For the third time in five years, the Angels face the Red Sox in the American League Divisional Series. The first two times, Boston prevailed, but Anaheim looks to change that after winning 100 games this season for the first time in franchise history. Here's the breakdown of the two teams:

The Angels

A lot of people were surprised when Mike Scioscia chose to start the Angels series with Boston on Wednesday rather than Thursday. 

I wasn't. 

Everyone assumed that their fourth and fifth starters were better than ours, but the truth is that they aren't. Jon Garland has been getting lit up over the last two months (4-2, 6.29 ERA), and Jered Weaver hasn't been much better over the same stretch (2-2, 4.84 ERA). 

Starting Wednesday allows the Angels to use their big three, and they feel pretty good about it. As they should. John Lackey, who has had a tough September (1-2, 8.14 ERA), is still their ace. After fighting through some early-season injuries, Lackey has put together another solid season, going 12-5 with a 3.75 ERA. Ervin Santana has also had a great year for the Halos, going 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA, and so did Joe Saunders (17-7, 3.41 ERA).

So if you take a minute and look at it, not as a Red Sox fan but as an Angels fan, it makes sense. They don't think that the Sox can beat their best three in a five-game series.

But the real benefit comes with the way Scioscia will be able to use his bullpen.

It's been the strength of this team now for years.  They have one of the best closers in the game in Frankie Rodriquez. For years K-Rod has dominated hitters with a good fastball and a devastating slider. The scary thing this year about K-Rod is the addition of a very good changeup. Hitters used to try to eliminate the fastball or slider and just sit on one of them. Now that changeup just adds another dimension to K-Rod coming out of the bullpen. 

His set-up guys have been just as good as him. Scott Shields has been getting the ball to K-Rod now for the last five years, and he is still nasty. Arms and elbows are flying everywhere when Shields enters the game. His power sinker and knee-bucklin' breaking ball make him quite a challenge late in the game.

Old friend Darren Oliver has pitched real well for the Angels this year, going 7-1, 2.88 ERA. He's not exactly a situational lefty but has done a great job as a two-inning guy for Scioscia throughout the season. 

Jose Arredondo may be the key to this Angels' bullpen, though. He may be a rookie, but you would never know it by looking at his numbers (10-2, 1.62 ERA). He has an overpowering fastball (94-97 mph) and a nasty split-fingered fastball to go with a good slider. Scioscia relies heavily on this kid, bringing him in late-inning situations when the game is on the line. 

The last member of the Angels' bullpen will be hard-throwing rookie Kevin Jepsen. Scioscia's decision to go with Jepsen over veteran righty Justin Speier surprised a few, including Speier.  But Jepsen's power arm, Scioscia feels, sets up better for postseason play.

Offensively, these two teams differ in their approach. The Sox believe in making the pitcher work by getting pitch counts up.  They are selective while being aggressive within the strike zone at the same time. 

This Angels club is not so patient. They are up their hacking from the first pitch. This is a team that ranks 11th out of 14 teams in the AL in on-base percentage (.330). They don't walk, and they don't strikeout, mainly because they don't get deep enough in counts to do either.

Whats their mind-set when hitting you ask? 

"If you throw it anywhere near the plate, I'm going to make you pay." 

Just watch their poster child, Vladimir Guerrero.  There isn't a pitch that he thinks he can't hit. That's what makes him so scary. 

Everything about this team screams aggressiveness. At the plate and on the bases. I played for the Angels back in 2005. I was amazed at how much time was spent talking about running the bases. Most managers will tell you that you cannot make the first or third out trying to go from first to third. Not Mike Scioscia. He'll pat you on the back for staying aggressive. It puts pressure on the defense. That's what this team does by bunting and stealing bases.

But the biggest difference about the 2008 Angels is that they have a lot more thump in the middle of their order than they've had in the past. The main reason is the addition of Mark Teixeira. So much talk around baseball has been about the contributions of Jason Bay and Manny Ramirez to their respective teams. You don't hear much about Mark Teixeira and what he's done since joining the Halos. 

How does 13 home runs and 43 RBIs in 54 games sound, all while hitting .358? If you team him up with Vladdy who is hitting .330 with 12 round-trippers and 41 RBIs since the All-Star break, you have a pretty good 3-4 punch (sounds alot like what we've been seeing over the last six years with Big Papi and Manny Ramirez).

As important as Jacoby Ellsbury is to the Red Sox, you can say the same about Chone Figgins. He is the catalyst. If he gets on, things happen. He leads the team in stolen bases with 34.

But if you look at how Figgy has fared in the playoffs, you have a pretty good idea why things haven't gone so well for the Angels when they go up against the Sox. In 2005, Figgins hit .143 going 2-for-14 with no walks. In 2007, he didn't fare much better, going 3-for-13 (.231), again with no walks. Keep him off the bases, and this offense looks different. 

