Building an Angels dream team from the greatest individual seasons of the Arte Moreno era

Arte Moreno owned the Los Angeles Angels for almost 24 years. His tenure as owner will not be remembered fondly by Angels fans. He took over less than seven months after the Angels won their first World Series title, and while the team made the playoffs five times in Moreno's first seven years as owner, they made it to the postseason once in the final 17 seasons.

Moreno's tenure will be marked by the failure to get one of the game's greatest players ever, Mike Trout, to the postseason more than once, and Shohei Ohtani didn't see October in his Angels career either. That being said, the Angels had many good players during Moreno's stewardship of the club. Here is a team made up of the best individual seasons (without repeat players) in the Moreno era.

C - Mike Napoli, 2009

This came down to two players: 2017 Martin Maldonado and the player chosen, 2009 Mike Napoli. It was really a question of what should be valued higher, offense or defense, and ultimately, offense won in this scenario. In 2009, Napoli played 114 games and had 432 plate appearances. He hit 20 home runs, drove in 56, and had an .842 OPS and 120 OPS+. He was worth 3.0 bWAR and 2.3 fWAR.

Maldonado hit .221 in 138 games, but only 40 more plate appearances. He had a .645 OPS and 73 OPS+. He was worth 1.7 bWAR but 3.3 fWAR because FanGraphs weighs catcher defense higher. Napoli putting up an .842 OPS from behind the dish, almost 200 points higher, outweighs the defensive deficiency.

1st - Albert Pujols, 2012

This was also a tight pick. Pujols' 2012 season was his best year with the Angels, and also his first. Pujols hit .285 with a .859 OPS (138 OPS+), and had 30 home runs and 173 RBIs. Pujols had 50 doubles that season as well. The future Hall of Famer had 4.8 bWAR and 3.3 fWAR.

The runner-up was Kendrys Morales' 2009 season; his best season in the bigs. He hit .306 with a .924 OPS (139 OPS+) that season, with 34 home runs, and drove in 108 runs. Morales had a 3.7 fWAR and 4.3 bWAR. What put Pujols ahead was what Morales did in the playoffs.

While the 2012 Angels missed the playoffs despite 89 wins, Morales really struggled in the '09 playoffs. He hit just .172 with a .590 OPS. After the regular season he had, that really hurt the team and gave Pujols the edge despite having no October baseball on his resume.

2B - Howie Kendrick, 2014

The nine-year Angel has the two best season by Angels second baseman in the Moreno era, 2011 and 2014, but '14 was the better of the two.

Kendrick had a career-high 181 hits that season, while also adding 45 extra-base hits and 14 stolen bases. He also tied a career-high with 75 RBI that season. He had a .744 OPS that season, but it was still a 116 OPS+. Kendrick's 6.1 bWAR was a career high, and his 4.6 fWAR was his second-best behind 2011 (4.6 bWAR, 5.4 fWAR). The seasons were close, but Kendrick racking up the hits and RBIs gave that season the edge.

3B - Chone Figgins, 2009

This is the first non-competitive position so far. In 2009, Figgins played 158 games and had 183 hits, 30 doubles, stole 42 bases, and also led the AL with 101 walks. Figgins had a career-high .789 OPS that season and also posted a 7.7 bWAR and 6.6 fWAR. No other Angels third base season even comes close.

SS - Andrelton Simmons, 2017

Most Angels fans are going to remember Simmons' 2017 season for his offensive breakout to go with his elite defense. The platinum glove winner had never posted an OPS higher than .692 in his career, and all of a sudden in 2017, he posted a .752. He hit career highs with 164 hits, 38 doubles, and 19 stolen bases. He also had 14 home runs.

His defense in 2017 was also otherworldly. He had 42 Defensive Runs Saved that season, an MLB record since the stat started being tracked in 2003. Simmons had 8.0 bWAR and 4.7 fWAR. It wasn't close with the competition.

LF - Garret Anderson, 2003

This is another position that wasn't overly competitive. Anderson's 2003 was one of the best seasons of his career. Then, at age 31, Anderson hit 29 home runs, drove in 116, and hit an AL-leading 49 doubles. The lefty hit .315 with a career-high .885 OPS. His 4.0 bWAR and 5.1 fWAR were also the highest for any Angels left fielder in the stretch.

