LA Angels All-Decade Players: Introduction and Honorable Mentions

As the year winds down, so does a decade of LA Angels mediocrity. This was a forgettable ten years for the Halos, but that doesn’t mean we can’t honor the best of the best who wore red and white.

This article kicks off a series going over the best LA Angels of the decade, by position. This article won’t get into those players, but is merely an introduction to the series and at the end, we’ll name some honorable mentions who didn’t quite make the cut.

For this series, we’ll be looking at the cumulative significance of a player throughout the decade. This won’t be picking and choosing the best season from one player and another season five years later for another player.

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This is, when you think of the Angels during the 2010’s, which player comes to mind first for each position?

We’ll do one post per position, obviously. However, we won’t be including a relief pitcher. There will be a designated hitter selection, though. There were a lot of tough choices throughout the selection process, and the following players had a good case to be apart of the team but fell just short.

Honorable Mentions

• Erick Aybar: He was the starting shortstop for six of the ten seasons, and was known for his hustle and sly smile. If it weren’t for the generational talent he was traded for, Erick Aybar would be the clear-cut choice to be the Angels’ all-decade shortstop
• Martin Maldonado: Leaving Maldonado off the all-decade team will likely be my most controversial decision. However, as great and loved as he was in Anaheim, Maldonado only played 1.5 seasons with the Halos.

• Tyler Skaggs: Any list about this decade has to include Tyler Skaggs. His significance to the Angels’ organization and fans cannot be described in words. His tragic death is going to be remembered by every fan, coach, and player for the rest of their lives, and his legacy is going to carry on for years to come.
• Mike Scioscia: While we won’t have a post dedicated to the former skipper, Mike Scioscia is a Hall of Fame manager in waiting. While this decade didn’t bring as much success as the first ten years of the millennium, watching the latter half of Scioscia’s career was one of the best storylines of the decade.