Kuzul

It’s not often that you get a guy who’s a massive free-agent bust and a massive trade bust. Guys tend to belong to one club or the other, not both.

Which brings us to Prince Fielder. Early in 2014, he’s put himself on a path to become one of the rare exceptions.

You should be familiar with the general Fielder timeline. He signed a nine-year, $214 million contract with the Detroit Tigers in January of 2012 and had one very good year in 2012 followed by a so-so 2013. The Tigers then abandoned ship, dealing Fielder to the Texas Rangers for Ian Kinsler last November.

The deal wasn’t without upside for Texas. Fielder was getting a fresh start, and one at a much more offense-friendly home park to boot. With the Tigers also agreeing to eat $30 million of the $168 million remaining on Fielder’s deal, the odds of him giving good return on investment increased even more.

But so far? Hoo boy.

Fielder went 0-for-4 in a third straight game at Fenway Park against the defending champion Boston Red Sox on Monday night, dropping his overall slash line to .143/.200/.179. He also had a defensive gaffe on a bunt by Jackie Bradley Jr. that contributed to a three-run Boston eighth.

All right, it’s time I acknowledged in big, bold letters that it’s SUPER-DUPER EARLY. This is the time of small sample sizes and of players still transitioning from spring training mode to regular-season mode.

For what it’s worth, Fielder’s not worried, telling T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com after Monday’s game: “I’m right on track. I’m right where I should be. You just have to go up there and do your best and see what you can do.”

Still, I feel the same way Adam J. Morris of SB Nation’s Lone Star Ball blog feels:

You shouldn’t need me to tell you that Fielder’s numbers are going to get better. At the least, I feel comfortable guessing that he’s not going to have a .160 batting average on balls in play all season.

However, there is one thing going on with Fielder’s hitting in the early goings this season that’s not a good sign at all.

You might be able to guess at what it is if you consider how Fielder made outs in his three at-bats against Boston right-hander John Lackey on Monday night (the links will take you to Brooks Baseball):

• First at-bat: four-seam fastball grounded to second.
• Second at-bat: four-seam fastball grounded to second.
• Third at-bat: four-seam fastball flied to center.

Yup, that’s three outs on fastballs, which unfortunately fits with a trend that’s not new.

Justin Haven of ESPN Stats & Info first noticed last August that Fielder was suddenly struggling to hit the hard stuff:

“Regardless of righty or lefty, Fielder is getting beat by fastballs this season. He’s slugging only .404 (115th in the majors) against those pitches. Just two seasons ago, Fielder feasted on heaters, slugging .607 against them, 16th among all players.” 

Truth be told, this is a trend that didn’t begin in 2013. The warning signs were there in 2012, as we can see by considering this data from Brooks Baseball:

FYI: “ISO” is Isolated Power, which is essentially slugging percentage minus singles for a more accurate measure of power.

Illustrated here is a man who went from being one of MLB‘s best fastball hitters to being less of an elite fastball hitter in 2012 to a decidedly average fastball hitter in 2013.

Most concerning of all is the decline in power, as it certainly becomes a lot harder for a slugger like Fielder to hit for power if he’s forced into doing his damage on off-speed pitches. That stuff is harder to get in the air, and there’s the added difficulty of pitchers not supplying as much power as they do with fastballs.

This may be academic where Fielder’s concerned, though, as these numbers from FanGraphs show that pitchers haven’t been doing him the courtesy of additional off-speed stuff early on in 2014:

• 2011 FB%: 49.1
• 2012 FB%: 52.4
• 2013 FB%: 53.4
• 2014 FB%: 60.5

The scouting report on Fielder may be getting around. As his performance against the hard stuff has declined, the amount of hard stuff he’s been seeing has increased. Where pitchers were very shy about challenging Fielder as recently as 2011, now they’re shrugging their shoulders and going right after him.

