Will the 2012 Angels Rotation Be Better Than the 2011 Phillies?
The Winter Meetings are over, and the Los Angeles Angels are all smiles. They signed that Pujols guy. I’m told he is pretty good, but I’m not here to talk about Pujols right now. I’m here to talk about the new Big Three in baseball, Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and CJ Wilson.
Wilson settled on the Angels moments after Pujols; debating years/money over team/location. Team/location came out roses for Wilson and the Angels. With Wilson, the Angels have the best rotation in the American League, and it isn’t even close. The Halos now have three of the top ten pitchers among 2011 WAR. The Phillies can’t even say that.
Wait, what?
That’s right the 2011 Phillies only have two (Halladay, Lee) in the top ten. When the Phillies signed Lee last winter, their rotation was the talk of the town. It was suppose to be an all-century rotation that couldn’t have failed. One year later, have the Angels already surpassed it? Let’s take an in-depth look.
I’m going to take Weaver-Haren-Wilson-Santana from the Angels and Halladay-Lee-Hamels-Worley from the Phillies. Roy Oswalt isn’t likely to come back; ergo, not going to use him. I also will not be evaluating it based on wins or ERA because I am not a dolt.
Angels 4-man averages: 226 IP / 3.35 FIP / 7.56 K/9 / 3.63 K:BB / 5.35 WAR
Phillies 4-man averages: 203 IP / 2.79 FIP / 8.48 K/9 / 4.74 K:BB / 5.58 WAR
The reason why I chose these statistics is because these are the things a pitcher can control most. It’s pretty clear the Phillies are better, but we don’t know how Vance Worley will do on a full workload. We also can’t determine if the park change will help or hurt Wilson; although, moving from Texas to LA should only help.
The point I am trying to make is that the Los Angeles Angels now have a rotation that can challenge the Phillies rotation for the best in baseball, yet no one is saying it.
The Angels became the American League favorite today. Not only because of Pujols, who obviously helps, but because CJ Wilson helps that rotation become elite.
Unlike like other super teams, the Angels are tough to hate. I look forward watching the 2012 Angels going forward, but just because they are the paper champion doesn’t mean they will be champion. The 2008 Detroit Tigers were expected to score 1000 runs when they acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. The bottom line is you just don’t know what to expect.
Congratulations Angels’ fans, and enjoy the season.
Follow me on Twitter @Lutzifer35 for your latest rumors, updates, and opinions on Major League Baseball.
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