Looking At What Exactly is Angels Baseball

by Tommy Rancel on Oct 26, 2009 7:29 PM EDT Comment 6 comments

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Scott Kazmir was not brought to LA for his defense.

If you read quotes from members of the Angels Organization or listened to any talk radio show on mainstream media stations today, then you heard the words "wish they played" or "got away from" followed by "Angels baseball." Apparently, the Yankees didn't win the ALCS as much as the Angels lost it by not playing "Angels baseball."

From what I can gather, Angels baseball is a lot like "Twins baseball"; doing the "little things," being "clutch," and of course playing solid defense. Defense was something the Angels didn't do well in this series, but it was something they did fairly well all season with a team UZR of 11.6. The Angels are often credited with above average defense, but that's not always the case.

Sure, back when the Halos won the World Series in 2002 they were a great defensive team led by Darin Erstad's +20 defense in center field. They were also very good the following season. However, since 2003 they've only had one really stand out defense squad (2005) followed by some below average to average ones before the 2009 team.

Year	Team UZR
2009	11.6
2008	0.9
2007	-2
2006	-14.2
2005	24.5
2004	-7.3
2003	38.4
2002	41.2

This year's Angels team was led by Chone Figgans, who had a 14.5 UZR at third base. The biggest surprise was the man in second place, Juan Rivera. Despite a reputation as a poor fielder, Rivera had a 13.6 UZR in left field. One good season doesn't mean Rivera is a plus defender, but most people remember his play, or lack there of, in late September in Fenway Park, and do not realize that Rivera was a better fielder than multi-time gold glover Torii Hunter.

While his supporters will admit he has lost a step, in most circles Hunter is still seen as a good center fielder. However, that perception hasn't been true since 2003 when he posted a UZR of 13.2. Since then his UZR's have been: -0.1, 2.6, -10.9, -6.0, -11.5, -1.9, but he does make a lot of highlights. In other news, Bobby Abreu continued to be Bobby Abreu and that means another season of near -10 defense.

No, the Angels did not play well defensively in this series, but playing defense was not the strongest suit of this Angels team nor has it been in a couple of seasons. Maybe more of the blame should be on the Angels .346 wOBA offense that averaged 5.45 runs a game in the regular season, but just over three runs a game in the ALCS. Or maybe the Yankees, who were the best team in the regular season, just happened to continue being the best team in the ALCS.

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I've said it before and I'll say it again

Toriiiii Hunter is arguably the most overrated player in baseball. Jeter is overrated, but at least he’s been legitimately good all the time and great some of the time.

At his best, HUnter is above average. Compare is cumulative WAR and year-by-year WAR to David DeJesus. Where are DDJ’s accolades?

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by devil_fingers on Oct 26, 2009 9:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not sure how you came up with this opinion.

Hunter’s lifetime value as determined by WAR has exceed his lifetime salary thus far. His WAR this year of 3.8 is in line with his salary of around $18 mil. I am guessing your opinion of Hunter is based more on personal bias than on stats.

by MrBungle on Oct 28, 2009 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did I reference lifetime salary?

I mean he’s overrated when people call him a “superstar.” But if you want to deal with contracts…

Sure, before he reached FA he was underpaid, like almost players (although just barely — he wasn’t that great a deal for the Twins his last three years in MINN, when they broke even). But the Angels contract… well, he was overpaid by about $6M last season. He probably made some of that up this season, but not all. I feel pretty sage in saying that he will probably not live up to his contract with LA.

And, yes, that’ sbased on numbers, just like the David DeJesus comparison was. What numbers did I get wrong? This season was the only season he’s ever been a +20 or better hitter, and he only came close once before, way back in 2002. According to bUZR, the last time he was an above-average CF was in 2005, and yet he’s routinely praised as a great defender. That’s precisely what we mean when we use the word “overrated.”

I guessing your response to me is based on your opinion, rather than actually looking at the numbers that I did reference.

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by devil_fingers on Oct 29, 2009 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Angels baseball

Yes, the Angels made a lot of errors this series but the bottom line is that the Yankees had more hitting and more pitching than the Angels during the regular season and during the series. The Yankees were flat-out the better team and no amount of “playing Angels baseball” was going to cover that up.

by chuckb on Oct 26, 2009 9:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs