Angels MLB beat writer Alden Gonzalez just announced the Angels spring training invites for the forthcoming pre-season. Here they are:

Pitchers: Billy Buckner, Kevin Johnson, Tony Pena, Jo-Jo Reyes, A.J. Schugel, Mitch Stetter

Catchers: Jett Bandy, Luke Carlin, Carlos Ramirez, Zach Wright

Infielders: Kaleb Cowart, Brendan Harris, Taylor Lindsey, Efren Navarro, Luis Rodriguez, Eric Stamets, Alex Yarbrough

Outfielders: Randal Grichuk, Trent Oeltjen, J.B. Shuck, Matt Young

Angels fans should recognize some of the names on here. Particularly, Angels prospect Kaleb Cowart and 2011 first-round pick Randal Grichuk. Also included in the list of spring training invites will be reliever Fernando Cabrera whom the Angels recently signed. He will be invited once his contract becomes official.

Players who are looking for a contract or a spot on the 40-man roster include former Blue Jays pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes who the Angels signed in the off-season to shore up their pitching depth. You can add Brenden Harris and Luis Rodriguez to this list as well. Both are journeyman infielders the Angels signed in the off-season to add depth to the infield with the departure of Macier Izturis. These two will be fighting it out for a bench spot.

It should also be interesting to see infielder Taylor Lindsey who at age 20 hit .289/.328/.408 in the Cal League last year and has been scouted as having excellent gap power. At the 2B position, former University of Mississippi star Alex Yarbrough will also get a look. He hopes to improve on his .287/.320/.410 line that he posted last year in Low-A. The young second-basemen lacks the big tools but is considered to be a refined player with good instincts already.

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

 It was just a two weeks ago that Bobby Abreu gave the Angels an ultimatum: play him every day or trade him to a team that would. The Angels had explored possible deals to unload the superfluous outfielder, most notably in the deal with the Yankees for A.J. Burnett that fell through. However, the market for a 38-year old outfielder who couldn’t play the field last season and who saw his offensive production fall off a cliff in 2011 who is owed $9 million in 2012 is pretty sparse. The Angels and manager Mike Scioscia pledged to find playing time for Abreu, though where he would get that playing time was a little hazy. You got the feeling that the Angels would still like to shop Abreu to other teams, but didn’t want to come across as desparately trying to dump a disgruntled veteran to try and get the best deal possible. Well, something else has come up that’s going to make the “play me or trade me” dictate harder to work: Abreu has been terrible this spring.

In five games, Abreu is just 1-for-12 at the plate, drawing a walk, and striking out four times. He has looked out of sorts so far, including a glacially slow swing for strike three in Monday’s 9-1 loss to the Dodgers. He has missed a few days of camp this spring with an illness, which could account for his sluggish start. Scioscia hasn’t expressed too much concern over Abreu’s struggles and plans to play him in right field today against the Giants to try and get him into some sort of rhythm to break him out of his funk.

“Bobby’s usually not a crisp starter,” Scioscia said. “He likes a lot of at-bats to try to get into that groove.”

With a batting average of just .083, Abreu has been anything but “crisp,” and is unfortunately continuing the bad offensive trend he started last season. It’s unfortunate for Abreu because he won’t be able to sniff the on-deck circle if he continues swinging the bat this way, and unfortunate for the Angels because at this rate, they won’t be able to trade Abreu for a cup of coffee, which would at least be able to draw a few extra walks. While Abreu may believe that he’s “still an everyday player,” he needs to turn things around in a hurry to convince anybody else.

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

 May 29, 2010, was the last time Kendrys Morales played in a real baseball game. On that day, the Angels were hosting the Seattle Mariners and the game went into extra innings where Morales got the chance for some late-game heroics, smashing a walk-off home run to end the game. However, the celebration of that game-ending shot was short lived as Morales fractured his leg hopping onto home plate, immediately ending his season. As it turns out, that long shot out of Angels Stadium would be the last at-bat Morales would see for nearly two years as a setback in his rehab cost him all of 2011 as well. Now, it looks like Morales is finally on the way to rejoining the lineup and settling in behind Albert Pujols in the suddenly crowded Angels batting order as he has gotten over one of the bigger hurdles to returning: running the bases without pain.

Angels’ fans will remember that this was the stumbling block for Morales in 2011. After his initial surgery, Morales was aggressively rehabbing to get back for 2011 when he experienced swelling and pain in his ankle after he would run last spring. He entered camp looking like he would be back for the season, only to have his rehab derailed by the pain, causing the team to shut down his return, and eventually shut him down completely for 2011 with a second surgery to clean out his ankle. Avoiding another setback like that this season is already a huge plus for Morales in 2012.

On Sunday morning, Morales went through his workout of running the bases and reported feeling no pain afterwards. This puts him right on schedule to be playing in spring games by the end of next week and, barring any setbacks, to be the designated hitter for the Halos on Opening Day. The team has been very pleased with Morales’ progress and are not seeing any reason why he won’t be hitting fourth behind new Angel Albert Pujols when the team opens its season April 6 against Kansas City.

There are still plenty of questions left for Morales before he finally gets back into the lineup full time, though. While he’s looked great in batting practice, how will he handle real pitching over 90 mph? How will he handle the adrenaline of a real game-situation? How will his ankle hold up? Will he be able to play every day for a week straight, or will the wear be too much for his recovering leg? Finally, perhaps the most important question; what kind of production will he bring to the DH spot?

If the switch-hitting Morales can return to the form he was in before the injury, the heart of the Angels order will be one of the best in baseball. Morales will add power to the clean-up spot while offering protection for the even more dangerous Pujols hitting third. After losing nearly two full seasons, you can bet Morales is chomping at the bit to get back out there and pick up where he left off. He’s cleared the biggest stumbling block in his path to returning and now he can focus on answering those smaller questions. One word of advice for Morales in 2012, though: leisurely handshake lines are just as satisfying as jumping around in a mob after a win, and about a thousand times safer. Just something to think about.