We have reached the halfway mark in Spring training. It is looking more and more like some things about this Angels squad are inevitable for opening day. Some roster spots are easier to call than others and a few are up in the air. Here is a pretty simple take on the players who will get the most starts at their respective positions for the Angels in April.
1B: Mark Trumbo WHY? They will be patient with Kendry(s) Morales and will want to see their 2010 minor league player of the year get in some good work against big league pitching.
2B: Howie Kendrick WHY? Because water is still wet and the sky is still blue when it is not cloudy or night. Something tells me that great or mediocre, Howie is going to be a starter in Anaheim for many years to come.
SS: Erick Aybar WHY? Remember the teacher's pet in school? Well on the Angels he is not a chick who asks for more homework, he is Aybar.
3B: Maicer Izturis WHY? Instead of doing the dishes (signing Beltre) you can always take the nice champagne glasses you got from some cousin at your wedding out of the dusty box and drink orange juice out of them. Eventually you will break one of those dainty stemmed vessels, like Izzy is made of glass minus the tall stem, and then you are left with recycling your Starbucks cup (Alberto Callaspo).
C: Bobby Wilson WHY? Because I hold out hope that Mike Scioscia will see Terdo McPremium (Jeff Mathis) for what he is: more useless than the ballboy.
OF: Vernon Wells in LF, Peter Bourjos in CF and Torii Hunter RF WHY? The only other possible options are Abreu making room for another DH and benching Bourjos or Reggie Willits being there because someone got injured.
DH: Bobby Abreu WHY? They will slowly rehab Kendry, there wil be no rush, It is win-win for them as all losing can be blamed on his absence.
Pitching Rotation: No surprises, even Scott Kazmir will get until May to tank.
CLOSER: Fernando Rodney WHY? Because he will not blow his 8th save until May 15. Eight blown saves are Scioscia's limit.
HIGH-LEVERAGE PEN: Scott Downs, Hisanori Takahashi, Jordan Walden WHY? Because they are paying two of these guys too much to mop up and Walden will be auditioning to be Mayor McSave of Post-Rodneywood.
LOW-LEVERAGE PEN: Kevin Jepsen, Rich Thompson WHY? Jepsen is better than Chaka Kohn, Frankie-2 and Cassanova while Richie-G'Day is out of options.
BENCH: Jeffo McWilson will grab pine as the backup catcher (King Conger will be in AAA getting starts every night), Willits, Callaspo, and Brandon Wood will quietly pass their Quinlan time. The only mystery at this juncture is whether they will keep an out-of-options Jason Bulger as the 7th man in the pen or take another position player, maybe chance lefthanded hitting Jeremy Moore at least to start the season as Chris Pettit is basically a Willits substitute.
What do you think?