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Thursday, April 5
Anaheim Angels preview

ESPN.com

POWER RANKINGS


	Troy Glaus' 47 homers in 2000 were an Angels' franchise record. Only 24, there's plenty more to come from him.

Strength of schedule
.510, 3rd in AL
Lineup ranking
9th in AL
Pitching ranking
9th in AL
Prediction
4th in AL West

The lowdown
2000 record: 82-80 (3rd in AL West)
Runs scored: 864, 7th in AL
Runs allowed: 869, 9th in AL

Three key issues for 2001
1. With Mo Vaughn, Adam Kennedy and Gary DiSarcina all hurting, who will play infield for this team?

2. How good are young starters Ramon Ortiz and Jarrod Washburn going to be?

3. Will Troy Glaus emerge as an MVP candidate?

Three key facts
1. Angels relievers had the second-lowest ERA in the American League last season (4.16) and threw the second-most innings (552.0). Shigetoshi Hasegawa led the charge with a 10-6 record, a 3.57 ERA and nine saves, and threw 27 1/3 scoreless innings from July 13-August 29.

2. Anaheim was one of the best power-hitting teams in the majors last season, becoming the first team in AL history to have four players hit 30 or more homers (Glaus, 47; Vaughn, 36; Anderson, 35; Salmon, 34).

3. Darin Erstad emerged big-time, leading the majors with 240 hits and batting .355. He also set the a major-league record with 100 RBI as a leadoff hitter and won a Gold Glove in left field.

RETURNING 2000 STATISTICAL LEADERS

AVG	D. Erstad	.355
HR	T. Glaus	47
RBI	M. Vaughn G. Anderson	117
RUN	D. Erstad	121
SB	D. Erstad	28
WIN	S. Hasegawa	10
SV	T. Percival	32
ERA	S. Schoeneweis	5.45
Complete 2000 Statistics: Batting \| Pitching

Tim Kurkjian's scenarios
Best case: Pitching coach Bud Black does another terrific job with the staff, Larry Barnes wins the first-base job and softens the loss of Mo Vaughn, and the Angels win 85 games.

Worst case: Shortstop Gary DiSarcina misses the entire season, the young pitchers, Jarrod Washburn, Scott Schoenweis, et al, don't take a step forward and not enough runs are scored to prevent the team from finishing last.

ESPN.com's lineup analysis
Player	Comment	Pos. rank*
D. Erstad, CF	Moves to CF full-time; won't match last year's numbers	2
A. Kennedy, 2B	72 RBI, 53 extra-base hits masks deficiencies (.300 OBP)	11
T. Glaus, 3B	Next to Holy Trinity, he may be best player in AL	1
T. Salmon, RF	Has posted .500+ slugging pct. in 8 of 9 seasons	3
G. Anderson, LF	35 home runs masks deficiencies (.307 OBP)	8
G. Hill, DH	Takes the spot of the released Jose Canseco	10
W. Joyner, 1B	Joyner, Canseco would make 1-2 punch -- in 1988	13
B. Molina, C	Solid year at the plate, good defensive catcher	8
B. Gil, SS	Well, he's not any worse than Gary DiSarcina	14
ESPN.com's pitching staff analysis
R. Ortiz, RHP	Can he harnass his great stuff and win 15?	23
I. Valdes, RHP	3.59 career ERA; Dreifort has 4.28 ERA and gets $50M	35
J. Washburn, LHP	Effective when healthy (3.74 ERA), but he's not always	31
S.Schoenew's, LHP	Extreme groundball pitcher; also extremely mediocre	52
Middle relief	Underrated bullpen finished second in AL in relief ERA	5
T. Percival, CL	ERA rose for fifth consecutive season	8

	Position average (AL rank):	7.55 (9th)
	Pitching index (AL rank):	8.75 (9th)

* Position rank, compiled by ESPN.com's baseball staff, compares each AL team's strength at that position, including platoons, based on players' total projected value (offense, defense, durability) for the 2001 season.

AL position players and bullpens ranked on a 1-14 basis, with 1 being best.
AL starting pitchers ranked on 1-56 basis, with 1 being best. Cumulative rankings of starting pitchers are combined with bullpen and closer for overall pitching index, with more weight given to starters.
In both rankings, 1.00 is the best possible score, 14.00 the worst.

Click here for AL position-by-position rankings.

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