Halos' offseason holds big decisions

Key players to ALCS run eligible for free agency

Lyle Spencer / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- When it comes to revealing where they stand on personnel matters, the Angels' decision-makers don't play it close to the vest.

They play it inside the vest. That's where you'll find their hands and cards.

An offseason of intrigue is on the horizon, with six of the 25 men who formed the postseason roster for manager Mike Scioscia's American League West champions eligible for free agency.

That doesn't include Kelvim Escobar, a former front-line starter whose future is clouded after basically two lost seasons with shoulder problems.

Up in the air in the wake of their ouster by the Yankees in six games in the AL Championship Series after a rousing three-game sweep of the Red Sox in the AL Division Series are the dynamic duo atop the batting order and the tower of power atop the rotation, along with a man many consider the greatest talent in franchise history.

Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu, John Lackey and Vladimir Guerrero form that formidable quartet. Nobody outside the Angels' tight inner circle, including the athletes themselves at this point, can offer anything more than a guesstimate of where they'll be employed when camps open next spring.

Joining the big four on the open market, Darren Oliver and Robb Quinlan are respected veterans who have brought stability and versatility to Scioscia's outfit.

Here is one scribe's early-line speculation on the likelihood of these seven players returning to the Angels:

Abreu and Oliver: 50 percent.

Figgins: 40 percent.

Lackey: 30 percent.

Guerrero: 25 percent.

Escobar: 10 percent.

Quinlan: 2 percent.

The Angels' extraordinary depth has paid off in three consecutive division titles and five in six seasons. It's been a great run, and there are young athletes poised to expand roles if opportunity arises.