I'm going to be blunt: when I think of the top teams of the 2000's (the decade, not the millennium), I don't immediately think of the Angels. And yet here they are in fourth place, behind three incredibly storied franchises. Yes, they did win the World Series in 2002, before moving from Anaheim to Los Angeles in 2005... correction: before changing their name and inaccurately representing a city in which the team in no way plays, just to try to expand their market reach. I don't know why I have such a big problem with this stunt. Part of it is that, as a native of Los Angeles county, I have some civic pride in what products get to use the name of my hometown. But it's mostly that, as a philosophy major, the name is just not true. And dangerous things can happen when high-powered corporate entities are allowed to spread falsehoods into the world without reproach. Anyway, enough posturing, here's the Angels' all-decade lineup, organized by games played per position, and years active with the team.
Of all the teams so far, the Angels required the most manipulation to get the decade's most well-represented players into this lineup. Even Garret Anderson, the team's all-decade leader in appearances, only gets there when totaling his games across multiple positions. Currently 11th on the list of all-time Angels players by Wins Above Replacement, G.A. split his time between left field and center field, making three All-Star teams and winning two Silver Sluggers on the way. Although he had about a 75% to 25% split between the two positions, there was one year (2004) where he eschewed left field altogether, which is why his "01-08" is in italics - it represents his total all-decade tenure with the team, rather than the years in which he played LF. Sticking with the outfield, if I gave center field to the player who simply had the most appearances in center field, that would go to Darin Erstad, who finished his career one spot ahead of Anderson on Anaheim's all-time WAR leaderboard. However, the versatile, hard nosed Erstad also put up significant time at first base (including two seasons exclusively, 2004 and 05, the first of which saw him win one of his three all-decade Gold Gloves), and the player who actually had the most all-decade 1B appearances - Scott Spiezio with 391 - didn't log a significant amount of games anywhere else. Center field instead goes to speedster Chone Figgins, who actually finishes a close third in that position to Anderson (244 games there to 257). Desmond DeChone, who clocks in at 18th in all-time WAR for the Halos, spent the majority of his Angels career at third base, but since the team already has an iconic, less versatile player at the hot corner, it makes sense to get Figgins in the lineup at his secondary position. Rounding out the multiple-position threats, it's not a stretch to put Tim Salmon at DH, since he had the most all-decade appearances there, but he did log more than 200 more games in his usual position of right field. However, despite the fact that Salmon has racked up the fourth most WAR in Angels history (most of which was accrued in the previous decade), he's got a Hall of Famer in front of him in all-decade games played in RF.
Now moving on to the more straightforward positional cases: Adam Kennedy spent most of his career batting in the ninth spot in the batting order, but he did it with some fine defensive chops and a good enough batting average-driven profile to carve out a pretty good career in the bigs. The oldest of the three Molina brothers, Bengie, won two Gold Gloves during his six years as the primary backstop in Anaheim, in five of which he was backed up by middle brother Jose. The aforementioned Hall of Famer in front of Tim Salmon in right field is none other than Vladimir Guerrero, whose son is currently a rookie playing for the Blue Jays. Big Daddy Vladdy sits at 16th all-time in Angels WAR, which is all the more impressive considering he only played six seasons for the team - in which he made four All-Star teams, won four Silver Sluggers, and took home the 2004 AL MVP award. The aforementioned iconic third baseman in front of Figgins is Troy Glaus, who is perhaps best known (by me) for leading the league in Home Runs in 2000, the year I officially started paying attention to baseball. Glaus has three All-Star appearances and two Silver Sluggers under his belt, en route to 17th place in WAR in Angels history. Shortstop David Eckstein is the definition of scrappy leadoff hitter, known for his decent speed and on-base skills.
