End of Super Bowl means Angels are officially up next

The Kansas City Chiefs have won the Super Bowl. Whoopee. Now, Los Angeles Angels, the mission, if you choose to accept it, is to ruin the Los Angeles Dodgers’ time in the spotlight. As of today, baseball takes center stage. No more Taylor Swift talk. It’s time for Angels baseball! Pitchers and catchers report on Wednesday. They say we have an early Spring this year, so let’s head out to the diamond.

What should we expect from LA Angels spring training?

The big moves the Angels have made are to their bullpen, which was a glaring weakness and probably was a contributing factor of Shohei Ohtani going to the Dodgers. You can say with the signings of Robert Stephenson, Adam Cimber, and the return of Matt Moore, the Angels have the best (or second-best) bullpen in the American League West division on paper.

There are no lights on the Halos this season, but looking back at this team’s history, why would the Angels want all that smoke? They live for flying under the radar. In 2002, the big story was the “Moneyball” Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners. The Angels came out of the ether to become a champion that year. The Arizona Diamondbacks last year almost did the same. The Texas Rangers weren’t the favorites either. They aren’t even in this year’s top 10 in odds to win the World Series again. The Los Angeles Dodgers have all the pressure on them. As they fight it out on ESPN every other Sunday night it seems for trying to literally write a check for a World Series trophy, the Dodgers have the spotlight on them.

Angels do not play an in-division opponent until May 17 this season. They must play on the east coast right off the bat. If the team can even just stay .500, the team would be in great shape.

What will make the difference for the Angels in 2024?

I hope the Dodgers enjoy this time in the spotlight, because games are not played on paper. They are played on the field. Under Ron Washington, I want to see the fight and display the determination we saw almost every year under the tenure of Mike Scioscia.

This team will be a great defensive team. They will not be the same team as last year. They will be better. Why? You may not have Ohtani, but you will always have nine guys on the field giving you 100% effort. If you rely solely on talent, you will always fail. That’s why the Dodgers have failed to win. No one cares how much you are paid. It’s how many trophies you have. I’m pretty sure in the last 25 years, the Angels have the same number of them as the Dodgers, and ours took place in a lot longer season. Going to leave it there.