Fernando Rodney Reportedly Wild in Prespring

Various reports coming out of the Dominican winter league indicate prospective Angels closer Fernando Rodney continues to miss high and away with his mid-90s heater, casting doubt on whether he will be able to land the closer's job coming out of spring training.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia -- who stuck with Rodney a number of times last year even though Rodney was allowing too many runners on base -- already has publicly expressed his doubt about him in game situations. Rodney appeared in more than 70 games last year, but notched only 14 saves in various bullpen roles.

With pitchers and catchers scheduled to report in less than two weeks, look for Scioscia to try a number alternatives before resigning himself to a closer by committee.

Angels Robb Quinlan Stands to Gain Playing Time

Maybe he goes out for pizza. Maybe he makes a good cup of coffee. Whatever it is that Robb Quinlan does to earn his keep these last seven years with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, he certainly keeps a spot warm on the bench.

Quinlan, a right-handed corner infielder, is struggling to maintain his .281 career batting average in part because of a lack of opportunity. He has well under 100 plate appearances on the year.

However things may be looking up for Quinlan now that the Angels have had the chance to observe switchhitting starting first baseman Kendry Morales for more then 250 at-bats.

Morales has been splendid facing right-handed pitchers, as he is hitting .300 with 13 home runs, but is the most schizophrenic, power-hitting, switch batting Angel since Chili Davis. His average batting right against left-handers is so poor at .184, that he probably should consider batting left full time lest Mike Scioscia be tempted to make him part of a strict platoon.

The only problem with putting Morales in a platoon with Quinlan is that Quinlan is hitting left-handers even worse at .175.

Vladimir Guerrero Draws Fire in Angels Funk

Despite sitting atop the American League West, the Angels continue to draw fire for an ongoing offensive slump, with much of the blame lain at the doorstep of All-Star outfielder Vladimir Guerrero.

Guerrero has been cited for excessive swinging at pitches outside the strike zone with resulting misses, poor contact and a batting average hovering at some 40 points below his lifetime mark, barely .260 with more than a third of the season gone.

The problem is, Guerrero has always been a bad ball hitter, so much so that it has been common for him to literally golf low outside pitches into the stands. So now fans are being asked to believe that suddenly Guerrero's difficulties are because of poor judgment at the plate?

Hopefully for the Angels, Guerrero will continue to meet or exceed the superior standards his previous statistics have targeted for him, and will carry on as the cornerstone of the middle of the lineup he always has been. But at 33, Guerrero has prompted questions as to whether he has lost a nanosecond or two off his swing, even while remaining relatively productive.

Angels coaches -- taking a nod from manager Mike Scioscia -- are treating his possible decline as a mere mental aberration as they try to jar him out of his funk. Hopefully for them they are right, for if it was not for the mediocrity of the rest of the division, the team hardly could be expected to sustain much of a lead while batting .179 and scoring just 23 runs in nine games, and scoring only 14 in 84 innings, as computed by The Los Angeles Times.