It’s not just the data that says it’s a good idea. To the naked eye, his bat speed just doesn’t seem as explosive as it once was. 

Just in case you need a reminder…

It’s been a while since we last saw Fielder swing it like that. And given his age (29) and the general degree to which he hasn’t looked like his old self at the plate recently, I figure it’s fair to wonder if we’ll ever see another like it.

Now, I’ll grant that David Ortiz looked like he had lost all of his explosive bat speed when he struggled his way through 2009. I’ll also agree with anyone who says he still hasn’t regained it.

That hasn’t stopped Big Papi from being one of MLB’s elite hitters, though. He’s been able to adjust. Perhaps Fielder can do the same.

The Rangers had better hope he can, because goodness knows he won’t be much good to them if he’s not hitting.

Fielder’s baserunning is still as atrocious as it’s ever been, and there’s no point betting on him turning into a Gold Glove first baseman. Not while he’s sitting on minus-93 career defensive runs saved, anyway.

The best course for the Rangers at this point is to play Mitch Moreland at first base and Fielder at designated hitter, which would allow him to focus strictly on hitting. If nothing else, it would be addition by subtraction, as Moreland‘s defense certainly isn’t worse than Fielder’s.

If neither good, old-fashioned hard work nor a permanent move to DH can fix what’s ailing Fielder’s bat, the Rangers are going to have quite the dilemma on their hands. They’ll owe quite a bit of money to a DH-type player with a questionable bat, and it’s hard to imagine them finding a team willing to make an upside play like the one the Rangers chose to make.

That there’s plenty of time left in the season means there’s plenty of room for optimism. But right now, Fielder is the same limited player he’s always been, and his bat looks like it’s still on the decline rather than on the upswing.

As far as reasons for pessimism go, these are good ones.

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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There has only been one week of baseball—games that count anyway—but so far, so good for many of the Oakland Athletics‘ top-10 minor league prospects.

As per the norm, MLB.com released their list of the top 100 prospects as well as the top 20 for each team. Here we’ll use this list to discuss the top 10 in the A’s system. Of course this includes the most familiar face, Addison Russell. The Billys (McKinney and Burns), four pitchers and three Single-A infielders round out the list.

Let’s see how each player is doing in this young season.

The list is in numerical, descending order and comes with one of three designations when it comes to stock: up, down or even.

Note: Dillon Overton is listed as the eighth-best prospect; however, he has yet to pitch in 2014. He is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery. He will be skipped.

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Sometimes, when you just can’t buy any hits and you really feel the need to find yourself, the best thing to do is pay a visit to the Houston Astros.

It worked for the Los Angeles Angels, anyway.

To recap, the Angels did indeed have trouble buying hits in their season-opening series against the Seattle Mariners. They managed just 17 hits and eight runs in the three games, compiling an ugly slash line of .177/.223/.313.

Not quite what you’d expect from an offense that ranked seventh in MLB in runs last year, much less one that was expected to be even better with some healthy key parts and some new additions for 2014. 

But then the Angels met the Astros on Friday night, and literally (meaning figuratively) exploded.

Mike Trout got things started with a long solo home run in the first inning. Josh Hamilton eventually added his first home run of 2014, a three-run job in the sixth inning. Kole Calhoun hit his first of the year as well.

In the end, everybody in Mike Scioscia‘s starting nine got a hit:

John McDonald added another hit as a pinch-hitter, bringing the total to 15 and prompting Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register to observe:

If you’re an Angels fan or just a fan of good offense, say it with me now: Phew.

Now, the whole Astros caveat/catch/whatever is worth re-noting. This is a team that ranked dead-last in MLB in ERA last year, and the Angels started off on Friday night facing a guy who had a hand in that. Astros starter Lucas Harrell had a 5.86 ERA in 36 games (22 starts).

Still, it was just a matter of time before this Angels offense had a night like Friday night.

