ESPN Chalk's Joe Peta is sharing his season win total projections for every MLB team, including a reason for optimism and pessimism.
Plus, he recommends an over/under play, or a pass. This is the entry for the Los Angeles Angels.
Los Angeles Angels
Reason for optimism: Mike Trout has his worst year as a pro in 2014, and the Angels still had the best record in baseball.
Reason for pessimism: They're in a very tough division and Seattle got better.
Despite winning a major league-high 98 regular-season games, supported by a robust 143-run differential all while scoring the most runs in the majors, the Angels didn't get a lot of love from oddsmakers. Add up the Angels' single-game win expectancies (i.e. -150 = .6, +120 = .4545, etc.) and Vegas had them pegged to win less than 90 games. On that basis, Vegas judged five teams to be stronger than Los Angeles over the regular season, including the Tigers and the A's in the American League. Not surprisingly, the Angels provided bettors with the largest profit over the course of the season.
The question this season is whether that lack of respect carries over to the Angels projection or if it's a sign the Angels 2014 performance came with warning signs.