Halos' new additions set to get to work

TEMPE, Ariz. -- There's something about Spring Training that automatically elicits optimism, regardless of circumstance.

"Right now, everybody's undefeated," Angels owner Arte Moreno pointed out. "There should be a lot of optimism from everybody."

The Angels should have a little extra, though.

Because when their pitchers and catchers report here for Spring Training on Sunday, camp will begin on the heels of a monumental offseason, one in which the Angels took the best hitter in all of baseball, coupled him with the ace pitcher of their division rivals and added them to an 86-win team that looks poised for a postseason return after back-to-back absences.

Enter Albert Pujols, the new $240-million first baseman who has three Most Valuable Player awards and two World Series rings sitting in his mantle, boasts 445 homers and 2,073 hits through his first 11 years with St. Louis and should greatly help an offense that ranked 10th in the American League in runs last season.

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Enter C.J. Wilson, signed to a $77.5 million contract, added to a vicious threesome of Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana, and brought in to ensure the Angels can match up with anybody in the department that's most critical to championship baseball -- starting pitching.

"It's been an exciting offseason," said Jerry Dipoto, the Angels' first-year general manager who was hired in late October, then traded for an offensive upgrade behind the plate in Chris Iannetta, added a veteran bullpen arm in LaTroy Hawkins and helped change the dynamic of the American League by getting Pujols and Wilson to agree to terms on Dec. 8.

"I'm very much looking forward to Spring Training and seeing them on the field, and hopefully we can keep them all healthy and get them out there and playing. ... Spring's an exciting time, no matter how often you've seen it."

The Angels also hope it'll be a productive time, because despite all the excitement and all the newness, questions and concerns linger.

Can Kendrys Morales -- a man Moreno identified as "the missing piece last year" -- bounce back after missing the last 1 1/2 seasons with a broken left ankle to be the extra middle-of-the-order force the Angels need?

Will Mark Trumbo take to third base in a matter that would allow his bat to get in the lineup more frequently?

Does Bobby Abreu still have a role, any role, on this team?

Is Mike Trout poised for the big leagues at age 20?

Can Jordan Walden take the next step in his second year, becoming an elite closer to help a bullpen that was tied for the league lead in blown saves last year?

And, when it's all set and done, will the Angels dethrone a Rangers club that has made it to back-to-back World Series?

In the end, that's what will decide whether this offseason truly was successful.

"We won 86 [games] last year. We had a very good team," Moreno said. "We didn't finish some games off, and we didn't score the runs, so what we tried to do was improve on what we have. But ultimately we're going to tell you what's going on next October. Everybody's trying to figure it out right now, but I think at the end of the day, we're all going to see how our decision-making, our investments, etc., turned out by the end of the year."

Right now, though, the only thing that matters is that the year is about to begin.

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Halos' new additions set to get to work