Angels Player Power Rankings – Week 1

The first Angel Player Power Rankings of the season are here!  We may only be three games into the season, but it is already pretty apparent which players are deserving of praise (that Pujols guy) and which aren’t (that Wells guy).

As always, the rankings are based on a player’s overall season performance with a weight on recent performance.

RANK	PLAYER	COMMENTS
1		Jered Weaver – Really, Scioscia?  You couldn’t let him go for the Opening Day shutout?  Also, is it too early to start a Cy Young campaign?
2		Albert Pujols – I thought he would be in the top spot all season long, but hitting into two double plays in your first two games has a way of taking the shine off of things.
3		Howie Kendrick – Maybe 2011 wasn’t a fluke?  No hitter on the Angels looks more locked in than Howie.  I know that’s not hard to accomplish, but he is hitting everything hard right now.
4		Kendrys Morales – He’s back.  And I don’t mean that he is back in the lineup.  I mean he is back.  Back to being an offensive threat.  Maybe I am overreacting, but he just looks so good so far.
5		Dan Haren – This week, he gets the benefit of the doubt in the rankings as his below average start was hopefully just the result of lingering dead arm.
6		Erick Aybar – He doesn’t have much power, but when he chooses to turn on a ball, he can really crank it just like he did with that huge bases clearing triple on Opening Day.
7		Peter Bourjos – After seeing what the outfield defense looked like without Petey and with Abreu, I think we can all agree that particular defensive alignment should never see the light of day again.
8		C.J. Wilson – He probably should be ranked higher, but he hasn’t pitched yet so all I have to judge him on is his lame “prank” on Mike Napoli.
9		Torii Hunter – Someone please let Torii know that just because the offense isn’t on his shoulders anymore that it doesn’t mean he is no longer obligated to come up with hits with runners in scoring position.
10		Scott Downs – A new season and Downs is still great and it is still impossible to come up with anything interesting to say about him.
11		Chris Iannetta – I didn’t think it was possible for an Angel catcher to ever rank about 20th in these Power Rankings, yet here it is.  It feels good.
12		Ervin Santana – He looked lousy on Sunday, but he should still be the best fourth starter in baseball by season’s end.
13		Jordan Walden – He was the last Angel reliever to make an appearance this season, hopefully his lack of use won’t become a trend.
14		Mark Trumbo – He looks bad in the field, but he does look to be more in control at the plate.
15		Vernon Wells – He looks to be off to another terrible start, but I can’t in good conscience rank him any lower when he is the owner of the sole Angel home run.
16		Bobby Abreu – I’m willing to give him credit for a nice RBI double, but the man has the range of a tranquilized sloth in the outfield.
17		Alberto Callaspo – Just putting it out there, but when do we start hearing reports on Beto complaining about his lack of playing time?
18		LaTroy Hawkins – Not the best debut for him, but he is the best right-handed setup option until proven otherwise.  It would be nice to have an actual setup situation to prove that in.
19		Maicer Izturis – Three games into the season and Izturis has just one at-bat.  Is Mike Scioscia feeling OK?
20		Hisanori Takahashi – The only Angel reliever to allow an earned run this season and it wasn’t even really his fault.
21		Rich Thompson – He got into a game before Jepsen did.  Turns out Mike Scioscia is aware that Chopper is on the team this season.
22		Bobby Wilson – Like Mathis, Wilson has a great defensive reputation.  Like Mathis, he air mails throws to third into the left field corner.
23		Jason Isringhausen – He seems to have Mike Scioscia’s trust pretty early, but he still looks shaky to me.  I’m willing to be proven wrong.
24		Kevin Jepsen – Jepsen looks much better than last season already, but I am withholding final judgment until I see if he can successfully intentionally walk a batter first.
25		Alexi Amarista – Pinch-runners get bottom billing, no exceptions.