They won’t be scoring in the double digits every night, but there should be no mistaking that what happened on Friday night is much, much more like the true Angels offense than the offense that got shut down by Seattle to start the season.

They keep all kinds of snazzy projections over at FanGraphs, among them being projections for how much WAR teams stand to get out of their hitters. If you follow that link and take a look, what you should see is a projection for the Angels to get 26.0 WAR out of their hitters in 2014.

It may not sound like much, but that’s the best projection out of all American League clubs. Therefore, SCIENCE says that the Angels should have the best collective offense in Junior Circuit.

Granted, this is mainly due to the presence of Trout. He was worth 10.0 WAR in 2012, 10.4 WAR in 2013 and, wouldn’t you know it, he’s already leading the American League with 0.6 WAR in 2014. Contrary to popular belief, things don’t change.

Trout’s baserunning and defensive talents are a big reason why he’s so good at WAR, but his bat is certainly the main reason. And to this end, Trout’s not alone in the Angels lineup. 

We can put it this way:

Note: Those projected numbers are ZiPS projections that can be found here.

If you’re not familiar with OPS+, it’s a version of OPS that adjusts for home ballparks and league quality and puts everything on a scale where 100 represents average. Anything over 100 is above average. 

Point being: There really aren’t many easy outs among Scioscia‘s collection of regulars. To boot, even the ones that are there are debatable.

Erick Aybar isn’t quite as easy an out as his track record says he is, as he’s posted an OPS+ over 100 in three of five seasons. David Freese, meanwhile, is absolutely a candidate to outperform his projection after posting an OPS+ over 100 in each of his five seasons in St. Louis.

If there’s one thing I’m not sure about, it’s that 133 OPS+ projected for Albert Pujols. That’s not far off from the rock-solid 138 OPS+ he had when he was healthy in 2012. Asking him to return to that level coming off an injury-ruined 2013 season is asking a lot.

The trade-off, however, could be that Hamilton outperforms his modest projection, which he’s already well on his way to do.

Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com did a pretty good job of hitting the nail on the head here:

Through four games in 2013, Hamilton had one hit and two walks in 19 plate appearances. He had struck out eight times. Next to that, the .462/.563/.769 slash line he has in the early going this year looks even better.

You can count his manager as one who doesn’t think Hamilton’s hot start is a fluke.

“I definitely get that sense, and I think the patience is coming from being comfortable in the box,” Scioscia said Wednesday, via Pedro Moura of the Orange County Register. “I think he’s in a real good comfort zone. His head is still, he’s seeing the ball really well and that’s gonna lead to a little bit better pitch selection when he’s swinging the bat.”

If there’s one statistic that confirms what Scioscia is talking about, it’s O-Swing%. It’s a FanGraphs favorite that measures the percentage of pitches batters swing at outside the strike zone, making it a go-to metric to find hitters with bad plate discipline.

It’s on that note that I present Hamilton’s showings in the O-Swing% department from recent seasons:

• 2011: 41.0
• 2012: 45.4
• 2013: 41.2
• 2014: 27.6

Between 2011 and 2013, Hamilton was extremely aggressive in expanding the strike zone. In fact, he was right up there with Jeff Francoeur. 

But so far in 2014? Nuh uh. Hamilton has been a totally different player.

Now, this obviously stems from an absurdly small sample size, as the O-Swing% you see for 2014 hasn’t even been updated to include Friday night’s game. Just because Hamilton is this disciplined now doesn’t mean he’s going to be this disciplined all season.

It’s definitely a good sign, though, and I can further drive home the point by noting this: The last time Hamilton finished with an O-Swing% under 40 was in 2010, the year he hit .359 and won the AL MVP.

Looking forward, the Angels know that their offense will at least have a pretty decent floor as long as Trout is around and still playing like Trout. The offense that finished seventh in runs scored last year was basically him and a collection of spare parts, after all.

But Trout shouldn’t have to do it all by himself this year. He’s surrounded by quality hitters, among which should be at least one other stud. This Angels offense shouldn’t be about its floor. It should be about its ceiling.

