Angels Player Power Rankings - Week 3

After an unexpected week off, the Angels player power rankings are back. As you might expect, there was a lot of movement in the rankings thought the top spots remain locked in with no sign of changing anytime soon.

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

RANK	PLAYER	CHANGE	COMMENTS
1		— 0 Last Week: 1	Jered Weaver – You just can’t beat Jered Weaver in April. It just isn’t done.
2		— 0 Last Week: 2	Albert Pujols – He’s still the Angels best hitter, but I have to penalize for the home run drought. #2 he shall remain.
3		+5 Last Week: 8	C.J. Wilson – Results have been pretty great so far for C.J., but he has had some control issues with 9 walks in 19 IP. Plus his command on throws to first leaves a lot to be desired.
4		-1 Last Week: 3	Howie Kendrick – Explain to me why it would be wrong for Kendrick to hit behind Pujols with Hunter taking over the two-hole? You can’t, can you?
5		— 0 Last Week: 5	Dan Haren – I think it is safe to say that his case of dead arm has been cured. Man was he filthy on Sunday.
6		+8 Last Week: 14	Mark Trumbo – He’s been freed and even allowed to return to playing 3B while also getting playing time in the outfield too. What more can we ask for?
7		-1 Last Week: 6	Erick Aybar – Apparently the best way to coax him out of his slump is to give him $35 million. I’m going start slacking off at work and then see if my employer will go for that same deal.
8		+3 Last Week: 11	Chris Iannetta – Say what you want about small sample sizes, but is it too early to start asking if/when Iannetta is going to get his extension?
9		— 0 Last Week: 9	Torii Hunter – Nobody is happier about Albert Pujols getting so much attention for being homerless right now than Torii Hunter.
10		— 0 Last Week: 10	Scott Downs – The Angels haven’t had much luck this season, but Downs emerging from his getting his ankle stepped on with nothing more than a bruise shows that Lady Luck hasn’t totally forgotten about the Halos.
11		-7 Last Week: 4	Kendrys Morales – He has snapped out of his slump and is delivering a bit of power too. However, it turns out that he is the slowest Angel since Bengie Molina, and it is a lot closer than you think.
12		+1 Last Week: 13	Jordan Walden – He got a save!!!!! Too bad that save just served to remind us all that Walden is the leading cause of heart attacks amongst Angel fans.
13		+6 Last Week: 19	Maicer Izturis – After barely playing the first week, Mighty Mouse has become almost an everyday player and part of the reason Trumbo isn’t playing everyday himself.
14		-7 Last Week: 7	Peter Bourjos – He looks like he has no idea what he is doing at the plate right now, which makes it really hard to justify screaming at Scioscia when he benches Bourjos and plays Wells in CF. Oh, I still scream at Scioscia, it is just harder to justify doing so.
15		-3 Last Week: 12	Ervin Santana – Ervin is on pace to allow 68 homers this season. Can’t imagine why he dropped in the rankings.
16		-1 Last Week: 15	Vernon Wells – I really want to try and be on Vernon’s side and I do see that he is hitting more line drive while starting to use the opposite field, but I just can’t buy in until he stops swinging at every single pitch.
17		+1 Last Week: 18	LaTroy Hawkins – I think the bullpen looks worse than it does because Hawkins hasn’t had much of a chance to pitch in setup situations. That’s what happens when the guys in front of him blow it first.
18		-1 Last Week: 17	Alberto Callaspo – If he keeps hitting so poorly, Mike Scioscia won’t have much choice other than to re-commit to the Trumbo at third base experiment.
19		N/A Last Week: n/a	Jerome Williams – Awful first start, good second start. His third start better be a lot more like the second because Garrett Richards continues to carve up the Pacific Coast League.
20		+3 Last Week: 23	Jason Isringhausen – It must be hard to mentor a young closer when said young closer almost never gets to close.
21		+1 Last Week: 22	Bobby Wilson – You have to hand it to him, he has made the most out of very limited playing time. Turns out carrying him as a third catcher all that time was totally worth it.
22		-6 Last Week: 16	Bobby Abreu – If you think we’ve heard the last of Abreu complaining, think again. He is on pace for 249 plate appearances this season, well shy of the 400 he was promised.
23		-3 Last Week: 20	Hisanori Takahashi – Supposedly he is dealing with “arm discomfort” but that doesn’t excuse how terrible he has been this season. At least Scioscia is wising up and using him less.
24		N/A Last Week: n/a	David Carpenter – I can’t wait for the last man standing cage match between Carpenter and Cassevah to see who gets to be the Angels designated groundball guy out of the bullpen.
25		-1 Last Week: 24	Kevin Jepsen – There is no scarier phrase in Angels baseball right now than “Kevin Jepsen begins warming up in the bullpen.”