The Los Angeles Angels will be without righty starting pitcher Ervin Santana for at least all of April with a sprained right elbow ligament. He will be missed as he had a breakthrough season in 2008 for the Angels. He pitched in 32 games (all starts) for the Angels last season and he was 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. He also K’d 214 batters in 219 innings for the Angels. In four seasons with the Angels Santana has pitched in 116 games (114 starts) in which he is 51-37 with a 4.42 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. It will be interesting to see how well the Angels cope with not having Santana or Kelvim Escobar in the starting rotation at the beginning of the 2009 season.

The Angels will likely give 33-year old righty swinging Vladimir Guerrero more time at DH in 2009 to keep him healthy. He only played in 99 games in RF last season for the Angels and he showed below average range while making 4 errors. His arm is still very strong as he had 8 assists in 2008. Guerrero’s bat is his main skill and he can still swing it with the best of them. Guerrero played in 143 games for the Angels last season and he was 164 for 541 (.303 avg, .886 OPS) with 85 runs scored, 27 homers, 91 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Look for him to have another solid season for the Angels.

Juan Rivera, Gary Matthews and Reggie Willits will all likely log time in RF for the Angels in 2009. Rivera will be the DH most of the time for the Angels. He played in 19 games in RF last season making only 1 error but he showed poor range. Matthews played in 43 games in RF for the Angels last season and he only made 2 errors while showing average range. Willits played in 22 games in RF without making an error but he showed pretty poor range there.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: A

33-year old righty swinging Torii Hunter is back for the Angels in CF in 2009 and that’s a sight that pitcher’s love to see. Hunter didn’t make any errors in 137 games in CF for the Angels last season while showing above average range. He’s always on Sportscenter making awesome catches and he will likely win another Gold Glove in 2009 for the Angels. Hunter played in 146 games for the Angels last season and he was 153 for 551 (.278 avg, .810 OPS) with 85 runs scored, 21 homers, 78 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Hunter is probably the best all-around player that the Angels have to offer and he will have another good year for them in 2009.

34-year old switch hitting Gary Matthews will back up Hunter in 2009 unless he gets traded. He played in 127 games for the Angels last season and he was 103 for 426 (.242 avg, .676 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 8 homers, 46 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. He made 4 errors in 31 games in CF for the Angels last season but he still has very good range in CF. Look for his playing time to decrease if he’s still with the Angels in 2009.

28-year old switch hitting Reggie Willits will have a much bigger role for the Angels in 2009 if Matthews is indeed traded. Willits played 9 error-free games in CF for the Angels last season while showing average range. He played in 82 games for the Angels last season and he was 21 for 108 (.194 avg, .552 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 7 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Angels expect Willits to hit more like his career averages of .273 with a .698 OPS.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: A

35-year old lefty swinging Bobby Abreu has been pretty much a right fielder his whole career but he’ll be playing in LF for the Angels in 2009. He played in 150 games in RF for the Yankees last season and he only made two errors but showed below average range. He did have 10 assists while playing RF last season but the Angels just hope he can handle the routine plays in the field. The reason they signed Abreu was for his bat. He played in 156 games for the Yankees last season and he was 180 for 609 (.296 avg, .842 OPS) with 100 runs scored, 20 homers, 100 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. Look for him to be a impact hitter in the Angels lineup more than replacing the departed Garret Anderson’s numbers.

Gary Matthews, Reggie Willits or Terry Evans would likely replace Abreu when he needs a day off. Matthews played in 37 games in LF for the Angels last season and he made 2 errors while surpisingly showing below average range. Willits didn’t make any errors in LF while playing 30 games there but he also showed below average range.

26-year old righty swinging Terry Evans is running out of time to still be considered a prospect. He played in 50 games in Rookie+ AAA ball last season going 52 for 186 (.280 avg, .790 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 5 homers, 23 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Evans played in 8 games in 2007 for the Angels in which he was 1 for 11 (.091 avg, .595 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B+

The Angels re-signed 30-year old righty swinger Juan Rivera to starter type money meaning he will likely get his big chance as the full time DH for the Angels in 2009. He played in 89 games for the Angels last season and he was 63 for 256 (.246 avg, .720 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 12 homers and 45 RBIs. He has played in 555 games in his major league career and he has a batting average of .284 with a .799 OPS so the Angels are expecting good numbers from him in 2009. Think 25 homers and 90+ RBIs as long as he plays full time.

Veterans Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu and Chone Figgins could get some at bats here as the Angels try to keep them healthy.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B