And if Friday night’s blowout is any indication, it will be.

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted/linked.

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The Oakland Athletics announced on Monday that they signed former Angels pitcher Joe Blanton to a minor league deal, assigning him to Triple-A Sacramento. For Blanton, who was originally drafted by the Athletics, the signing results in a homecoming as well as an opportunity to bounce back from a forgettable year with the Angels. But it’s also a quality addition on the part of Billy Beane and the A’s. 

The @Athletics have signed Joe Blanton to a minor league deal. He will join the River Cats starting rotation.

— River Cats (@RiverCats) March 31, 2014 

Sure, Blanton may not be a flashy acquisition that can replace injured ace Jarrod Parker, but considering the circumstances, he could certainly provide the Athletics with some good bang for their buck if brought up to their big league roster.

With the way things currently sit for the A’s, there is a very real possibility that Blanton could get called up sooner rather than later. As of Monday, Jesse Chavez, who has made just seven career starts over parts of nine seasons, was slated to be Oakland’s third starter—joining Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Dan Straily and Tommy Milone in an injury-riddled rotation. Chavez has pitched well to this point in his two seasons with the Athletics, but in a very small sample size—meaning Bob Melvin could be quick to look elsewhere if Chavez struggles. 

Drew Pomeranz, currently one of two lefty relievers in Oakland’s bullpen, was originally drafted as a starter and would be more than capable of making a spot start if need be. But with Sean Doolittle as the only other lefty in the Athletics’ relief corps, Melvin may very well prefer to give Blanton the starting spot over Pomeranz if such a situation arose.

Many seem to think that Blanton’s career is essentially over, as he is coming off a career worst 6.08 ERA in 20 starts with the Angels last year. However, while it’s unlikely Blanton comes in and pitches 3.00 ERA-ball in Oakland, the Athletics’ spacious home ballpark and top-tier defense could definitely go a long way in helping Blanton return to form. If another Oakland starter goes down, don’t be surprised if Blanton’s name is called to slide into the rotation, and don’t have a funny look on your face if he’s putting up solid numbers again either.

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For young, emerging superstars, contracts and earning power often become a combination of risk, reward and timing. For Mike Trout, the stars aligned in the form of a $144.5 million contract extension from the Los Angeles Angels, setting the once-in-a-generation all-around baseball genius up for now and later.

The news, per Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, sent shock waves through the baseball community late on Friday evening.

With the ink still drying on Miguel Cabrera’s $248 million extension, Trout earned his own payday, re-writing the narrative and record books for players with limited service time. According to Gonzalez’s source, the deal will ensure Trout is baseball’s highest-paid player relative to service time at every juncture of the breakdown.

At first glance, Trout’s payday sets him up for life. For the average fan, the idea of making $144.5 million is ludicrous and a life-changing decision. 

Yet, by eschewing year-to-year arbitration dances with the Angels, Trout forfeited the right to hit free agency at the age of 26. Had the dynamic, two-way center fielder declined this offer, played out his initial contract and hit free agency in 2018, the richest contract in professional sports would have likely been waiting for him. 

Despite the allure of becoming the first $350 or $400 million athlete in history, Trout had to take this deal, even if it meant delaying that inevitable trip to the land of suitors, blank check books and impetuous owners looking to make a splash. 

Why?

Risk, reward and timing.

While any open-minded baseball observer can project what Trout can become and accomplish over the next handful of years, there’s no way of knowing what will definitely occur. With injuries or a young, unforeseen decline hit, potential earning power could be curtailed in a significant way.

Consider this: From 2005-2008—during what were his first four full big league seasons—the American League‘s best center fielder hit 107 home runs, stole 115 bases and was worth 24.6 WAR. Over that span, only three players—Albert Pujols, Chase Utley and Alex Rodriguez—were more valuable, per Baseball-Reference (subscription required).

