Whatever Yusei..

 I really don't know if Angels fans are gonna fall for it anymore. A fresh start, new free agents, the promise of a full season of Mike Trout, the possibility that this is finally the year something clicks. They've been here. Pretty much every year for the past decade, 'oh that didn't work last year but THIS is the team that does it'. It's literally the Charlie Brown football bit, cause the second they get too invested Mike Trout will get hurt and they'll fall to like fourth. 

And so this year I'm not really blaming Angels fans if they're hesitant to get their hopes up. Yusei Kikuchi went from being an average, middle-of-the-pack guy for Toronto to being one of the best things about the Astros in their last two months. Getting him to head the rotation while Tyler Anderson, Jose Soriano, Kyle Hendricks and Reid Detmers follow behind is a definite upgrade. There are proven backups in multiple positions this year, including Travis d'Arnaud, Kevin Newman and Yoan Moncada, to ensure that the injury frenzy that slowed the progress last year doesn't happen again. We already know that Zach Neto will be missing some time, and we of course know that Anthony Rendon will be missing the majority of the season [for old time's sake really], but this team is finally building depth options to prevent caving in. And even in a season where Mike Trout is far and away the best player on the team, and could sink the team if he gets hurt early again, that makes me a little more optimistic than usual.

Now, the downside is this team skews older now. Y'know, bringing in Hendricks, Kikuchi, Kenley Jansen and Jorge Soler will do that. There are little crevices for younger players like Caden Dana, Jack Kochanowicz and Sam Aldegheri to squeeze into, but Wash and co. have packed this team with veterans. For right now, as we're waiting for this team to really grow, that is fine. It could hold the Angels back from really holding a candle to Texas, which does have a fully formed, younger team, but it's better than throwing out Trey Cabbage and Michael Stefanic due to lack of options.

The most promising factor the Angels have seen this spring is Mike Trout's continued peak hitting. So far, in 7 games, he's hitting .308 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. He's still very much himself, and all he needs is a consistent campaign to really prove himself. Hopefully that is still possible. The Griffey comparisons are still very real, and Trout can outweigh them by having a year that eclipses anything Griffey put together in the 2000s. 

The Angels could surprise people this season, but the alternative to that is more predictability, and after so many seasons of the same thing happening, the fanbase could use something different.