Last year, the Angels’ bullpen was well below average. (You heard it here first!) This year, the bullpen is much deeper, and while the club might not have a bona fide closer, the collective unit should be able to get more outs this season. There’s a handful of players who can be reasonably expected to succeed in 2013; Ryan Madson (if healthy), Sean Burnett, Ernesto Frieri, Scott Downs, Kevin Jepsen, David Carpenter, and long men Garrett Richards and Jerome Williams should all compete for roles.

This doesn’t even mention some of the “see what sticks” guys that the Angels have in camp. The club gave minor league deals to Hiroyuki Kobayashi and Chad Cordero this offseason. Cordero pitched yesterday, and impressed GM Jerry Dipoto. Here’s a tweet from Alden Gonzalez about what Dipoto had to say:

Dipoto said Chad Cordero threw between 89 to 91, which is right around where he used to be. “I thought he looked great,” he said. #Angels

— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) February 25, 2013

Cordero hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2010, and he’s tossed just 14 MLB innings since 2007. He entered camp as a big time long shot, and he did allow a long ball to Brendan “Defense-Only” Ryan, but the signs are encouraging, and Cordero might just have a chance to help the Angels in 2013.

Most Major League ball clubs look at spring training as a way to stretch their limbs having hibernated over the long, harsh winter. Spring is a time for every team to look to the future and forget about the past, each team having been given a clean plate for the upcoming season.

The Angels are finding out, they still have a lot of spring cleaning to do.

As of Monday, the team is 0-4, having been outscored 31-16 with their most recent loss coming on the wrong side of a walk-off to Seattle.

That game started off well for the Angels, but did not finish nearly as strong. The Mariners fell behind early, but the Angels’ bullpen faltered; this is nothing new to the Halo faithful.

Hank Conger went 3-3 with 5 RBI, three of them coming in the first inning via long ball. The Angels eventually took a 7-2 lead into the 7th inning stretch, but that’s where the bolts started to come loose.

Mark Sappington gave up four earned runs in the 8th inning, which tied the game at 8. And in the bottom of the ninth, Seattle’s Julio Morban drove in Francisco Martinez to end the ballgame. The Mariners scored seven runs in the final three innings.

Now, of course, this early in the season, let’s be honest: games don’t really matter. I mean, how many of the names you just read (aside from Conger) did you actually recognize?

In the team’s defense (or perhaps, offense), they did put up 14 hits. Phenom Mike Trout made his debut Monday (he went 1-2 and scored twice) and the highly anticipated debut of slugger Josh Hamilton will follow today against the Diamondbacks’ split-squad.

The Halos don’t need to panic just yet, but they certainly shouldn’t be excited about their sluggish start. In their spring training opener, they were dominated by the Chicago Cubs, 11-2.

Angels fans need not worry about this start either. They will not go 0-34 in spring training and I also recall an Angels team in 2002 starting the regular season 6-14. Spring training is designed to give teams time to learn their strengths and weaknesses. Bottom line: the Angels would rather lose now than in April or September.

Mike Trout and Peter Bourjos should combine to be one of the best defensive tandems in baseball next season.

Earlier this offseason, Buster Olney ranked the Angels’ outfield as the best in baseball, and it’s hard to disagree with that assessment.

The Angels’ outfield was already one of the best (if not the best) in 2012, but it’s possible that 2013′s threesome could be even better. The Halos’ current outfield has the mythical Mike Trout patrolling left, Peter Bourjos racing around in center, Josh Hamilton holding down right, Vernon Wells warming up the bench, Mark Trumbo rotating between first base, designated hitter, and possibly the outfield, as well as Kole Calhoun and Scott Cousins toiling around in the upper minors.

In a battle of elite center fielders, Matt Kemp vanquished Mike Trout in the Face of MLB tournament. Kemp, one step closer to eternal glory, will now face Atlanta right fielder Jason Heyward in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Andrew McCutchen awaits the winner of the Joey Votto-Derek Jeter matchup.

The loss for Trout is surprising because a number of Angels fans on my Twitter feed participated in the voting. And by participated, I mean voted upwards of 100 times. Judging by that, I thought Trout would win in a walk through, but obviously the Dodgers have their own dedicated fans that also were bored at home equally invested in their player winning this great honor. I voted only once, but it appears my vote for Bob Uecker as the face of MLB fell on deaf ears.

Now, though, we must wonder how this loss will negatively impact Trout going forward. Will he lose endorsements? Almost certainly. Does Kemp steal Trout’s baseball powers now in a Space Jam-esque twist of fate? Vernon Wells would tell you that such a thing can happen.

If Trout can muster the inner strength then maybe, just maybe, he can overcome this tough defeat and play at replacement level this season. I’m not holding my breath, though.

Today I will look at a reason Angels fans could be pessimistic about their team’s chances in the upcoming season. These aren’t necessarily apocalyptic, worst case scenarios (Pujols busted for deer antler spray and begins fawn mutation, Weaver retires and starts a garage band, etc.) but are things that could negatively impact the ball club and wouldn’t take a large stretch of the imagination. For Part 3, click here.

4) The Bullpen Might Not Really Be That Much Better

I’m of the mind that poor starting pitching was the primary reason the 2012 Angels failed to qualify for the postseason. Dan Haren, Ervin Santana and C.J. Wilson all disappointed to varying degrees, and even Jered Weaver wasn’t as great as he was the two prior seasons. Some fans like to blame Albert Pujols’ cold April, or Mike Scioscia’s oft-changing lineup card or Vernon Wells’ annoying insistence on collecting paychecks rather than saving some pride and retiring.