Looking back, it would have been easy to project Grady Sizemore for riches in free agency. That, of course, never happened. Injuries derailed what looked to be the start of a Hall of Fame career. Now, years after those star-level seasons, Sizemore is attempting to re-write his story in Boston on a $750,000 base salary.

To be fair, Sizemore wasn’t Trout. Trout owns 20.3 WAR before his age-22 season starts, while Sizemore just began to ascend and take off at the age Trout is now. Still, great young players don’t always have a linear trek to immortality. 

By signing the deal now, Trout is rewarded for what he’s done, while attempting to improve without the worry of a future deal hanging over him.  

Assuming baseball’s best player doesn’t become a “what if?” story for years to come, Trout’s career should unfold with an array of accolades and MVP awards. By the time he does hit the free-agent market at 29, unimaginable future earnings will still be possible.

By signing this deal, Trout eliminated the theoretical 12-year, $400 million deal from coming across his agent’s desk in 2018.  

That has now been replaced by two headline-making possibilities: The six-year, $144.5 million pact and a future deal—factoring in baseball’s burgeoning revenue streams and inflation—that could be worth an annual salary of $40 million. 

Essentially, Trout traded in the chance to cash in on his talent once for the opportunity to do it twice before the age of 30. Even if you believe he gave the Angels a break right now—as Dave Cameron of FanGraphs argues—riches will be there later.

The five most lucrative contracts in baseball history belong to Alex Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez (yes, again), Cabrera, Albert Pujols and Robinson Cano. Take a look at the age each player was the season before signing their respective mega deals. 

At 29, Trout will have the chance to exceed all of those numbers.

Last, but certainly not least for a player without a career at-bat in October, is timing.

By taking the 10-year or “lifetime” pact off the table with the Angels, Trout leaves his options open for the future. Financially, his current franchise should always have the ability to pay him top dollar, but if the New Jersey native wants to flee to greener—or more successful—pastures in 2020, he can do it in his prime. 

At some point, winning becomes a major priority for each player. If Trout wins big in L.A. over the next seven seasons, there’s little reason to believe he would leave for a different market or team.

If the Angels continue to fumble their way through putting a competitive outfit on the field, big-market teams like the Yankees, Phillies, Red Sox, Mets and crosstown Dodgers would all have ample time to clear the books and allocate the necessary funds to land Trout down the line.

By signing this deal, Trout achieved the best possible outcome any young superstar could hope for: Money now, money later, and the ability to re-write his narrative before the age of 30.

Agree? Disagree?

Comment, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk about all things baseball.

Statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Roster projections via MLB Depth Charts.

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Yu Darvish has been great since joining the Texas Rangers, but a neck injury has forced the team to bench its ace, according to MLB.com. Darvish has a sore neck and is heading back to Dallas for more tests. It is very likely he will start the season on the disabled list.

More worrisome for Rangers fans is that Darvish hasn’t been able to shake what was initially described as simple neck stiffness. Darvish continues to describe the pain as minor and that it initiated when he “slept on it wrong.” 

Now, he’s headed to see Dr. Drew Dossett in Dallas. Dossett is one of the world’s top spinal surgeons, but don’t read too much into it. Dossett is a team physician for the Rangers as well as the Cowboys. Some might remember Dossett as the doctor who made the final call on Tony Romo’s late-season surgery.

There are many possibilities for this condition, with the most likely being some small herniation of a cervical disc. If so, the nerve would be irritated, causing the pain. The disc could be inflamed for many reasons. Trying to calm that aggravation can be handled with injections or, in an extreme case, surgically. If Darvish needs even minor spinal surgery, such as a microdiscectomy, he would miss two to three months. If it’s something minor, it’s more about how he responds to the treatment and when he can get his arm ready to come back.

