Angels now reload rather than rebuild

03/13/2006
When the Arte Moreno era began for the Angels, the club was coming off its first World Series, yet still seemed to be always struggling to keep up with the Joneses, even within the American League West.
When Moreno assumed ownership, he made it clear from the beginning that, to him, keeping up with the Joneses didn't just mean competing in the division or even comparing favorably with that team in blue up the road.
It meant keeping up with the very best baseball has to offer. Moreno often brought up the Yankees, an organization with decades more tradition and 25 more World Series titles than the Angels, as the standard by which he would judge his franchise.
By any measure, being the very best was the goal.
In the two full seasons under Moreno's ownership, the Angels have been just that within the AL West, but they have fallen short each time of taking it to the ultimate level, as the upstart club of 2002 did. Then again, even the franchises seen by many as the best of the best -- the Yankees, for instance -- haven't always been the best in October.
Nowadays, keeping up with the Angels is a tough enough task. They have become the Joneses, and they now have to live up to their own success.
With back-to-back division titles in their back pocket for the first time in franchise history, the Angels head into the 2006 season with high expectations inspired by an intact core of the star players who led them to those consecutive titles.
Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad and Adam Kennedy have been on hand since the glory days of '02 and through the two title runs. Starter John Lackey is coming off a career year, and Francisco Rodriguez and Scot Shields will still be on hand to protect leads late in the game.
So, the Angels have had reasonable continuity over the last several years. Sure, they've also had some big departures -- namely, shortstop David Eckstein and third baseman Troy Glaus prior to '05. They've instilled some youth into the mix in the last year, bringing first baseman Casey Kotchman into the fold and giving Dallas McPherson a shot at third, albeit one that got off to a stumbling start. And Chone Figgins has gone from a nice utility guy to one of the most dangerous leadoff men in the game, good enough that he's blocking McPherson's path at third.
Meanwhile, the acquisitions the Angels made in recent winters were huge -- as in MVP and Cy Young huge -- with Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon setting down roots at the Big A and shortstop Orlando Cabrera joining them last year.
This year, the changes were fewer and less dramatic. In the end, the main acquisitions were Edgardo Alfonzo in a change-of-scenery swap for Steve Finley and, very late in the game, the signing of Jeff Weaver to join the rotation.
How will it all add up? There are many factors involved there, not the least of which is the fact that the AL West, always a competitive division, is likely to be tougher this year than last. The A's added some big pieces to a surprisingly strong puzzle in an '05 season that was supposed to be a transition year, and the Rangers have added starting pitching that might support their usual offensive juggernaut more successfully than in years past.
The Angels, in a tone set by manager Mike Scioscia and preached by Anderson, Erstad and Co., don't compare one year to the next -- or compare themselves to other teams. They just go out to play and see how it turns out.
But for those on the outside looking in, the Angels are now the Joneses -- and it's about the Angels keeping up with themselves these days.
Now that they've set such a high standard, each year presents another, bigger challenge: to meet and exceed that level of success. Nobody expected the 2002 team to reach, much less win, the World Series. Yet, in each of the last two years, nobody would have been surprised if they'd gone all the way in October -- and few will be surprised if they do so this season. It's a different landscape.
The expectations are high under the halo, higher with each passing season. That's what happens when you do more, when you put yourself in the class of the ultra-elite, when you bring in the best of the best players.
You do that, and you should be expected to compete at the highest level and for the highest prize.
Certainly, 2006 is no exception to that rule.

Source: http://anaheim.angels.mlb.com/