The addition of Torii Hunter gives them a playoff-tested veteran. Keep an eye on him this series. So much talk will be about Vladdy and Teixeria, but it could be Hunter, much like I think Jason Bay for the Sox, that could make the difference. 

The Red Sox

At the beginning of the 2008 season, the Red Sox were the prohibited favorites to repeat as American League champions. They were coming off their second World Series victory in the last four years, and there were no major signings during the offseason, mainly because they really didn't need any. The roster was in place and in good position to repeat as world champions.

But like we all know, the biggest challenge always is staying healthy.

That’s where this team has to impress you even more than last year's squad. Their ace, Josh Beckett, had two stints on the disabled list. David Ortiz missed 45 games after partially tearing a tendon sheath in his left wrist. Mike Lowell missed almost three weeks in April with a sprained left thumb to go with his most recent issues, battling through a strained oblique and a partially torn labrum in his hip. J.D. Drew has dealt with a strained lower back for what seems like the entire season.

Even with all of these key parts missing at one time or another, the Sox have played very good baseball. How have they done it? Everyone, and I mean everyone, has picked it up at one point or another, and carried this team for weeks at a time. So what’s this team's identity?

Resilience. 

The Red Sox are going into the playoffs a little banged up. Am I concerned? Yes. Do I still think that they can beat the Angels? You bet I do. This is nothing new to this team. Sure, everyone would love to have a healthy Josh Beckett starting Game 1, as well as having Mike Lowell and J.D. Drew hitting fifth and sixth in the lineup. But guys will step up, and they will need to.

Ellsbury has been swinging a hot bat lately. It’s pretty simple -- when he gets on, he scores. Does anyone doubt that Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis will continue to be clutch for this team? I don't. Big Papi may have only hit .244 in September, but his six home runs and 23 RBIs are both his highest total for any month of the year. That’s a good sign, going into the month of October, for one of the most clutch hitters in the history of the game.

Jason Bay will be playing in the postseason for the first time. With limited productivity, if any, from Lowell and Drew, Bay will need to hold down the middle of this lineup.

But after Bay is where I think that this Sox team will either win this series or lose it.

Jed Lowrie, Coco Crisp, Jason Varitek, Mark Kotsay and Sean Casey will be at the bottom of the order and asked to keep innings alive. All have the potential to have big postseasons. Unfortunately, all have the potential to disappear as well.

I know that pitching wins championships, and when you look at both of these teams, pitching are their strengths. So it comes down to which offense can execute and have productive at- bats, as well as make productive outs. Productive outs? I'm talking about moving runners and making the pitcher work by throwing as many pitches as possible to get you out.

As for the pitching staff, we are all waiting to see what happens with Beckett. I'm going to assume that he will start Game 3. I find it hard to believe that he won't go out there and give it everything he's got even if he's not 100 percent.

As for Game 1, it will be Jon Lester getting the ball. Interestingly enough, there are a lot of people out there that think that he should have been the Game 1 starter, regardless. I can't agree with that. You have to respect what Beckett has done in the playoffs (6-2, 1.73 ERA). However, I do feel good having Lester getting the ball for Game 1. He has transformed himself into one of the top five lefties in the game with his remarkable year (16-6, 3.21 ERA).

Key players:

Angels
Chone Figgins: See Jacoby Ellsbury.
Torii Hunter: See Jason Bay.
Jose Arredondo: See Manny Delcarmen.
K-Rod: See Pap.

Who wins:
Red Sox in five.

When J.D. Drew returns to the lineup, how does the Red Sox' outfield play out? We know Jason Bay plays left and J.D. is in right if he's healthy (and that's a big if), but what about center? 

Last year, Jacoby Ellsbury took over center in September and carried that into the playoffs. He was exciting and fun to watch play the game. He was the "future," and Coco Crisp wasn't swinging the bat well. It was an obvious choice, and Tito rode the hot hand. This year is a different story.

Coco has been on fire lately; he's riding an 11-game hitting streak, batting 22-for-43 over that span. Ellsbury, not so much. In September, Jacoby is hitting .172 (5-for-29).

There are still a couple of weeks to go, but if the playoffs started tomorrow, I'm playing Coco over Ellsbury. Forget about the matchups. Forget about lefty or righty, Coco is playing better right now, and to me, that's all that matters.

So where does Mark Kotsay fit it? Simple, he's an insurance policy for J.D., and a very good one in that. In addition, he adds depth in center. When healthy, Kots has been one of the better center fielders in the game. He covers ground, throws real well for someone at that position, and grinds out at-bats. His presence on this team helps everyone sleep better at night with the on-again, off-again back issues that J.D. has has dealt with all year long.

Any way you look at it, when most teams are concerned about injuries to their team, the Sox are facing questions about how they are going to get playing time to five qualified outfielders. That's a nice problem to have this time of year.

Another playoff contender?
The battle with the Rays for first place in the East didn't go as well as we hoped. But really how important was it?

I think this series with the Jays is even more crucial. Remember, in 2004, winning the East didn't guarantee a World Series title.