There are several pitchers who have had similar injuries. The comparable that makes the most sense to me is Clay Buchholz, who missed much of the last half of the season with a similar-sounding neck injury. Buchholz’s is more serious, in that it moved into his shoulder due to nerve impingement. Other pitchers with similar cases are Shaun Marcum and Ted Lilly. The range of days lost to these goes from 16 to 84, according to my injury database.

There’s another sports comparable that NFL fans will note: Peyton Manning. While Manning eventually had to have a single-level fusion, where the disc was removed and two vertebrae were locked together with a titanium cage, he’d previously had two microdiscectomies, plus a number of other minor treatments, and was able to play at a high level for at least five years.

With Darvish out for the Opening Day game with the Philadelphia Phillies—which just sounds odd, doesn’t it?—the Rangers are left scrambling. They will already be without Derek Holland for the first half of the season after knee surgery, and without Matt Harrison for at least a few weeks, if not more, after his three surgeries with Dr. Dossett last year. 

That leaves Martin Perez as the likely Opening Day starter, with no clear favorite for the now-open No. 5 slot. The Rangers may be forced to convert another reliever to the rotation, with Tanner Scheppers now possibly the No. 2 starter and Robbie Ross in the lead for the No. 5 spot. That will leave the pen thin in front of as many as four starters who are coming off injuries or just converted to the rotation. Mike Maddux has his work cut out for him to be sure.

The Rangers do get a little help from the schedule. With two off days in the first two weeks, the team could elect to go with a four-man rotation for the first two times through, but that would leave them needing a fifth starter in an important divisional series with the Seattle Mariners. 

The Rangers start the season in a very tough spot. They’re down three of their expected five starters as well as Jurickson Profar and Geovany Soto. Elvis Andrus isn’t feeling so well, either. Ron Washington is going to have to rally a team that’s going to look very unfamiliar for the first few weeks of the season in order to not fall behind an improving AL West.

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The 2014 MLB season is finally here, which means fans should be on the lookout for some upcoming milestones. 

Albert Pujols is closing in on his 500th career home run. Watch the video to take a look back at Pujols’ accomplishments during his career and to look forward to the moment when he can join one of the most exclusive clubs in sports.

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Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus is working his way back from forearm tightness this spring and will soon make his return to the diamond, according to Fort Worth Star-Telegram‘s Jeff Wilson on Twitter:

If Andrus can return to the field in seven days, he’ll have an excellent shot to be available in time for the Rangers’ regular-season opener, which is scheduled for March 31 against the Philadelphia Phillies. 

He has appeared in 12 spring training games this spring, batting .314 with four RBI. He recently talked about the injury and pointed to his offseason regimen as a potential cause, per The Dallas Morning News‘ Evan Grant: “I was resting a lot. That was my main thing. This is really the first time this has happened. But I’ll learn from my mistake and work my arm more…I want to start throwing, but I want to be careful, too.”

The 25-year-old Venezuelan has spent the past five seasons with Texas, batting .274 with 264 RBI and 18 home runs over that time. The two-time MLB All-Star has also made 34 postseason appearances for the Rangers since making his major league debut in 2009.

Although he has a few more obstacles to overcome before he can return to the field and help the Rangers begin their pursuit of a World Series championship, the latest news is encouraging. 

With spring training winding down and the regular season on the horizon, Andrus and the Rangers can ill afford a setback. Therefore, a patient approach makes the most sense for both the player and the club. 

After all, Andrus has been a durable player over the past five years, playing in at least 150 regular-season games in each of the past three seasons and appearing in at least 145 regular-season games in every season since 2009. 

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For Oakland A’s fans, the term “March Madness” reflects their team’s crazy spring training. One major player is out for the season and another isn’t hitting. But there is good news: A few guys you might not have expected to hit so well have been pleasant surprises.

Spring training is meant to answer a team’s questions.

Oakland’s did just that, but the answers weren’t exactly what anyone might’ve thought. The rotation looks completely different than many predicted, and injuries have altered Opening Day plans a tad too.

