Mike Scioscia was named the AL Manager of the Year for 2009 while Jim Tracy of the Rockies won the award in the NL. Scioscia led the Angels through a long season filled with injuries, struggles and tragedy.

All baseball fans remember the loss of Nick Adenhart after his first start of the 2009 season. Nick started for the Angels on April 8 and threw six shutout innings against the Athletics in what would be his last trip to the mound. He was killed by a drunk driver later that night. That loss led to months of mourning that still continues within the Angels family.

On the field the Angels struggled and after a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the team was 29-29 and Scioscia vowed change if things didn’t turn around. The halos responded and finished the season with 97 wins.

Many valuable players missed time this season. Lackey, Santana, Escobar, Saunders, Guerrero and Hunter all missed considerable time and young players had to step up to get this team to the playoffs.

No they didn’t win the World Series. No they didn’t even make it passed the Yankees. What they did do is overcome multiple obstacles during the regular season and then sweep their arch rival Red Sox in the first round of the playoffs.

Scioscia has led the team to the playoffs five of the last six years and six times since 2002, the year he and his club erased years of misery. Scioscia won his second Manager of the Year title, but he could easily also be known as the Manager of the Decade.

-JT Onyett

Angels allegedly in talks to acquire Tigers’ outfielder

In the last three years Curtis Granderson has averaged 25 HR and just under 20 stolen bases a season. Bobby Abreu has averaged 17 HR and just over 25 stolen bases during that same three-year span. With Granderson on the trading block and Abreu already signed, there is a chance the two could be patrolling the same outfield in 2010 and beyond.

Abreu’s bat and leadership led the Halos to the playoffs last season while many of the other leaders spent considerable time on the Disabled List. Granderson also matches Abreu in durability; both averaging over 155 games played a season over the last 4. While his eye is not as established as Abreu he is a much better defender and is only 28.

The real comparison should be with the current left fielder on the Angels, Juan Rivera. Although Rivera did have a repeat of his breakout season of 2006 last year, his horrendous defense and lack of speed have hurt the Angels in the past. Torii Hunter is getting older and cannot continue to have to worry about below average defenders on both sides of him. The addition of Granderson would move Rivera to DH or make him available in trade for a starter or reliever.

Talks have allegedly included Brandon Wood and Mike Napoli. If it takes one of those plus a prospect to get Granderson, Tony Reagins should pull the trigger. Wood is blocked by Figgins (hopefully) at third and Aybar at Short. Plus Matt Brown and others can fill the void of a top prospect that never gets to play in the Majors. Jeff Mathis proved in the playoffs that he can be a regular and Bobby Wilson or a veteran free agent can be a backup.

Some teams have been criticized for having too many of the same type of player. There is no problem with having too many Bobby Abreus. It’s all conjecture at this point but it would be great to see Bobby and “Bobby- Light”.

Centerfielder wins 9^th straight; Shortstop beaten out by Jeter

By: JT Onyett

The Gold Glove is what every defensive-minded player strives for, but sometimes history and reputation outweigh present and statistics. While Angels’ outfielder Torii Hunter picked up his ninth straight gold glove, Derek Jeter’s fourth award should come under scrutiny.

For years Derek Jeter has been the gold standard for a slick-fielding shortstop. Many remember his heads-up flip relay to get Jeremy Giambi in the playoffs against the A’s and who can forget his jump throws deep in the hole. But those are in the past, he is not that same shortstop anymore. Although Jeter had a better fielding percentage than the Angels’ shortstop, Aybar boasted a better range factor and turned more double plays than his New York counterpart.

What is range factor? A statistic created by Bill James to measure how many balls a player fields at his position, putting more importance on the number of balls that player gets to than on the amount of errors he might commit. This season Oriole Cesar Izturis (4.89) had the highest range factor of full time shortstops in the American League. Erick Aybar was third in that category with a 4.68 in twenty more games. Jeter’s Range Factor was only 3.90, proving he does not have the range we all remember.

The two had about the same fielding percentage, Jeter at .986 and Aybar at .983. However, Aybar’s range leads to much more put outs and assists than the Yankee Captain in less games. He also turned 102 double plays to Jeter’s 75. Aybar’s strong arm allows him to get assists and turn double plays that no other shortstop in today’s game can make.

While this year history was not on the flashy Angel’s side this season, here’s hoping things change in 2010.