Fantasy Baseball: Who are the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim?

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are one of those confusing teams right now that you’re not quite sure if they are all-in in terms of making the postseason and winning a World Series or if the team is just wasting away Mike Trout’s best years and prime with mediocre ball clubs weighed down by large contracts. This LA of A team is paying Josh Hamilton to essentially play for their AL West rivals in the Texas Rangers and it’s keeping the team out of the deep end of the free agency water and away from potential bats like Yoenis Cespedes. Either the team is confident in what they have, they truly are more worried about going over the luxury tax than putting the best team out there on the field for 162 games or they believe in the young guys on the team that you are unlikely to have heard much of. Well until today when I explain how those same guys can help you win the later rounds of your fantasy baseball draft and win you your league. You’re welcome. 

If Trout is there first overall you should probably take him and he shouldn’t go any farther than 2^nd, this much you should know, but the names of Andrelton Simmons, Kole Calhoun and Garrett Richards you may not. Rather than tell you that Albert Pujols is still one of the better first baseman in the league and to stay away from most, if not all, of the Angels pitching staff I would rather focus on the players that are going to win your draft. 

We’ll start with Simmons and your first warning of the day. Simmons is a glove-first type shortstop that will give you very little in terms of offensive prowess. He’ll likely hit low in the lineup and not get many chances to drive in runs or make a huge impact offensively. He’s there for defense and defense doesn’t win your league. If you just desperately need a shortstop then he will work in a pickle but I wouldn’t reach too high for him personally. 

Speaking of defensive only shortstops while the fantasy owners won’t appreciate Simmons much his pitching staff will, especially the staff ace Garrett Richards. Richards is a ground ball inducing pitcher that strikes out enough batters to survive. Richards K numbers should improve as he matures and grows into his body and he should only be helped by a potent offense behind him and a much improved middle infield defense. He may be worth taking in the middle rounds when most of your top notch aces are already off the boards. 

Kole Calhoun is an outfielder that a lot of people don’t talk about when they should. Calhoun is obviously overshadowed by Mike Trout in the Angels outfield and the fact that he plays on the west coast doesn’t help him much in terms of media but Calhoun quietly had a nice 2015 campaign. Last season Calhoun hit 26 home runs and knocked in 83 RBI at the top of the Angels order. Calhoun doesn’t steal bags and he may be destined for a platoon role sooner rather than later but if you need runs scored, RBI and home run then he may be a steal in the later rounds. 

Game Thread: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ New York Yankees 6/6

Welcome to Saturday night baseball in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. These two teams played last night and will play again tomorrow afternoon in the Bronx before the Yankees welcome in the Washington Nationals to town. Tonight the Yankees will send Adam Warren to the mound to face off with the Angels starter Garrett Richards. The game will be played at 7:15 pm ET and can be seen on FOX.

If you want to see the team play host to the Angels tomorrow afternoon or if you’d rather see Bryce Harper hit a home run or two before being ejected again in the Bronx then click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and snag a pair of tickets now while you still can. If you can’t make it then no problem just jump on Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow or jump on our comments section of the site to interact with us and other fellow Yankees fans during the game.

That’s enough babbling out of me for one day, Mr. Warren will do my talking from here. Go Yankees!

Game Preview: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ New York Yankees 6/6

The New York Yankees are playing a rare Saturday game under the lights at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees play host to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in their second game of this three game weekend set in the Bronx. The Yankees will send Adam Warren to the mound looking to continue his streak of well-pitched games while the Angels will send Garrett Richards to the mound looking to spoil that streak for the Yankees fifth starter. The game will be played at 7:15 pm ET and can be seen on FOX.

• Warren has been sharp over his last few starts and was especially sharp in a tough-luck loss to the Oakland Athletics last time out. Warren made one mistake in the contest and allowed two runs to score over his seven innings pitched dropping his record to 1-3 in his last four starts and his ERA to 2.70.

• Richards is pitching tonight instead of tomorrow afternoon since the Angels had an off-day on Thursday that allowed the team to temporarily move Matt Shoemaker to the bullpen. Richards will pitch on normal rest after picking apart the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start.

There will be no rally monkey’s to save the Angels this time around in the Bronx there will only be thousands of the smartest and best fans in the world, in my very bias and humbled opinion, which can only bode well for New York tonight in the Bronx. Go Yankees!

Tanaka's 11 strikeouts, Teixeira's home run lead Yankees to 3-2 win over Angels

Masahiro Tanaka struck out 11 in a 6.1 inning, two-run performance and the bullpen duo of Adam Warren and David Robertson combined to finish the job tonight as the Yankees won the rubber game of this three-game set over the Angels, 3-2. After Tanaka left this one, the right-handed sophomore Warren came in and really did a great job, striking out two in a scoreless 1.2 frames to set new-Closer Robertson up for his second save in as many days.

Anyway, the Bombers offense really struggled this evening against young Angels starter Garrett Richards, collecting just 2 runs and 3 hits threw 7 at-bats, but in the end, they still found a way to win thanks to a productive RBI Groundout from fourth-outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (his first of the season), a solo home run from Mark Teixeira, and a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth. That groundout from #31, interestingly, came immediately after a double from 2B Brian Roberts, which helped get the eventually scored runner over to third. 

Besides those plays, a passed ball from LA Catcher Chris Ianetta also helped the Pinstripes win this game, as it set up the later go-ahead wild pitch.