From surprises to disappointments to key injuries, the roster has been affected.

Surprises

Michael Taylor has been a bit of a surprise, though I wouldn’t say it’s 100 percent shocking to see him do well. Taylor has 16 hits in 21 games, including five doubles, one triple, three home runs, 10 RBI and a .320 average.

At this point, though, it would appear he is simply auditioning for a new home:

Billy Burns may have sneaked up on fans unfamiliar with his production in the Washington Nationals organization in 2013, and his fast feet. With a .291 average and nine stolen bases, fans are starting to pay attention:

Jesse Chavez and Stephen Vogt have been the last big surprises of the group. Their spring performances have been well documented after one week, and at the end of two weeks.

Lastly, prospects such as Addison Russell (.280) and Billy McKinney (.455) have impressed. Though they are top prospects after all, so that’s more of an expectation than a surprise.

Busts

No one expected to see Yoenis Cespedes at the bottom of the stat sheet. Yet, of all everyday players, he has the worst average at .140. And it’s not like he hasn’t had opportunities to work through it. His 43 at-bats are fourth most on the team.

Remember when Eric Sogard almost became the face of MLB?

A’s fans would like to see the competition’s runner-up hit better than .222 with three RBI. For being the face of the team, at least by fan vote, he’s been unrecognizable at the plate.

Looking at the starting rotation, it’s hard to pick out just one bust. The unit as a whole has not produced very well.

Would-be ace Jarrod Parker’s ERA eclipsed the 10.00 mark—10.61 to be exact. A.J. Griffin nearly matched that. Sonny Gray started OK, but finished with an ERA of 6.30. Dan Straily’s is near 5.00 (4.73), and sixth-option Tommy Milone got under 4.00, barely, at 3.86. Scott Kazmir didn’t allow any runs but only pitched in seven innings.

Injuries

You can’t judge the impact a spring training performance will have on the regular season. Cespedes could rebound in a huge way. Vogt may not continue hitting as well as he currently is when he goes against consistent, big league pitching.

Injuries, though, will definitely have an impact.

The most notable of course is Parker’s. Originally slated to be the Opening Day starter, Parker will now miss the entire 2014 season due to a second Tommy John surgery.

 He’s out, and Chavez is in. That’s not bad, right?

Add A.J. Griffin and Ryan Cook to the mix of hurt pitchers. According to the A’s injury report, Griffin is due back possibly in April. Cook, on the other hand, “feels awesome” (via Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle) after throwing to live batters on March 19. Parker and Griffin will certainly be missed. The A’s have enough quality depth in the pen to make it through a few days without Cook just fine, thankfully.

Lastly, Craig Gentry, the Athletics‘ fourth outfielder, has been cleared for baseball activities. If he isn’t ready by Opening Day, Sam Fuld is the likeliest candidate to fill his shoes until he’s ready.

What It All Means

The outfield will certainly be shaken up.

Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick and Cespedes are still the hands-down starters. If Gentry is healthy, he’s the final outfielder on the roster. If not him, then it’s Fuld. That means Taylor is gone and Burns reports to Sacramento. McKinney needs time even further down in the system.

That’s easy to handle; the rotation is of greater concern.

With Parker and Griffin out, the A’s now turn to a sixth and seventh options. Having that much depth is outstanding, but no one wants to lose their top guy, ever. Chavez had a nice spring, so hopefully he can carry it over. And Milone‘s production is fairly similar to Griffin’s, so there shouldn’t be much concern there.

But now there are more questions.

Can Gray pick up the slack? How effective will Kazmir be? Will Chavez’s spring carry over into the regular season? And who takes Chavez’s spot in the bullpen now? Heck, who takes Cook’s if he can’t make it?

One thing is for sure: The rotation envisioned in February is a whole lot different approaching April.

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The Los Angeles Angels and Albert Pujols have to be hoping the third time’s the charm.

