Dustin Moseley or top pitching prospect Nick Adenhart, a 21-year-old. None of these arms has pitched a full 180-inning season in a rotation as a pro.

While Jered Weaver is entering his third season and should be ready to assume the role of staff ace, those young back-end arms will still be asked to perform like the top veteran arms the Angels are accustomed to throwing out there.

"If (Howie) Kendrick and (Casey) Kotchman emerge the way their progression says they can, this lineup is going to get real deep in a hurry, and that's important," Angels manager Mike Scioscia told the Sports Xchange. "We're going to score enough to win.

"When you're talking about playing against some of those other offenses, you'd better be pitching well. I think we're going to have the ability to pitch well against some of the dynamic offensive teams in our league."

The Angels added Hunter behind Vlad, but they still aren't quite ready to outslug teams.

"I don't want to compare offense to offense," Scioscia said. "I want to compare their offense to our pitching because that's what's going to be important. We've got enough offense to support our pitching and do what we need to do. We need to pitch well against some of those better offenses and against any team."

Now, clearly Scioscia wasn't referring to the Mariners, who are built on pitching and defense like they are. He was talking about the monster lineups of the Red Sox, Tigers, Indians and Yankees.

In order to worry about matching up against those teams, he first will have to outdo the Mariners in their own division and at their own game.

Preseason Power Rankings:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Red Sox · Trends	2
	Well, that didn't take long for them to return to the top of the East and these rankings. Deep starting pitching makes them a candidate to be here awhile.
	2	Diamondbacks · Trends	1
	They have built the best record in baseball beating on the NL West, so we are only a little bit surprised they have lost three of four. Max Scherzer will be much better than he showed in his first start, but how long will he be in the rotation?
	3	Angels · Trends	4
	We are still not sure about their offense among the elite, but you cannot argue with their pitching. "Back-end" starters Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana are just the eighth pair of teammates to start a season 6-0 since 1920.
	4	Cardinals · Trends	6
	They have a league-low six losses among their starting pitchers. This is what a team's start looks like if your perceived weakness winds up being a strength. The Cards' patchwork rotation is fifth-best in ERA at 3.60.
	5	Phillies · Trends	8
	Their surprising bullpen is a league-best 10-5 and boasts the third-best ERA at 2.79. They are going to be one tough contender if they can sustain that in the summer months when Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins start to heat up.
	6	Cubs · Trends	3
	They've hit the skids a bit, but Alfonso Soriano's return from the DL will eventually lead to another hot streak.
	7	Mets · Trends	7
	A road series victory in Arizona was a good sign, but they still don't look like a team much better than an also-ran at this point. Oliver Perez continues to prove he's just another erratic lefty.
	8	Dodgers · Trends	20
	This is more like what we thought they were capable of. Their offense got hot all at once -- well, save for the awful decline of Andruw Jones.
	9	Braves · Trends	9
	A suspect bullpen will be improved as Rafael Soriano (elbow) and John Smoltz (shoulder) return, but how will the rotation be able to hold together? But they might have their most productive offense in years. Only the D-Backs (.459) have a higher slugging percentage than the Braves (.452).
	10	Yankees · Trends	10
	They lose Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada and Phil Hughes to the DL and send Ian Kennedy to the minors. It has been a tough stretch, but they still manage to sweep the Mariners.
	11	Athletics · Trends	11
	Rich Harden (shoulder) is returning, which will make an already solid rotation even better. But the problem is that punchless offense will expose itself before long. They have scored the sixth-most runs (161) to date despite being in the bottom third in OPS (.701). They are maximizing their OPS, but that just won't last.
	12	Brewers · Trends	5
	The loss of Yovani Gallardo (knee) for the season and their recent cold stretch gets them downgraded significantly from the top five. One of the worst bullpens in baseball to date (4.70 ERA) shouldn't slot Eric Gagne as the closer much longer.
	13	Blue Jays · Trends	19
	If not for an AL-worst 1-7 record in the bullpen, they would be a lot better positioned in the mish-mash AL East. The Jays need to gain ground now while the Yankees are banged up.
	14	Rays · Trends	13
	Payback in Fenway was rough, but you still have to be excited about the direction they are headed in, particularly the potential of their starting pitching.
	15	Twins · Trends	22
	If Johan Santana was still around, we would give them a lot better shot to take advantage of the struggling AL Central. A great bullpen gives them a chance, if and only if the young rotation doesn't overstress it.
	16	Marlins · Trends	14
	Andrew Miller looked much better his last time out and Mark Hendrickson is off to a career-best start, but the starting rotation still has the second-worst ERA in baseball (5.56). Only a hot offense has been able to cover that big wart, but that offense is bound to slow down, especially with Josh Willingham (back) and Mike Jacobs (finger) banged up.
	17	Astros · Trends	25
	We love their offensive potential but just hate the depth of their starting pitching after Roy Oswalt. A strong offense and suspect rotation will make them a streaky team capable of beating on anyone and then losing to anyone in stretches.
	18	Indians · Trends	16
	Only the Royals have a worse slugging percentage in the AL to date. That just can't last. If it does, the Indians will be toast in the division, because the Tigers or even the White Sox are sure to get hot with the bats.
	19	White Sox · Trends	12
	Is Ozzie Guillen really trying to get himself fired at this point? We actually find him entertaining, but certainly he is bad publicity. But he takes the pressure off the team, we suppose.
	20	Tigers · Trends	17
	Just when you think they have turned the corner, they drop back into a funk. Big offensive teams are streaky, but we figured they would pitch a lot better than they have. Their 5.36 rotation ERA is the AL's worst, another stat we don't think will last.
	21	Mariners · Trends	15
	They have struggled mightily away from the Great Northwest (6-12). This homestand should help them turn things around. Despite the A's start, we still think the M's can prove to be the AL West runners-up.
	22	Orioles · Trends	18
	This is more like what we expected from them. We wouldn't be surprised if they didn't make it back into the top 20 the rest of the season. In fact, we give them a legit shot at battling the Rangers for the worst in the AL.
	23	Reds · Trends	21
	Johnny Cueto was able to kick out of his funk, but how long of a leash will Bronson Arroyo need? Arroyo's struggles could make him trade bait, but who wants him at this point?
	24	Royals · Trends	23
	The offense just looks pitiful right now. You have to stay patient with Alex Gordon and Billy Butler, though. They were rushed to the majors and deserve a few years before they are labeled busts.
	25	Giants · Trends	24
	You have to like their feistiness, but the least impressive offense in baseball coming into the season has scored a league-low 106 runs. The young pitching of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez deserves better.
	26	Nationals · Trends	29
	Only the Royals and Padres have a worse OPS to date. You figured the new home park would help them score more runs. At least it is helping them win games right now.
	27	Rangers · Trends	30
	We look at their rotation and just can't seem to figure out why they are not lower than 22nd overall in starting ERA. We suppose we can give them a reprieve from the cellar for now.
	28	Rockies · Trends	26
	The loss of Troy Tulowitzki is arguably the most costly injury in baseball this season. Heck, there is no argument about it. The talented shortstop was the No. 1 reason the Rockies surprised all the way to the NL pennant.
	29	Padres · Trends	27
	Their bullpen has been atrocious at 2-10, 4.74. This is a team that has prided itself on its bullpen. We know they sure can't take pride in the likes of Jim Edmonds and Brian Giles. Those guys are stiffs and there is no reason to think they will turn it around.
	30	Pirates · Trends	28
	We don't think we will keep them down here for long. They have the worst rotation in baseball right now at 6-14, 5.93, but we like the potential to turn it around in Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Paul Maholm and Zach Duke. Stay patient. Those guys can pitch.