No starting pitcher encompasses the 2000's Angels more than John Lackey, 14th place in all-Time Angels WAR. The big Texan burst onto the scene in their championship 2002 season (finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting that year) and went on to win 102 games with the club over 1,501 innings while putting 1,201 strikeouts along the way. Next up is the solid-but-unspectacular lefty Jarrod Washburn (21st in all-time Angels WAR), another player who peaked during 2002, the only season in his career when Wash got any awards consideration (fourth in Cy Young voting with a 3.15 ERA in 206 innings). Ervin Santana finishes third in all-decade games played, despite splitting his Angels tenure between this decade and the next, making his lone Halos All-Star game in 2008. In a polar opposite to Santana, all five of Ramon Ortiz's seasons as an Angel came before the name switch to Los Angeles, the last season of which Ortiz shifted to a bullpen role for 20 of his 34 appearances. Theres's a battle for the fifth starter spot, with only nine stars separating Jered Weaver and Kelvim Escobar - ten if I had caught the lone start Escobar made with the 2009 Angels after missing all of 08. But since the younger brother of Jeff Weaver features strongly in the following decade, where he pitched himself to seventh all-time in Angels WAR, I'm tempted to give the slot to Escobar, who featured heavily on the Blue Jays as both a starter and reliever in the early part of this decade.
When I said that many pieces clicked for the Angels in 2002, that included the five-game mid-September debut of flamethrowing right hander Francisco Rodriguez. After being able to be placed on the postseason roster due to an injury loophole, K-Rod was a heavily-used weapon out of Anaheim's bullpen throughout the playoffs, firing 18.2 innings, allowing just 4 earned runs, while striking out 28. This was the start of a career that saw him finish fourth on the all-time saves list, including a 2008 season where he set the still-standing single season record of 62. Before the Rodriguez era, games were finished in Anaheim by Troy Percival, who split his Angels tenure exactly between this decade and the last. Despite his obvious talent, K-Rod served primarily as Percival's setup man in his two first full big league seasons. But the all-decade leader in total games pitched was the rubber armed Scot Shields, who spent his entire ten-year career (from 2001-10) pitching for the Halos, and all but 15 games of which (mostly in a 13-start 2003 season) coming out of the bullpen. Brendan Donnelly has the distinction of not being named in my favorite baseball video game of all time (
MVP Baseball 2005) due to what I'm assuming is a contractual issue. If you want to simulate his talents in that PS2 classic, you have to look for Scott Barcik. Ben Weber is the impressive fifth relief pitcher to put up at least 200 appearances for the all-decade Angels, highlighting how a strong bullpen can lead to a strong decade.
Of all the teams so far, the Angels required the most manipulation to get the decade's most well-represented players into this lineup. Even Garret Anderson, the team's all-decade leader in appearances, only gets there when totaling his games across multiple positions. Currently 11th on the list of all-time Angels players by Wins Above Replacement, G.A. split his time between left field and center field, making three All-Star teams and winning two Silver Sluggers on the way. Although he had about a 75% to 25% split between the two positions, there was one year (2004) where he eschewed left field altogether, which is why his "01-08" is in italics - it represents his total all-decade tenure with the team, rather than the years in which he played LF. Sticking with the outfield, if I gave center field to the player who simply had the most appearances in center field, that would go to Darin Erstad, who finished his career one spot ahead of Anderson on Anaheim's all-time WAR leaderboard. However, the versatile, hard nosed Erstad also put up significant time at first base (including two seasons exclusively, 2004 and 05, the first of which saw him win one of his three all-decade Gold Gloves), and the player who actually had the most all-decade 1B appearances - Scott Spiezio with 391 - didn't log a significant amount of games anywhere else. Center field instead goes to speedster Chone Figgins, who actually finishes a close third in that position to Anderson (244 games there to 257). Desmond DeChone, who clocks in at 18th in all-time WAR for the Halos, spent the majority of his Angels career at third base, but since the team already has an iconic, less versatile player at the hot corner, it makes sense to get Figgins in the lineup at his secondary position. Rounding out the multiple-position threats, it's not a stretch to put Tim Salmon at DH, since he had the most all-decade appearances there, but he did log more than 200 more games in his usual position of right field. However, despite the fact that Salmon has racked up the fourth most WAR in Angels history (most of which was accrued in the previous decade), he's got a Hall of Famer in front of him in all-decade games played in RF.
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