During Pujols’ first two seasons with the team, the club’s performance as a whole has been disappointing, while Pujols’ individual production in each year might best be described as an acceptable progression of a decline (2012) followed by injury-marred disaster (2013).

So far this spring, here are his numbers through Monday’s game: .258 batting average, .351 on-base percentage and .323 slugging percentage.

That’s right, the man with eight years and more than $200 million left on his contract who needs all of eight more homers to reach 500 for his career is currently sporting an S-L-G lower than his O-B-P.

While it’s perfectly justifiable to be shouting, “But it’s only spring training!” at your computer screen right now, it’s just as justifiable to remind you that Pujols and the Angels both need 2014 to start off a lot better than either of his first two years in Los Angeles did.

To that point, entering May 2012, the Halos were just 8-15 while Pujols’ OPS was a mere .570—the lowest ever in his career and it came in his first month with his new team!—and after April 2013, those numbers were 9-17 and .762, respectively.

As for March 2014, Pujols told Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, “Compared to last year when I came here, by the second week of spring training, it was my plantar. I was really frustrated. So I’m really excited and happy how I’m playing first base and how I’m moving.”

Indeed, it’s good to see Pujols, who was one of the better defenders at first base for several years before injuries hampered his lower half, getting back into a groove in the field. This month, he’s already made a handful of nice plays with the glove, while also showing improved movement, both side to side like this:

And this:

As well as coming in on the ball quickly, like so:

With the stick, it’s been a bit of a different story to this point, as mentioned above.

With exactly two weeks left until the Angels opener on March 31 against the Seattle Mariners, Pujols has managed eight hits in 31 at-bats for a respectable enough average (.258), and he’s walked as many times as he’s whiffed (four apiece), which suggests he’s seeing the ball well enough. Still, with only two of those knocks going for extra bases—both doubles—it’s fair to wonder: Where’s the power?

Chances are, it’ll be there during the games that count, especially if Pujols really is healthy and feeling better in his lower half. Remember, this is a guy who had knee surgery in the winter leading up to last season and then dealt with chronic plantar fasciitis pretty much all year—until he flat-out tore the connective tissue in the arch of his left foot early in the second half.

That ended Pujols’ season after just 99 games, only 34 of which came at first base, simply because he was hurting too much to play the field on a regular basis. In all likelihood, at least some of Pujols’ struggles in his career-worst campaign can be attributed to both of those ailments.

While the hits, particularly those of the extra-base variety, have been few and far between during the first portion of spring training, evidence does exist that vintage Pujols is in fact still around, getting his timing back and could be coming out to play more than he did last year:

As Pujols told Gonzalez:

Remember, I missed 300 at-bats last year. I’ve never gone this long without seeing live pitching. This is my first time in my 13-, 14-year career. But I feel better. It seems like my first week I was a little bit uncomfortable, but I started seeing the ball better, getting better at-bats, seeing pitches.

Of course, it wasn’t a good thing Pujols missed the final two months of 2013, but perhaps it wasn’t exactly a bad thing, either. When he fully tore his plantar fascia while hitting a two-run single last July, Pujols essentially gave himself the surgery he had been needing for quite some time—and also gave himself a chance to rest up and recover for an extra eight weeks.

While Pujols, now 34 and amid the second half of his Hall of Fame career, is clearly regressing, ultimately, his health, which failed him miserably last year and led to his worst-ever season, made the pace of that decline look a lot more accelerated than it might actually be.

Will Pujols bounce back to the superstar he was when he was the best hitter on the planet only a few years ago? No, but a return to health could help him approach his 2012 level of production, when he hit .285/.343/.516 with 30 homers and 105 RBI.

On this third time around for Pujols and the Angels, the hope has to be that a healthy left foot will be the charm to help him and the team get off on the right foot.

Statistics come from Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.

To talk baseball or fantasy baseball, check in with me on Twitter: @JayCat11.

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