Back in spring training, every team's goal is to make the playoffs. Once you're in, anything can happen. The Sox can take a big step forward toward that goal if they can find a way to cool off the hot Jays.

I know the Twins are in second place in the wild card, but it's the Blue Jays that have been playing better than anyone in the American League. They have won 11 of their last 12. They trail the Sox by seven in the loss column which will be tough to overcome; however, with seven more head-to-head matchups, things could get interesting.

Other than the Sox, the Jays play the Orioles six times, and the Yankees three more ... not the toughest schedule in the world. Come Sunday night, we'll have a better idea how the last two weeks of the season will go. Are the Jays going to play their way back in this race, or are the Sox going to make a statement and take this series, putting the Jays in their rearview mirror once and for all? 

State of the bullpen
For the first five months of the season, the biggest concern I've had for this team has been the bullpen. Come playoff time, it's simple: The best bullpens win. Look back to last year. Other than Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling, no starting pitcher made it through six innings. The last three or four innings is where the game is won or lost.

With that said, lately I like what I see. Hideki Okajima has looked better. He is finally starting to use his curveball, and he's been able to locate his fastball. Justin Masterson has been outstanding. He has transformed himself into a dependable reliever which is not easy for a guy that's been a starter throughout his professional career. But what I'm most encouraged by is the way Manny Delcarmen has been throwing the ball. I've been tough on Delcarmen all year, but only because I think that he should be able to dominate batters. It seems that he has finally realized that he can throw 97 mph. He's locating his fastball and challenging hitters which is opening up his other pitches. 

The constant all year long has been Jonathan Papelbon. I know that he blew it the other day, but are you really worried about him? I'm not. It happens. When you take the role as closer, you need to have a short-term memory and come out and get them the next day. Papelbon is fine, and the bullpen will be fine. No worries here.

Paul Byrd is a steal.

With the current state of the Sox rotation, "Byrdman" is a great addition. He's 7-10 with a 4.53 ERA, but since the All-Star break, he's 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA. What he gives this team is a veteran pitcher who will fit in nicely as a fourth or fifth starter at a price of about $2 million, a drop in the bucket for this team.

The real question is -- where were the Yankees in this process? They had waiver priority over the Red Sox, meaning that Byrd was available to the Yanks before the Sox could put in a claim for him. Their rotation is in shambles and could use a starter like Byrd.

New York's loss is Boston's gain. The top three in the Sox' rotation are solid. The Sox are 43-21 when Josh Beckett, Jon Lester or Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the hill. Tim Wakefield is a big loss -- he was on one of his famous runs that we've seen over the years, giving this team quality start after quality start. Byrd fills that void. With Clay Buchholz looking lost (0-6 with an 8.61 ERA over his last eight starts), two-fifths of the rotation was in trouble. Byrd gives them a fourth starter that will go out and give the team a chance to win.

Let's face it -- every team has question marks at the back of the rotation. Bartolo Colon looks to be about two rehab starts away from returning, and Wake shouldn't be far off either. Buchholz will get the start on Sunday, but it may be his last chance to prove to this club that he can get the job done.

He has been a big disappointment this year. I still think that he has the kind of "stuff" that will translate into a front-line pitcher in this league, but tweaking a pitcher's mechanics in his first full year in the big leagues is an awful lot to ask from a young pitcher.

If it were up to me, I would send him back down to Triple-A, give him two or three starts to get some confidence back, bring him back in September and try to send him off into the winter with something positive and start the whole process over next year. It would give him some time to work on his new release point, get comfortable with it and come into spring training with a new frame of mind.

The Lowell factor
You never want to lose a player like Mike Lowell. He was the team's MVP last year. He's clutch and plays a great third base. But this team's depth has been one of its strengths all year.

Alex Cora is one of the best utility guys in the game. His job is to go out and catch the ball and throw it, and nobody does it better than A.C. He will also give you good, productive at-bats. You know you are solid up the middle with Cora.

Sean Casey gives you a good left-handed bat off the bench. Ideally, you would like a corner infield guy, one that can play both first and third, in that spot. Kevin Youkilis' versatility makes Casey a perfect fit for this club. With Lowell down, Youk moves to third and Casey to first. Just another good bat to add to the lineup, and in the end, that's all you want.

Remember me?
It was good to see Papi being Papi the last few days. We can debate all day whether the loss of Manny Ramirez will impact David Ortiz, but the reality is that David is returning from a wrist injury.

Mechanically, he is not right. When Papi was in Minnesota, pitchers knew that the way to get him out was to throw fastballs in. When he came to Boston, he learned to hit that pitch, which translated into big power numbers.

Right now, David is having trouble getting to that fastball in. You can see him cheating and guessing, making him vulnerable to the outside part of the plate and to off-speed pitches. You see him rolling over a lot, hitting slow rollers to the right side of the infield.

His timing will come back, and I expect to see the real Big Papi soon, if we haven't already over the past few games.