Kuzul

It's hard to look at Albert Pujols these days without asking, "Man, what the heck happened?"The last time we saw Pujols in St. Louis Cardinals red, he was standing tall at the top of the baseball mountain after a 37-homer regular season that constituted a bad year. He was also celebrating the second World Series victory of his career, having helped the Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers with a 1.064 OPS in the seven games.The man was a baseball god. Less than two years later, we're looking at Pujols in Los Angeles Angels red and what we see is anything but a god. What we see is an albatross, not to mention the latest case study of how albatrosses come to be.What he goes to show is that, shoot, it really doesn't take much.What's happening to Pujols on the field isn't the result of some sinister conspiracy. He's old and beat ...

The Los Angeles Angels (11-20) currently sit in fourth place in the A.L. West with a winning percentage of .355 (third worst in the American League).To say that the team has underachieved through the first five weeks of the season would be a giant understatement. Prior to the 2013 campaign, fans and analysts alike had the Halos slated as true World Series contenders. But winning hasn't come easy. When looking at the season statistics, it becomes rather apparent that the Angels pitching staff is the main reason why. The Angels staff currently has a team ERA and team WHIP of 4.78 and 1.48, respectively, which both rank second worst in all of baseball. They have allowed 129 walks through 31 games, the highest number of any team. In addition, Halo pitchers have had a hard time closing out games, converting on only four out of nine save opportunities. If the Angels want to be playing meaningful ...

Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols has five career home runs against Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Aaron Harang, which is important to consider when making your MLB picks on Friday as the two teams meet at Safeco Field.Sports bettors will find that the Angels are minus-145 road favorites in the pro baseball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total stands at 7.5 in the betting market.Let's take a closer look at this American League West matchup from a betting perspective, while offering a prediction along the way.Begin Slideshow

After a dominant 10-0 victory on Saturday, for the first time this season, the Los Angeles Angels bats and pitching came together for their most complete win of the season, bringing them to 6-10. Not that their bats haven't been hitting well (with the exception of a horrifically slow start for newly acquired Josh Hamilton), but it's been the Angels pitching that has faltered in this early part of the season.  Saturday, however, they looked great as a team.  And two players, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, hit the ball like the players everyone expects them to be.So who will have the better season of the two this year?  Reigning National League Rookie of the Year Mike Trout went 2-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored.  Though he got off to a relatively slow start this season, he now has a slash line of .304/.347/.522 with two home runs, ...

In the previous decade, a culture of winning was established in Anaheim. The Angels qualified for the postseason six times in the last 11 years (which included a memorable World Series title run in 2002). But after missing the playoffs in 2010 and 2011, the direction of the team began to come under question. Angels owner Arte Moreno took action and parted ways with the team's longtime general manager Tony Reagins. In his place, Moreno hired ex-Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Jerry Dipoto on October 28, 2011. Dipoto's first and most important responsibility as new general manager was to bring the Angels franchise back to relevance. And the new GM wasted little time doing so. His 2011 offseason signings of Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson (on the same day) shocked the baseball world and immediately thrust the Angels into the limelight. Within months of being hired, Dipoto appeared to pull off the unthinkable by managing to land (what most considered to be) ...

The Los Angeles Angels fit one of my favorite, classic plot lines in the MLB. With 162 games, stretching over six months, even the greatest, talent-rich teams will hit a bump in the road now and again. There are the foreseen and the unpredictable, the sore arms, backaches…and all the other ailments so eloquently listed by coach Lou Brown in "Major League". And while the Angels certainly are not having any issues with owner Arte Moreno turning on the water heater for the jacuzzi or forcing the team to travel via a rundown prop plane on road trips—like Rachel Phelps did to those lovable, fake Charlie Sheen-led Cleveland Indians—they have seen their share of obstacles thus far. This early? Sure, foreshadowing possible roadblocks over 162 games with only a six-game sample size, to any certainty (and with a straight face), is like claiming you can reconstruct the Great Barrier Reef ...

 It was all about the Los Angeles Angels' bats heading into the 2013 season. Thanks to Tuesday's news, it's going to be even more about their bats going forward.The latest word is injury-related, and it unfortunately involves the Angels' most prized arm. According to the team's official Twitter feed, right-handed starter Jered Weaver has been placed on the disabled list with a broken left elbow:You'll recall that Weaver hurt his elbow on Sunday night in his start against the Texas Rangers. He was forced to evade a line drive up the middle off the bat of Mitch Moreland, and he landed awkwardly on his left arm. He was in pain, trainers came out and he left the game a few moments later.So how long will Weaver be out? Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has the prognosis:There goes the Angels' ace for maybe as long as six weeks. Say what you will ...

Jered Weaver's injury was an odd one.The Los Angeles Angels ace was quick enough to get out of the way of a shot right back at him, but fell on his non-pitching arm in doing so. It was an awkward fall, as you'd expect with a quick twisting move on a sloping surface, which resulted in what looked like a hyperextended elbow.The team removed Weaver from the game, but he was near his pitch limit anyway, so we really weren't sure whether he could have continued. The Angels initially only worried about whether he'd make his next start, but images on Tuesday morning showed a fracture near the elbow (via Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal), putting him out of action for an extended period of time. Though an injury to his pitching arm would obviously have been worse, the non-throwing arm (or glove-side arm) is important for balance and consistency, so changes there could cause ...

In an attempt to put healthy players on the field for opening day, the New York Yankees have dealt for veteran outfielder Vernon Wells.In exchange, one of the prospects the Los Angeles Angels will receive is 21-year-old outfielder Exicardo Cayones (h/t Mark Saxon of ESPN), who came to the Yankees' organization from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the A.J. Burnett deal.So who is Exicardo Cayones and what's he all about?Here's a breakdown of what the Angels received by trading Wells to the Bronx Bombers.  ProfileBirth Date: Oct. 9, 1991 (21 years old)Birthplace: Valencia, VenezuelaExperience: Two years (minor leagues, mainly Single-A ball)College: NoneHeight, weight: 6'0", 183 lbs. About Cayones' Big League TimeThe 21-year-old outfielder hasn't reached the big leagues just yet, as he's still trying to make his way out of Single-A ball.In 47 games with the Staten Island Yankees last season, Cayones hit .228 with one homer and 15 RBI to go with seven stolen ...

With the start of the 2013 MLB season just a week away, the Los Angeles Angels will be required to reduce their 40-man expanded roster to a 25-man active roster.On Opening Day, the team's active roster will most likely consist of five starting pitchers, six infielders, five outfielders, two catchers and seven relief pitchers.With the Angels batting lineup and starting pitching already secured in the offseason, the team was faced with the task of determining its bullpen and bench players during spring training.The following slides reveal who's in and who's out in regards to the team's remaining roster spots.*All projections are based off of the Los Angeles Angels team page on baseballprospectus.com Begin Slideshow