Say Halo to Baseball's Next Dynasty

What makes for a great dynasty in baseball? How are they begun? It takes excellence in a bunch of different categories. A functioning dynasty needs to have a great offense, great pitching, great bullpen, great team chemistry and perhaps important of all, great minor leagues. It’s hard to find a team that can dominate in all of these facets of the game as with the Yankees dynasty’s end came more parody in America’s past time. With this being said, I decided to ponder the rosters of every team in the major leagues, bill one as having the best chance of becoming a dynasty, and defend my argument. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe I have found that team, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Let’s start with their incredible starting rotation which consists of John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver and Bartolo Colon. The past two seasons Lackey showed star potential by posting solid ERAs in the mid-3's and amassing at least 190 K's, this year though he is taking it to the next step. He’s never won more than 15 games, but now he’s already at 10. He’s never posted an ERA below 3.00, as of now it stands at 2.96, and he’s not even 30 years old yet! Ok maybe Santana’s ERA of 5.06 doesn’t look too glamorous right now, but I bill that as an early season struggle, because as of late he’s been pitching significantly better. The guy has electric stuff, and is just a year removed from a 16 win season. Ervin’s age? 25. Weaver dominated in his rookie year going 11-2 with a 2.56 ERA in 19 starts, a year later, Weaver is showing he is for real with a 6-3 record and an ERA in the 3’s. Like Santana, Weaver’s ERA was once much higher but he’s been pitching much better of late, and by the end of the year his numbers will show this. Weaver’s age? Same as Ervin, 25.

It doesn’t end here however, as “number 4” starter Kelvim Escobar would be most team’s number 1’s this year. Since 2004, the year Kelvim became an Angel, his ERA has been below 4 and his strikeout totals have been very impressive. This year is proving to be his career year as with a 9-3 record and ERA of 2.81, Kelvim is destined to be in this year’s all star game. Kelvim’s age is 31 but that means he’s now in his peak. Then there is Bartolo Colon, the downside of this team’s rotation. I’d love it if my downside pitcher was just 2 years removed from a Cy Young award though. He is clearly not the same pitcher as shown by his ERA currently over 6, but hey he’s a number 5 starter, and he somehow has a record of 6-3. He isn’t part of the Angels future, but all he has to do for now is just be a stopgap for someone else. So if one focuses mainly on the first 4 starters mentioned, they can all be together for a long time and if so this team is guaranteed to have great pitching.

Meanwhile their bullpen is also youthful and incredible. Start with their closer, Francisco “K” Rodriguez. K-rod career basically began with the 2002 playoffs when he played a huge role in their emerging victorious in that year’s world series. If you wanna hear numbers that are really disgusting though, listen to what he’s been doing in the regular season. For his career, he’s pitched 348.1 innings, posted an ERA of 2.23, has 128 saves and listen to this, 467 strike outs!!! 467 strike outs in 348 innings are you kidding me? This guy is becoming the new standard for closers, and just like the Yankees had Mariano, this dynasty is going to have Rodriguez. O and by the way, K-rod is also only 25. Angels set up man Scot Shields also has been amazing throughout his entire career. He’s 32 this year but made his debut just a year before K=rod. His career ERA is a mere 2.75, and he’s posted a very solid 477 strike outs in 534.1 innings pitched. Just as the Yankees had Jeff Nelson, the Angels have Shields.26 year old Dustin Mosely in his rookie year this year has also been fantastic. His ERA sits at 2.56 right no in 38.2 innings pitched. Assuming this isn’t a fluke and he can keep this up, that gives the Angels three outstanding relievers that could stay together for many more years. Need I make the Ramiro Mendoza reference here? If this bullpen can continue to grow around K-Rod, then this team is going to be even more difficult to score on.

Not only are they difficult to score on, but it’s difficult to stop them from scoring. Their lineup possesses a great balance of contact, power and speed. At first base up and coming Casey Kotchman appears to finally be hitting his stride. His average this year is well over .300 and more importantly his OBP is over .400. On top of this, he’s displaying good line drive pop as he’s hit 16 doubles so far and has hit 8 home runs. Kotchman’s age? 24. At second base young star in the making Howie Kendrick is also starting to show his team what he is made of. His average sits right at .300 and he still has a long way to go. The kid has stud written all over him and his high average is just the first of many milestones he will reach in his career. Kendrick’s age? The same as Kotchman, 24. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera isn’t quite as young, as he is age 33, however he still has some productive years left in his body and he’s proving that he’s as good as ever this year as his average sits at .333 with 44 RBI. Did I mention he’s stolen 9 bases? Chone Figgins has overcome a slow start and is now batting over .300 with 18 stolen bases. His position versatility helps to insure playing time in this Angels lineup, as does his speed which enables him to show off his outstanding table setting techniques. The best part of his game is the fact that he still has plenty of years left, as he is only 29.

Vladimir Guerrero needs no introduction. He’s continuing to dominate pitching by displaying a great balance of power (14 homers 69 RBI) and contact (.327 average .424 OBP). He’s in his prime years now as he is at age 31, and he should help lead the Angels to many championships if my dynasty theories prove true. The once labeled overpaid Gary Matthews has proven to be a great find for the Angels. His stat line includes a .285 average, 10 home runs, 42 RBI, 47 runs scored and 11 steals. He’s showing that the ability he displayed last year wasn’t a fluke, and still has some years left as he sits at age 33. Garret Anderson’s Angel career appears to be officially over, as Reggie Willits has burst onto the scene with a stellar .337 average and .432 obp. On top of those numbers, he’s also stolen 18 bases in 20 attempts, and along with Figgins provides a ton of small ball to go along with the aggressive line drive hitting that this Angels team excels at. Willits is still very young at age 26, and he appears set to become one of the leagues premier leadoff hitters. Mike Napoli has an unimpressive average, however he does have 7 home runs and showed flashes of excellence last year. He’s still young also at age 26, so there is plenty of time for the catcher to continue blossoming into an all star catcher. If he isn’t, minor leaguer Jeff Mathis is ready to step in. Speaking of minor leaguers, this team has a ton of them, as guys like Joe Saunders, Dallas McPherson and Brandon Wood join Mathis to give this team some great youngsters to take the place of some of the teams older players (Colon and Orlando Cabrera for instance).

This team is absolutely stacked, and is still very young, and on top of that, the ownership has money to spend. Can you imagine if this team goes out and acquires a Mark Teixeira and/or an Alex Rodriguez? It’s this writers feeling that this team has no ceiling, and will string together many division titles and world series appearances for years to come. The first of their world series victories is on the way this year….wait and see.