It was another disappointing season for the Angels, who missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year. Shohei Ohtani took an MVP-caliber step forward, while Jared Walsh became the newest member of the team’s enviable position player core. Yet again, the Angels are tasked with trying to build a passable roster to complement a few of the sport’s brightest stars. The issue, as is seemingly the case every winter: improving the pitching staff.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Mike Trout, CF: $334.1MM through 2030
- Anthony Rendon, 3B: $190.9MM through 2026
- Justin Upton, LF: $28MM through 2022
- David Fletcher, 2B: $24MM through 2025 (contains buyout of 2026 club option)
- Shohei Ohtani, RHP/DH: $5.5MM through 2022 (remains under team control for 2023 via arbitration)
Total 2022 commitments: $111.24MM
Projected Salaries for Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Max Stassi — $2.7MM
- Mike Mayers — $2.2MM
- Phil Gosselin — $1.5MM
- Junior Guerra — $1.3MM
Non-tender candidates: Gosselin, Guerra
Free Agents
- Alex Cobb, Raisel Iglesias, Dylan Bundy, Steve Cishek, Juan Lagares, Kurt Suzuki, Dexter Fowler, Scott Schebler, Ben Rowen, AJ Ramos, Franklin Barreto
The first few days of the offseason has made the Angels’ top priority apparent. They’re looking to upgrade the starting rotation, and they’re setting their sights high. Los Angeles general manager Perry Minasian has gone on record a few times about his desire to land external pitching help, telling reporters at this week’s GM Meetings the goal is “to significantly improve our rotation.”
All things considered, this is a pretty good offseason to be on the hunt for high-end pitching. The free agent class offers a handful of hurlers who have top-of-the-rotation numbers in their recent past, and the Angels have already been linked to a few members of that group. They’ve expressed some early interest in a couple of aces coming off injury-wrecked seasons in Justin Verlander and Noah Syndergaard. The Angels haven’t been publicly linked to Carlos Rodón, but the former White Sox southpaw was one of the best pitchers in the league on an inning for inning basis before a late-season IL stint due to shoulder discomfort threw his market into flux.
All three of those players have the impact potential to which Minasian alluded, but health and/or age questions figure to limit the length of any commitment. That might be particularly appealing for the Angels, a team that — despite showing an overall willingness to spend on players — has concentrated their recent long-term investments on position players. Whether that’s happenstance, the preference of owner Arte Moreno or risk aversion on the part of erstwhile GM Billy Eppler isn’t clear. Minasian, a first-time GM hired last November, doesn’t yet have a large body of work to offer much insight into his team-building approach. He was hired out of a Braves’ front office that has generally preferred to offer high annual salaries over shorter terms, though. It remains to be seen if he’ll take a similar approach as his former employer in Anaheim.
If the Angels are willing to make a longer-term investment in a starting pitcher, there are plenty of options beyond Verlander, Syndergaard and Rodón. Robbie Ray, Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman are all top-of-the-rotation caliber arms at their best, and all three might top $100MM over a five-plus year term. Eduardo Rodríguez is a tier below those three but could land a significant four or five year deal of his own. And there’s almost nothing a team could do to more significantly upgrade their starting staff in 2022 than sign Max Scherzer, even if that’d probably cost them an all-time record average annual investment.
Free agency offers plenty of potential high-impact options, and the Angels will surely also work the trade market. The Reds might make Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray available; the Marlins are considering whether to trade away someone like Sandy Alcantara or Pablo López; the division-rival A’s are soon to slash payroll, so Frankie Montas, Chris Bassitt and/or Sean Manaea could wind up on the move. Between the healthy supply of starters available in either free agency or trade and the Angels’ obvious desire to upgrade, it’d register as a major surprise if they didn’t come away with at least one marquee pickup this winter.
One high-end starter might be all the Angels need, since they actually have one of their better collection of internal options in recent memory. They’ll obviously want to be careful with Shohei Ohtani’s workload, but he’s a top-of-the-rotation type starter on an inning for inning basis. Patrick Sandoval broke out in 2021, working to a 3.62 ERA over 87 innings with one of the game’s highest swinging strike rates. His year ended early because of a back injury, but Sandoval has a 2022 rotation spot secured if healthy. That’s also true of lefty José Suárez, a ground-ball specialist who looks like a solid back-end type.
Add an impact external pickup to the mix, and four spots in Joe Maddon’s season-opening rotation are already accounted for. Top prospect Reid Detmers got his feet wet at the big league level this past season, and Jaime Barría and Griffin Canning could still compete for spots as well. Every team needs more than five or six starters to navigate a full season, and that’s especially true for an Angels club that needs to be careful in handling Ohtani. They’ve already been linked to mid-tier free agent starters like Steven Matz and Alex Wood, and those players would certainly add some stability. It makes sense to cast a wide net in the early stages of the offseason, but this isn’t a team that needs to build an entire rotation from scratch.
