Angels 2022 Record – CtPG Staff Predictions

Here we are just a few days away from the starts of the 2022 season (which should already be under way – thanks Manfred). Our staff has taken a look at what Perry Minasian and the Angels did this off season and took a stab at a season win/loss total.

Listed below are those predictions in descending win total:

Rev Halofan (100-62)

Trout will have 9 WAR
Ohtani will have 7 WAR
Rendon will have 5 WAR
Thor will have 4 WAR
A bunch of dudes will have 3.5 WAR
40 Saves for Raisel FTW

The Pujols contract is over, Hambone and Vernon Wells are retired, the curse is lifted, crank up the Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah!

Jeff (88-74)

Marsh and Adell have their ups and downs supporting the Big Three, the bullpen holds most leads, the rotation is good not great, but the offense is inconsistent enough to prevent a real division race.

Jessica (85-77)

The Angels won 77 games last season so need a +5 to be a .500 team. I think the bullpen alone gives them 4-5 more wins and it’s one of the strongest elements of this re-tooled team. In terms of rotation, I’m still a bit skeptical. Sure, if Ohtani repeats his 2021 performance and Thor shines, that could be a great 1-2 punch but the rotation is flimsy after that and the depth gets weak real fast.

Offensively, the team should be helped by a full year of a healthy Trout and possibly Rendon though I’m a bit bearish on the later. Question marks remain around Upton and whoever else joins Trout in the OF but there is a high ceiling there if young stars like Marsh and Adell can shine.

Turk’s Teeth (84-78)

This is my most bullish prediction in six or seven years, largely on the strength of a solid veteran bullpen and a farm pipeline of arms who are themselves largely optimized for bullpen use.

I still think the starting rotation is high-variability and injury-prone, and a couple IL stints could send things south quickly. I would have preferred to add a couple more reasonably-priced 3/4 SP free agents (eg, Cobb, Pineda), and to not lose cheap controllable rookies like Packy Naughton and Kyle Tyler to 40-man roster mismanagement (which seems to be an unfortunate trend for Minasian in the early going).

I’m fine with a speed/glove oriented platoon at 2b. I think a breakout from Adell or Marsh is a reasonable possibility, if both stay healthy. I have no great sense of optimism for Anthony Rendon.

Rahul (84-78)

The 2022 Angels should be a solid, exciting team to watch – which is good because that’s what they’re built for. It should be a gunslinging offense with a healthier Rendon and Trout, and full seasons from Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell. The top-3 in the rotation will be ones to watch and a revamped bullpen should kick some AL West butt.

But the lack of overall depth greatly concerns me, and I would be surprised if the rotation finishes the year in the upper half of MLB. There is no slack in the organization to account for injuries or underperformance, which seems to expose itself by May each year. I can see them making the postseason, though it’s going to take a lot to go right (and Kurt Suzuki being cut 60 games in) I say that every year to the point where it means nothing.

Charles Sutton (84-78)

I am predicting an 84 win season. I think the improvements to the bullpen can win a few of those games that the Angels lost in the late innings last year. I don’t think that the rotation as currently constituted is likely to do anything special. I am hoping Thor can win more than Quintana did. He’s a big question mark. The middle infield is a little rickety and they might give away some of the games that Thor wins over and above what Quintana would have done.

Rick (82-80)

I really tried to get excited about this season. It has some pieces I’m stoked as hell for. But I still firmly believe that our woes the past decade have had little to do with the top end of our rotation, bullpen, and position players. Every team gets injuries galore. Every team has shit luck at times. Every team worth mentioning is going to lose a star for 60 days or more. What separates the men from the boys is what you have down the depth chart and the Angels are still thin. You can’t keep crossing your fingers and praying it all comes together because it just so rarely does.

I’m optimistic about our record for once, and that optimism has us with a winning record and solidly 4th or 5th in the Wild Card race at the end of the season. I want to be a beacon of hope after seeing Noah Syndergaard and Matt Duffy added to the mix, but I’m not going to be sunny when Taylor Ward is your fourth outfielder, Jack Mayfield is your utility, Kurt Suzuki is your backup catcher, and Jaime Barria is projected to make starts– all at the same time.

John Henry (81-81)

This Angels team will impress and get people’s hopes up. A surge at the start, even leading the west at one point. But injuries will happen, the lack of depth will be costly, and despite multiple MVP candidates, the Angels miss the playoffs. Sure the offense is top 10, the bullpen is great, but the rotation gets injured and overall is too mediocre to make the team good. Arte Moreno will blame the lack of playoffs on injuries and Maddon will say it was an improvement at least. 2023 we all say.

Prove me wrong.