It seems that just about every team in the AL West was improved this offseason. The Mariners managed to add the bat of Nelson Cruz, the Astros added the power bat in Evan Gattis and the Rangers are finally healthy. The Athletics lost some big names like Josh Donaldson and Jon Lester but I’ve learned to trust Billy Beane and his plan, as he always seems to find a way to contend. Finally, I look at the Angels.

The Angels are a team with question marks all over the field. We can start by looking at their starting rotation that is rather average. C.J. Wilson finished with a 4.51 ERA over 175.2 innings of work. That is his lowest amount of innings since and highest ERA since 2009. Garrett Richards and Jared Weaver were the bright spots. Weaver finished with a 3.59 ERA and 19 wins. Richards owned a 2.61 ERA before a freak knee injury ended his season. Nobody knows how Richards will be when he returns in 2015. Andrew Heaney was acquired by the Angels earlier this offseason but still doesn’t look ready to be a dominant force in the show. Lets talk about something other than the pitching rotation that should manage to keep them in another post-season hunt.

Next up is David Freese who is entering his final year under contract. Freese has been nothing short of an average third baseman while with the Angels. He finished last year with a .260 batting average and a mere 55 RBI’s.

My two biggest concerns for the Angels are with Mike Trout and Josh Rutledge. Yes, I said Mike Trout. I know Trout hit 36 home runs in 2014 but he also struck out more than anybody in the game, 184 times to be exact. His batting average, on base percentage, walks, and stolen bases all decreased from 2013. Now relax, I’m not saying that Trout is a bad player or that he is hurting the Angels but rather that his outs were less productive last season and his strike out rate was staggering.

The biggest concern is Josh Rutledge who has the unfortunate duty of taking over for Howie Kendrick. Kendrick has been the definition of consistency in Anaheim since 2006. He never finished a season with a batting average less than .279 and was a fan favorite. Kendrick now finds himself in Los Angeles wearing Dodger blue. Those are some big shoes to fill for Rutledge. Rutledge finished 2014 with a .269 batting average. That number might not frighten you until you realize that he was a .215 hitter outside of Coors Field. I don’t see the Rockies anywhere on the Angels’ schedule this season.

Josh Hamilton, who is owed $25.4 million in 2015, injured his shoulder and is expected to be out for at least another eight weeks. Angel fans can only hope that Hamilton can have more production in 2015. Hamilton only played in 89 games last season and hit a mediocre .263 and only managed to hit 10 home runs. That’s not exactly what they were hoping for when they signed him to a five-year $125 million contract before the 2013 season. To put that into perspective, only Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander will make more money in 2015.

I’m not saying that the Angels are going to be a bad team in 2015. I think it’s clear that the competition level throughout the AL West will be significantly higher this season and the Angels should be entering these final weeks of the offseason with some concern.

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More than any other sport, baseball is a sport of patience. This holds true as a player, and as a fan. 162 games is a long (almost too long) season and since we are only two weeks in, overreaction should be kept to a minimum. Baseball is a streaky game and a team dominating or struggling after only playing around 12 games is no cause for panic. However, I do feel as if the past 14 days have shown us a lot about our own expectations. So I am here to simply make observations and point out who is for real, who the surprises are, and who needs to step up their game.

Rough Start in the City of Angels

Probably the biggest off-season acquisition was the Angels signing former Texas All-Star Josh Hamilton and how a lineup that consisted of him, Mike Trout, Mark Trumbo and Albert Pujols would be unstoppable. But after dishing out a five-year $125 million contract for Hamilton, he and the rest of the Angels for that matter are not off to the start everyone had anticipated. Right now they are last in the AL West with a 3-8 record. Hamilton is batting a sub-par .186 with five RBIs and one home run, while Trout is .269 with two RBIs and one home run. Pujols is putting up solid numbers with a .324 average, seven RBIs and two home runs, as is Trumbo batting .298 with seven RBIs and one home run. What seems to be killing them is the inconsistent production of their high-priced talent, along with a short staffed pitching rotation as ace Jered Weaver is out for up to five more weeks with a fractured left elbow. With that injury, the only other go-to pitcher in that rotation is C.J. Wilson who has not done bad boasting a 14 strikeouts and a 1-0 record, but he also has a 4.00 ERA. Injuries will heal and slumps will happen so the Angels do not appear in to be in too much trouble yet. That lineup is too talented (and expensive) to not produce all year.

No Sophomore Slump for Harper

Two big questions coming into this season were, will the two rookie sensations of last season repeat or will they both experience sophomore slumps? Both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper are good enough players that a slump was probably not going to happen this year (precisely why I took both of them for my fantasy team) but it was Harper who put the whole “sophomore slump” theory to rest on opening day. The 20 year-old Nationals star launched two home runs in his first two at bats April 1^st against the Marlins. Since then he has gone yard three more times and is batting .348 with 10 RBIs and 14 hits. Now Trout is not off to the same start as Harper but is also not in a terrible slum; as mentioned above he’s batting .269 with two RBIs and one home run. Whether or not arriving at camp around 55-20 pounds heavier than last season is having an effect on him is not for me to say. But for now it is not a time to worry as both sophomores will finish the year with respectable numbers.

Breakout in the Bay

As the Giants have won the World Series in the past two out of three years, naturally they are the story in the Bay Area. This especially holds true since they are doing as expected by starting the season atop the NL West with a 9-4 record.  But probably the biggest surprise out of that team is the resurgence of Barry Zito. So far he has pitched14 innings earning eight strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA. Granted his first two starts were against Colorado and St. Louis, not exactly offensive juggernauts. So the question still remains as to how he will do against some of the better hitting teams in the league such as Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Washington. But since Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum have been the big-name pitchers in San Francisco for the past few years, it is nice to see Zito resemble the pitcher he was in Oakland 9 years ago.

Speaking of Oakland, let us take a look at the news across the bay. The A’s are off to a 9-4 start and are currently first in the AL West. This is especially surprising as their biggest names are Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes (to which some may be saying, who?). Right now they lead the MLB in runs (73), RBIs (70), and total bases (208). If this tells us anything it is to never underestimate Mr. Billy Beane and his band of no-names and has-beens because in the end, they get results.

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