Of course, making multiple rotation additions could be a way to indirectly bolster one of the weaker areas of the roster — the bullpen. Angels’ relievers ranked 24th this past season in ERA (4.57), also finishing in the bottom half of the league in SIERA (4.10) and strikeout/walk rate differential (13.2 percentage points). That’s in spite of an excellent season from closer Raisel Iglesias, whom they could lose to free agency. The Angels made Iglesias a one-year, $18.4MM qualifying offer, but he seems likelier to decline that in search of a multi-year deal as the top reliever in this year’s class.
The Angels could certainly pursue an Iglesias reunion even if he rejects the QO, but it remains to be seen whether they’d want to pay a top-of-the-market price to address the relief corps. They should have the payroll flexibility to be in that mix. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource projects their current 2022 commitments around $130MM (non-tendering Phil Gosselin and Junior Guerra could knock that mark down a few million). That’s more than $50MM shy of the $182MM figure they carried into 2021 (per Cot’s Baseball Contracts), a franchise-record outlay. If Moreno’s willing to repeat this year’s level of spending, then the potential is there for a couple big free agent splashes.
Adding an impact free agent starter would probably account for at least half that available payroll space, though, and re-signing Iglesias on top of that might inhibit their ability to address the position player group. If Iglesias departs, the Angels would stand to recoup a compensatory draft pick after Competitive Balance Round B (around 70-75 overall) and could turn their attention to making one or two lower-cost bullpen pickups.
Other multi-year deal candidates who’d probably cost less than Iglesias include Kendall Graveman, Kenley Jansen, Corey Knebel, Héctor Neris, Mark Melancon and Ryan Tepera from the right side, with Aaron Loup, Andrew Chafin and Brooks Raley among the left-handed options. It seems likely they’ll add multiple arms to the ’pen in some capacity, with Mike Mayers, Andrew Wantz, Austin Warren and José Quijada the only in-house options coming off seasons with 20-plus frames of sub-4.00 SIERA ball.
Much of the position player group is already set. Ohtani will be a middle-of-the-order presence at DH, leaving first base to Jared Walsh. They’ll have to hope for better health from Anthony Rendon at third base, and that’s obviously true of Mike Trout as well. Max Stassi had a breakout season behind the plate and probably earned the lion’s share of playing time at catcher, although the front office could look around for a low-cost complement, preferably one who hits left-handed. The non-tender market could shake out an affordable player who comes with multiple remaining seasons of team control, which could be particularly appealing since Stassi is slated to hit free agency after next season.
The most glaring need is in the middle infield. The Angels are committed to David Fletcher at one spot, although that’s more of a question mark than it’d have seemed a few months ago. By measure of wRC+, Fletcher was the majors’ second-worst qualified hitter after the All-Star Break. That dreadful few months left him barely above replacement level for the season, but he’d combined average or better offense with excellent defense from 2019-20. His track record will earn him another chance, and Minasian said after the season the club was open to him playing either of second base or shortstop in 2022.
The Angels can’t do much but hope Fletcher rebounds at one of those positions, but they’ll probably have to upgrade the other middle spot. Luis Rengifo and Jack Mayfield, the top in-house candidates, are better suited in utility roles. This winter offers an incredible collection of free agent middle infielders, although a run at any of Marcus Semien, Trevor Story or Javier Báez (to say nothing of top-of-the-market superstars Carlos Correa and Corey Seager) would add another huge multi-year investment to the books.
That shouldn’t be out of the question given the Angels’ previous levels of spending. They’re finally off the hook on the Albert Pujols contract, and the Justin Upton deal ends after next season. Trout, Rendon and Fletcher are already accounting for more than $81MM in 2023 and beyond, though, and a splash at the top of the free agent pitching market this winter would probably push their long-term commitments north of $100MM. Would they want to add another huge deal on top of that? That remains to be seen, particularly since they’ll probably earmark some funds for a hopeful Ohtani extension (more on that in a minute).
That could mean another year with a stopgap middle infield pickup. Last year’s José Iglesias addition didn’t pan out, but they could take a similar tack with Freddy Galvis at shortstop or Jonathan Villar, César Hernández or Josh Harrison at second base (with Fletcher sliding over to short). Perhaps the Cardinals and D-Backs would be willing to kick in some money to facilitate a trade involving Paul DeJong or Nick Ahmed, respectively. Neither would be the most exciting addition for Angels’ fans, but they’d at least meaningfully upgrade a defense that was among the league’s worst in 2021, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk explored in August.
It’d be a bit surprising if the Angels made a big addition in the outfield, since they have a promising group internally. Trout hasn’t played an inning outside center field since 2013, but there’s a case to be made for transitioning him into a corner spot moving forward. Public defensive metrics have pegged the three-time MVP as average or worse in center over the past couple seasons, and he’s now 30 years old coming off a major calf injury. Trout hasn’t rated disastrously in center field, and the Angels may not want to risk disrupting the future Hall of Famer for the sake of marginally improving the team’s defense. But rookie Brandon Marsh is probably a better defensive player than Trout is at this stage of their respective careers.
