Angels rely on homegrown pitching talent
BILL SHAIKIN
The team's fifth trip to playoffs under Scioscia will be the first with homegrown rotation. By putting emphasis on player development, Angels have more financial flexibility.
There is no secret to the Angels' success. It's all on display, in a framed collage outside the owner's suite.
This is not about the past. There are no pictures of great players, or great moments, in club history.
This is about the present, about the future, about an organization that puts its commitment to player development in a place so prominent you would expect to see pictures of Tim Salmon, or Nolan Ryan, or Scott Spiezio.
Instead, on the way into Arte Moreno's suite, you see pictures of the Angels' minor league ballparks, from Arizona to Iowa, from Arkansas to Utah, that long road from rookie ball to the show.
John Lackey traveled that road. So did Ervin Santana, and so did Joe Saunders. Of the eight teams in the playoffs, the Angels are the only one that will use an entirely homegrown starting rotation.
It is a milestone that reflects the success of the blueprint Bill Stoneman and Mike Scioscia put into place when the Angels hired them eight years ago: Win with pitching, preferably your own.
"It reflects very favorably on our scouting and player development, which is basically our life source," Scioscia said.
This is the Angels' fifth trip to the playoffs under Scioscia, the first with a homegrown rotation.
"It lends itself to the long-term stability of the organization," said Tony Reagins, promoted last year from minor league director when Stoneman retired as general manager. "It gives you depth and strength for the long term.
"Financially, it gives you more flexibility. You have players under control for a longer term."
The Angels have All-Stars in Santana, three years from free agency, and Saunders, four years from free agency.
They have an ace in Lackey, in his sixth full season in the major leagues. They have paid him $17.6 million over those six years.
The New York Mets signed Johan Santana for six years -- for $137.5 million. Santana might be the best pitcher in baseball. He is better than Lackey, but not $100 million better.
The savings, and the flow of pitching prospects, enabled them to sign center fielder Torii Hunter last winter. They might spend $100 million to sign CC Sabathia this winter, but they won't even think about spending those bucks every winter.
"If you sign one free-agent pitcher every year, you're really draining the organization of a lot of revenue you need for the whole team," Scioscia said.
