Do Angels Have the Best Rotation in Baseball? (49/81)

On Friday, July 28, 2012, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made a move that shocked baseball and grabbed headlines when they acquired starting pitcher, Zack Greinke, from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for shortstop Jean Segura, and Double-A pitchers Ariel Pena and Johnny Hellweg. Armed with arguably the best rotation in all of baseball in the last 10 years, the Angels are mustering all they can to win their second World Series ring 10 years after winning their first one in 2002.

After bouncing back from his firs DL stint in his career due to a bad back, Dan Haren showed, once again, why the Angels have one of the best rotations in baseball. He stifled the visiting Tampa Bay Rays by throwing 6 innings on 5 hits, 1 run and 6 strikeouts on the Angel's way to a 3-1 win.

With the acquisition of Greinke, the Angels rotation looks like this: Jered Weaver, CJ Wislon, Greinke, Haren, and Garrett Richards/Jerome Williams/Ervin Santana. Even if not one person in that final group of 3 shows some consistency to work as a fifth starter, that's still a scary rotation, and rivaled only by one rotation (on paper) in all of baseball and that's the last place Philadelphia Phillies.

When the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee via free agency, the rest of baseball didn't know what to do. How was it possible for three aces on any other staff on baseball to be on the same team. The 2011 Phillies were anchored by Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, one of the best combinations of any pitching staff I have ever seen until the Angels current rotation. Obviously the Phillies current rotation has not won them any World Series rings and, due to injuries and bad luck, they are currently the worst team in the NL East.

We'll have to wait until Sunday's game versus the Rays when Greinke makes his first start wearing Angels red to argue if the Angels have the best rotation, but my gut tells me they do. Expect to see an in depth look at pitching stats versus other major league teams following Sundays game right here at the Hometown Halo.

Leave a comment below telling me which team you think has the best rotation in baseball, or the best rotation EVER, or follow me on Twitter @SteveonSports to tell me what you think.