My take. The Angels can’t mess this one up. Unlike the departures of Troy Glaus, Bengie Molina, Jarrod Washburn, Adam Kennedy, Mark Teixeira and Francisco Rodriguez there is no replacement waiting in the wings. John Lackey is not just a leader on the field but in the locker room as well. The Angels need to do what it takes to get a contract in place with Lackey (and for that matter Vladimir Guerrero).
With the money they have thrown at players like Shea Hillenbrand, Jeff Weaver, Orlando Cabrera, Kelvim Escobar, Bartolo Colon, Brian Fuentes, Torii Hunter, Gary Matthews Jr. and yes Vladdy over the last few years, it’s disappointing to see that they seem to have no problem giving money to players from outside the organization but become frugal when it comes to their own home grown free agents. In fact the last in house free agent they signed before he hit the open market was Garret Anderson. Keep John Lackey!
In an effort to stay healthy, Howie Kendrick has been following Torii Hunter’s pre-game warm up routines.
Speaking of Torii, Jeff Miller writes about the positive influence Hunter is in the locker room.
Angels farm hand Matt Brown is having a big spring. Unfortunately, with the roster situation the way it is Brown is looking at spending yet another season at Salt Lake City.
Nick Adenhart continues to impress this spring. It would appear there will be a battle for the 5th rotation spot between Adenhart and Shane Loux all the way until opening day. One thing working in Loux’s favor is he’s out of options while Adenhart can be sent back to the minors.
Lyle Spencer takes a look at the Angels catching depth.
Today will be the first time the Angels face the Dodgers in Cactus League play.
Also be sure to check out Angelswin.com Senior Writer Adam Dodge and Editor Geoff Bilau tonight on AM830 with Jeff Biggs. They will be discussing the “Greatest Moments In Angels Baseball”. They will be on from 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm. If you do not have a radio handy or are out of state you can stream the show live on the internet at am830.
To follow along with the segment, check out our Greatest Moments feature here.
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