This is not meant to be a negative, pessimistic, doomsday post.  I am not one who believes that losing out on Teixeira is the end of the world.  I was just thinking about what the Angels have lost since last season and wanted to do a little analysis. 

Garret Anderson:  I'm a BIG fan of GA.  I've always thought that he was extremely underrated.  Even last year he hit .293 and knocked in 83 RBI.  OBP/SLG was only .325/.433 but he was still a valuable hitter.  Juan Rivera was obviously still recovering from the broken leg last year, but many people tout his 2006 season:  .310/.362/.525.  IF he is back to that form, the Angels lose nothing here.  Given the fact that those numbers were mostly compiled from mid-June through September of that year, I think repeating those numbers in 2009 is optimistic.  Throw in the fact that Matthews Jr. will play LF some of the time, and I believe we were better off with GA.

Jon Garland:  I was never a fan, and his 4.90 ERA was tough to swallow.  Especially since there always seemed to be a 4-run inning in there somewhere.  But his 14 wins still need to be replaced by somebody.  Mosely?  No.  Adenhart?  Wellllll...maybe.  But even in AAA, Adenhart posted a 5.76 ERA with a WHIP of 1.71.  I think this is the Angels biggest hole.  Yes, we need another big bat.  But a 4-man rotation just won't cut it.

Casey Kotchman/Mark Teixeira:  We all know what Tex did during his tenure.  And most fans are bemoaning the complete lost of Kotch at this point.  I'll admit my own personal mancrush.  But I think his .287/.327/.448 can be replaced.  Kendry Morales hasn't put up the numbers yet in the bigs, but his .341/.376/.543 in AAA are fairly gaudy.  I only have two problems here.  When he sits, Quinlan plays.  And we are going to miss the holy heck out of Kotch/Tex's glove.

Frankie Rodriguez:  Sure, those 62 saves get overblown.  Still...62 saves!  The peripherals weren't all that bad.  It's just that we had to hold our breath all the time in the 9th.  (Anybody else around here remember watching Percy pitch?)  Maybe Shields is ready, but even if he is we'll miss him as a set-up guy, rubber-arm and all.  Maybe it's Arredondo's time, but we'll need to see him close out a few games and, more importantly, deal with those inevitable blown saves.  I'm all for adding Fuentes to the pen, especially if it can be done for something like 3 years/20 million.

We have the luxury of only having to have a better record than the A's, M's, and Rangers.  That's not too hard.  But we've lost a lot since last year and I'm not rooting for the front office to just sit on their hands at this point.  One or two more pieces can still make the Angels a team that will go all the way.