The answer to this question will be self-evident over the next couple of weeks. Baseball games are won by scoring more runs that your opponent. You can get more hits, steal more bases, and make more great defensive gems. But if you don’t score more runs than your opponent you lose. Period.

Last year’s 100 wins were a fluke. Historically, teams who score 765 runs and give up 697 runs end up with a lot closer to 88 wins than 100 wins. The fact is that the Angels have had 1 good offensive season in the last 5 years, when they scored 822 runs in 2007. The only reason they’ve had success despite a very average offense is very good starting pitching and a stellar bullpen, which has managed to limit the number of runs scored by opponents.

What’s the point? Right now the Angels are on pace to score 766 runs this season – virtually identical to last year’s 765. This means that the very mediocre offense we have this year is pretty much the same as the mediocre offense we had last year. What’s different is that the 268 runs allowed so far projects a total of 789 runs allowed for the season. Historically, teams that score 766 runs and give up 789 runs tend to win about 78 or 79 games. This is the current state of the 2009 Angels.

So the current state of the teams can and should be addressed from tow sides. For one, the Halos must start scoring more runs. After 55 games, he entire infield minus Morales has has 6 HRs. That may be fine for 1909 or even 1971, but it’s a total sham for 2009. The team’s batting average of .275 is above the AL average. But thier team slugging of .406 is their worst since 2001, and we all remember what happened during that dreadful season. Angels don’t need guys who can hit more singles and steal more bases. They need guys who can hit more liners into the gap and over the wall.

And of course the 2009 Angels bullpen is the worst in the AL this season and the team’s worst in the Scioscia era. It’s had to find anything good to say about the performance of the relief corps this year. It’s also painfully obvious that there is absolutely no immediate help at all in the teams’ minor league system. How did such a team strength transform into a liability over night?

This makes Kelvim Escobar insertion into the starting rotation all the more of a mystery. Why place is right arm, twice DL-ed since 2005, under the stress of 100 pitches every 5 days, ,and thereby knocking the surprisingly rock steady Matt Palmer out of the rotation when instead he could be inserted into the bullpen give it some much needed stability. Escobar was a proven, successful closer with the Blue Jays before he joined the Angles. Wouldn’t it make more sense to ease his right shoulder/arm/elbow back into the role of a starter by providing help to a floundering bullpen? And if not Escobar, then whom?

So how serious is the Angles’ front office about 2009? We shall soon find out. Figgins, Aybar, Izturis and Kendricks are all expendable, and probably have some trade value. They all have strengths as MLBers. But their strengths are not the strengths that the Angels need right now. The Halos could lose 2 of the 4 and not even notice the difference. Unfortunately, the Angels are probably more than 1 trade away from correcting the ship. But of they don’t make a proactive move to address the team’s glaring weaknesses, and do it soon, I think it raises questions about the Front office’s commitment to trying to win the AL pennant this year. We shall see.

There may be another problem with keeping Wood in the minors. It seems like the last couple of years, every time we explored a trade, the other team (naturally) wanted our best prospects in return. That usually meant Wood + someone else. As long as we keep Wood in “prospect” status, this will keep happening, making trades harder than they should be. If you play him in the majors, two things happen: 1) you get to find out how good he is, and 2) if he’s good, nobody will expect you to give him up in a trade once he’s established. I mean, nobody dealing with Tampa expects to get Longoria in return.

I dunno, probably talking crazy out my ass, but the thought just occurred to me.

It’s time for Quinlan to take the mound.