CF - Mike Trout, 2013

It is no surprise that Mike Trout is the pick for center field, but it may be a shock not to see one of his MVP seasons. 2013 might have been Trout's best all-around season, though.

In his second season, Trout had 75 extra-base hits, 33 stolen bases, and 110 walks. He hit .323 with a .988 OPS. While he finished runner-up in the MVP again that season, it's his best all-around offensive season, factoring in the running game and the diverse power profile. That season, Trout posted an 8.9 bWAR and career-high 10.1 fWAR. Trout could have had three or four different seasons that would have placed here; this just felt like the best one.

RF - Vladimir Guerrero, 2004

This is where the Angels will get an MVP season in their lineup. Guerrero's 2004 campaign was incredibly good. He hit .337 with a .598 slugging percentage, good for a .989 OPS and 157 OPS+. Guerrero had 206 hits, of which 39 were doubles and 39 were home runs; he drove in 126 and added 15 stolen bases as well. He had 5.6 bWAR and 5.7 fWAR that season.

DH - Shohei Ohtani, 2023

Purely as a hitter, Shohei's 2023 was epic. He hit .304, with 44 home runs and 95 RBIs in just 135 games. He added another 26 doubles and eight triples to his total, leading MLB in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. He also had 20 stolen bases. Shohei took home the MVP that season and was far and away the best DH season the Angels had under Moreno.

SP - Jered Weaver, 2011

Weaver had two seasons that topped the Arte Moreno era: 2010 and 2011. While his fWAR in 2010 was tied for the highest among all pitchers, his 2011 was by far the best by bWAR, and the overall prevention numbers were much better.

In 2011, the righty pitched 235 2/3 innings, posting a 2.41 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. He struck out 198 batters while only allowing 183 hits and holding opponents to a .598 OPS. His ERA was the second-lowest by any qualified Angels starter since 2003 (the first is later on the list), but with almost 70 more innings. Weaver finished second in the Cy Young voting that season and was easily the best starter in Moreno's tenure.

SP - Dan Haren, 2011

Haren's 2011 wasn't far behind either of Weaver's seasons. His 5.9 fWAR was tied with Weaver's 2010 season for the highest in the 24 years, though it fell far behind in bWAR at 4.2. WAR isn't the be-all, end-all, but his overall numbers weren't quite up to snuff with Weaver's.

In his age-30 season, the righty had a 3.17 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 238 1/2 innings. He struck out 192 and walked just 33; his 5.82 strikeout-to-walk ratio was the best in the AL that season. He finished seventh in the Cy Young voting that season.

SP - Shohei Ohtani, 2022

The only repeat player on the team is Ohtani because they are on different sides of the ball. His 2022 season was easily his best on the mound of his career. It's the only season he pitched a real full-season workload, making 28 starts and pitching 166 innings. He had the lowest qualified ERA of any pitcher at 2.33 while striking out 219 batters. The only reason he comes in third is that he is almost 70 innings shy of Weaver and over 70 innings behind Haren.

SP - John Lackey, 2007

Lackey's 2007 All-Star campaign saw him finish third in the Cy Young voting that season. At 28 years old, the righty had an AL-low 3.01 ERA in 224 innings. He struck out 179 batters and had two complete-game shutouts. The reason Lackey comes in at fourth is his per-nine numbers. He allowed almost nine hits per nine innings, while striking out only 7.2 and walking over two per nine. Still an incredible season for the three-time World Series winner.

SP - Ervin Santana, 2008

The year after Lackey had his coming-out party, Santana did the same. In his fourth year in the pros, the righty made made 32 starts, pitched 219 innings, and had a 3.49 ERA. He struck out 214 batters while only walking 47, a 4.55 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He had a 1.12 WHIP that season, but most importantly, a 5.1 bWAR and 5.3 fWAR. At 25 years old, Santana finished sixth in the Cy Young Voting.

Closer - Fransisco Rodriguez, 2008

Not the most dominant season by the numbers, but it's hard not to put the season K-Rod broke the single-season saves record. In 2008, Rodriguez had 62 saves, the only player ever to reach the 60-save mark. His 2.24 ERA wasn't even his lowest mark in a full season through that point in his career, and his 77 strikeouts were the lowest of his six seasons by that point. But setting an MLB record makes him the pick.

Add us as a preferred source on Google