Welcome to the first weekly Angels Player Power Rankings! This is a little experiment I have been wanting to try for awhile but never totally figured out how to do, so rather than continuing to stew on it, I’m just going to toss it out there and see if it works.
The idea is simple. It is just like any basic power ranking only we rank the players instead of teams. And, yes, I do mean we. I will be asking your help with this after this week. This week, I will rank the players all by myself (Look, ma! No hands!). But what I need you all to do is submit your own rankings in the comment section. I will then compile those rankings along with my own for next week and… BAM! Power rankings! Who doesn’t love power rankings?
Without further adieu, here are the rankings for the week of 9/6/11. As with every week, the players’ overall performance and recent performance account for their rank:
- Jered Weaver – He hasn’t been good his last two outings, but I think we can all agree he is permitted one bad week over the course of an entire season
- Howie Kendrick – If only he could hit homers like this in every month, instead of just the first and last of the season
- Ervin Santana – He pitched well and won in Texas. Haren didn’t. Case closed.
- Dan Haren – See above. See also that little “no-hitter” thing. That sort of gave Santana a slight advantage.
- Torii Hunter – Torii is quietly pounding the hell out of the ball lately. He should really mull retirement more often if these are the end results.
- Peter Bourjos – He was on fire in August, but he is starting to tail off again. Still, whoever thought he would be this high based on his bat rather than his glove?
- Scott Downs – He should be higher, but he picked a bad two weeks to suddenly no longer be invincible.
- Mike Trout – Say it with me now, “Mike Trout just wins ballgames.”
- Mark Trumbo – Is it just me, or is Trumbo starting to become the one guy you hope gets to bat in the bottom of the ninth with the game on the line?
- Jordan Walden – I fail to be inspired when my closer, a native Texan, complains about not being able to pitch in the Texas heat.
- Bobby Cassevah – If only he had an out-pitch, I might actually trust him as the setup man.
- Jerome Williams – Having now seen him make two starts, I think there is real reason to believe he is back in the bigs for good. As an added bonus, his teammates will actually call him by the correct name this time.
- Vernon Wells – Welcome to the month of the season where Wells actually hits pretty well, setting us all up to think he might rebound in 2012 only to ultimately disappoint us.
- Maicer Izturis – He is really starting to hit the ball well. He is also being slowed by a seemingly minor injury after getting plunked in the shin early last week. It is the most Maicer Izturis-esque comment ever and it is only our first week.
- Erick Aybar – It took a 15-game hitting streak (and counting) to get his OBP back up above .300.
- Bobby Wilson – Did you know Bobby recently had a six-game hitting streak? I almost forgot that Angel catchers were actually allowed to hit.
- Alberto Callaspo – When he doesn’t play three times in four days, does it make a sound?
- Joel Pineiro – Pineiro is an extreme groundball pitcher who has allowed 15 homers. Jered Weaver is an extreme flyball pitcher who has allowed 15 homers in 76 more innings of work. What does this prove? That sometimes peripheral stats are full of crap.
- Bobby Abreu – His average is so low that even his walk-drawing skills can’t keep his OBP high enough to justify him playing more than a few days a week anymore.
- Hank Conger – Sorry, Hank. Scioscia hasn’t really given you a chance, but you haven’t done anything at all to force the issue either.
- Russell Branyan – He’s hitting a homer every three of four at-bats right now. Shouldn’t Scioscia be trying to find a way to get him an at-bat every single game until he cools off?
- Rich Thompson – Every time Chopper has a chance to move up the ladder in the bullpen, he always finds a way to crap the bed. Has there ever been a reliever with a 3.08 ERA, 9.42 K/9 and 1.23 WHIP that a manager has tried harder to avoid using?
- Hisanori Takahashi – I have a hunch that we would all hate Taka a lot more if we weren’t so busy railing against Fraudney.
- Jeff Mathis – Now that his playing time has been cut back, I now find him .000001% more tolerable.
- Tyler Chatwood – Thanks for nothing with that spot start disaster, Chatty.
- Garrett Richards – If he can become a bullpen savior with his high-nineties fastball and deep repertoire of breaking balls, he is going to fly up these rankings.
- Trevor Bell – Bell is such a quintessential quadruple-A talent that I can’t even think of a decent comment for him.
- Andrew Romine – With his excellent glove, Romine is the only call-up with an actual guaranteed MLB-ready skill.
- Jeremy Moore – You loved Orlando Palmeiro. You kind of liked Jeff DaVanon. You barely remember Tommy Murphy. You had inexplicable man-crushes on Reggie Willits. You liked Chris Pettit… for some reason that escapes me. Well, get ready to embrace Jeremy Moore, the Angels’ overly valued fourth outfielder of the future!
- Efren Navarro – He is the least known of the call-ups, but he gets a slight boost for being the first Major Leaguer named “Efren” ever.
- Horacio Ramirez – I fail to see why the Angels need a third lefty in the pen. I also fail to see why that lefty has to be Horacio Ramirez, seeing how he has been terrible in three stints this year AND can’t actually get lefties out.
- Fernando Rodney – It may be unfair to rank him below the September call-ups, but did you see his outing on Friday? He literally can’t throw strikes or get anyone out.
Go ahead submit your own rankings and feel free to include your own player comments. If they are funny/compelling, I might just use them next week. (Yay for socially-approved plagiarism!)