The Angels are planning on shutting John Lackey down for the next 3-4 weeks as he tries to recover from a strained triceps muscle. The Angels couldn’t afford this to happen right now as they will already be without Kelvim Escobar until at least May. Lackey has a career record of 79-58 with a 3.82 ERA. Lackey will be replaced most likely by Dustin Moseley in the starting rotation. He has a career record of 5-3 with a 4.89 ERA.

The Angels will be rotation four players at the DH position. Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews and Juan Rivera will split up time at DH. Guerrero and Anderson will DH often to keep them fresh and healthy. Gary Matthews will likely play in place of Guerrero or Anderson in the field. When Anderson and Guerrero both play in the field either Gary Matthews or Juan Rivera will DH. The 29-year old righty swinging Rivera missed a lot of last season due to injury. He only played in 14 games for the Angels last season and he was 12 for 43 (.279 avg, .737 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs. Rivera has played in 466 games in his career and he has a .291 career batting average and a .813 OPS which shows the man can hit.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: A

30-year old switch hitting Chone Figgins isn’t the prototype starting 3B because of his lack of power. But make no mistake Figgins is a game changing offensive player. Figgins played in 115 games last season for the Angels and he was 146 for 442 (.330 avg, .825 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 3 homers, 58 RBIs and 41 stolen bases. Figgins is not a good defensive 3B as he made 13 errors in 99 games there while showing poor range. Don’t look for Figgins to hit .330 again in 2008 as he never has shown capable of doing something like that in the past. Still, look for Figgins to have another good season as he challenges for the stolen base crown in 2008.

Maicer Izturis filled in and did a decent job for the Angels while Figgins was out. He played in 53 games there and he made only 3 errors but he didn’t show much range. Izturis will only back Figgins up if he doesn’t win the starting SS job. Erick Aybar and/or Brandon Wood could also get some P.T. at the hot corner this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B

Erick Aybar, Maicer Izturis and Brandon Wood will duke it out in spring trainging for the starting shortstop job. 24-year old switch hitting Erick Aybar played in 79 games for the Angels last season and he was 46 for 194 (.237 avg, .568 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 1 homer, 19 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Aybar has been a high average hitter in the minors and he’s a base stealer. Aybar played in 20 games at SS for the Angels last season and he made 2 errors while showing below average range. He appeared to be the leader when spring training started.

27-year old switch hitting Maicer Izturis is such a valuable player off the bench that it may actually hinder his chance to win the starting SS job. He played in 102 games last season for the Angels and he was 97 for 336 (.289 avg, .754 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 6 homers, 51 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Izturis only played in 3 games at SS last season for the Angels and he made 1 error while showing outstanding range. Izturis would likely be the best option at SS if the Angels value defense there.

23-year old righty swinging Brandon Wood entered spring training as the long shot but he also is the player with the most upside. He played in 13 games for the Angels last season and he was 5 for 33 (.152 avg, .425 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He also whiffed 12 times and looked overmatched at times in the majors. He played in 3 games at SS for the Angels last season and he didn’t make an error while showing poor range. Wood is the #1 prospect in the Angels’ minor league system according to the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. He has played in 549 games in his minor league career and he is 611 for 2,163 (.282 avg, .878 OPS) with 361 runs scored, 107 homers, 384 RBIs and 61 stolen bases. If the Angels value offense at SS then Brandon Wood should win the starting job.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: C

24-year old righty swinging Howie Kendrick is set up for a career season as long as he can stay healthy which has been an issue with him. He played in 88 games last season for the Angels and he was 109 for 338 (.322 avg, .797 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 5 homers and 39 RBIs. Look for Kendrick to compete for the American League Batting Title in 2008. But, Kendrick is a butcher in the field as his range is limited and he made 9 errors in only 86 games at 2B.

The loser of the battle for the starting shortstop job between Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar will be Kendrick’s backup. Either of these guys would be a huge defensive upgrade for the Angels but neither is on the same planet as Kendrick as a hitter.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON: B+