Once upon a time, Kotchman was the Angels top prospect. The Halos selected him with the 13th pick in the 2001 draft. Long time Angels scout Tom Kotchman probably had some decent inside information on his son. According to Baseball America, Kotchman was the team’s top prospect in 2002, 2004 and 2005. He debuted in 2004 but didn’t become the full time first baseman until 2007.

In 2007, Kotchman posted a .296/.372/.467 line and a 1.7 WARP (wins above replacement player) which was his best season until 2011. Kotchman toed the replacement player level in 2008 and 2009 before falling under it 2010. A 1.8 WARP season with the Rays in 2011 earned him a $3 million deal with the Indians.

Brandon Wood would take over as the Angels top prospect from 2006-2008. I love Mike Trout and think he’s going to be every bit as good as advertised. But Kotchman and Wood haven’t exactly set a good precedent for Angels prospects. Here’s the fWAR (Fangraphs wins above replacement) graph by age for the pair of three time number one Angels prospects and reigning two time top prospect…

Source: FanGraphs — Casey Kotchman, Brandon Wood, Mike Trout

That little green blip is Trout already off to a much better start than the other two. I’m developing quite the knack for turning any post or conversation into a Mike Trout love fest. My non-baseball-fan-friends especially adore it.

(Photo Credit: Yardbarker.com)

It’s time for another AL West Matchup Preview! This time the Angels go into Seattle looking to continue their winning ways against their AL West foes, and we welcome SodoMojo’s Lead Blogger, Griffin Cooper, to give his take on this matchup. As for our take here at Halo Hangout:

In the second matchup with Seattle in as many weeks, the pitching matchups take on a decidedly different look. Both teams avoid the other’s ace, as both Felix Hernandez and Jered Weaver made starts on Thursday. The Angels, luckily, also get to avoid Cliff Lee, who utterly dominated them the first time around.

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(Photo Source: Yardbarker.com)

Before the 2009 season, Kendry Morales was the much-hyped prospect from Cuba that was stuck first behind Casey Kotchman, and then Mark Teixeira at first base. With Kotchman traded for Teixeira, and the Angels unable to resign Tex after the 2008 season, it was up to Morales to give the Angels a solid, power bat at first base. As everyone knows, he delivered better than most anyone would’ve realistically expected him to.

Morales had seen playing time with the major league club, registering over 400 Plate Appearances between 2006 and 2008, though he only compiled a .249/.302/.408 line, which is not exactly impressive for 1B. The following 622 PA’s changed all that, when Morales put up a .306/.355/.569 line and finished 5th in MVP voting. While not the most valuable player the Angels had last season (that title goes to the departed Chone Figgins, unfortunately), Morales was clearly a big part of the offense. This season, with Figgins gone north to Seattle and Torii Hunter coming off of a career year, he’s going to have to play an even bigger role. The question, of course, is if he will repeat his numbers, or will regression sink it’s nasty teeth into Morales’ 2010 numbers?

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