Regardless of the specific alignment, Trout and Marsh are probably going to play regularly in some capacity. That’s also true of former top prospect Jo Adell, who’s better suited in a corner. Upton fits best as a role player, although he still offers some power, particularly against left-handed pitching. That doesn’t leave a ton of room for outside help, but it’s not out of the question the Angels move one of Marsh or Adell for pitching. (Speculatively speaking, the Marlins are known to be targeting controllable outfielders and might have interest in either player as part of a deal for one of their starters). If a Marsh or Adell trade comes to fruition, then perhaps the Angels poke around the free agent outfield market.
Hanging over all of the Angels’ potential offseason upgrades is the hope for a long-term deal with Ohtani. The 27-year-old had been a highly valuable, extremely entertaining player in years past, but he’d never put everything together quite like he did in 2021. An AL MVP finalist, Ohtani is coming off a season unlike any we’ve seen in nearly a century. In addition to top-of-the-rotation numbers as a pitcher, he was the game’s fifth-best qualified hitter by wRC+. His 46 homers ranked third leaguewide, while his .592 slugging percentage checked in fourth.
Ohtani’s an unprecedented player, at least in recent history, so there’s of course no contractual precedent for a player like this. He’s already controllable for the next two seasons, guaranteed $5.5MM next year and scheduled for a similarly-unusual trip through arbitration next winter. The Angels would no doubt love to keep him beyond 2023, and Ohtani has expressed some openness to that possibility. As of late September, the two-way star told reporters that no extension talks were ongoing. Neither Minasian nor Ohtani’s representatives at CAA Sports were willing to divulge anything during this week’s GM Meetings about whether negotiations had taken place since (link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).
Whether or not they’ve begun any sort of negotiations, it stands to reason Moreno and Minasian will map out how far the organization is willing to go to keep Ohtani in the fold. Even if nothing gets done this winter, the possibility of future discussions could limit how much payroll the Angels are willing to commit to other areas of the roster for 2023 and beyond.
As is typically the case, it’s shaping up to be an interesting winter in Orange County. The Angels should be among the top suitors for any number of top-of-the-rotation options, and they’re strong candidates to come away with at least one marquee starting pitcher. Add some bullpen and middle infield pursuits and a potential one-of-a-kind extension negotiation, and Minasian should be in for a busy first full offseason leading baseball operations.
Trade the guy with the fish name and stock up while freeing up your finances significantly.
It would be easier to trade Ohtani, because he is cheaper and under team control until 2023. Sell high. He can fill a lot of holes that the Angels have just by himself in the trade.
Sell our #1 pitcher and #1 hitter? What in the world would they get back that helps them compete this season?
The suggestion is either/or and not both. And for all I know, by trading Trout, they may still have their best pitcher and hitter on the team. This offseason is stacked with free agents that you can divert the $40M salary to. Go buy Scherzer and Verlander and Robbie Ray (the total of which probably can be signed for a $100M less than Trout’s commitment) and become arguably the best rotation overnight. This does not even include the major league ready and/or prospects that Trout would return.
Trout has hands down been the best player of the past decade. But we could be seeing some (hopefully less horrible version of) Pujols 2.0 in play. And with his contract and age, it won’t be long before he may become untradeable.
Ohtani was both. You’re trading the MVP who was our #1 pitcher and #1 hitter with two years of control left to get what exactly? A bunch of discards? prospects when we need major league ready talent? They are only a few starters and relievers away from a championship team and they have an owner who is the richest man in the state of Arizona– who owns a big market team with huge revenue. The team can afford to buy whatever they need– and it seems that’s what their 73 year-old intends to do.
The team may be able to afford whatever they want yet they haven’t landed any prized free agents over the past decade. Heck, I don’t think they’ve signed any free agent for $100M+ in the last 10 years and this is in the #2 metro market in the country. CJ Wilson was the most expensive contract based on my quick recollection. And apart from Cole, I don’t recall them making that serious of an effort for anyone.
Are you only in reference to pitchers, because they have signed multiple position players to +$100 million contracts. Hamilton/Upton/Pujos/Rendon.
Rendon?
Number pitcher yes, number one hitter, No! You know that ain’t happening with a healthy Mike Trout !
Yes, I was thinking of pitchers. Sorry about the confusion. But it seems like every year, it’s some form of a story of “Angels looking for starting pitching”.
And as I think about it, I think it was the Dodgers who made the 2nd highest offer so I’m not even sure if the Angels were in on Cole at all.
@carllafong: I disagree with trading Ohtani but that’s because he is cheap. Trade Trout and tell any team that wants him they have to take Rendon and Upton. Start over with Ohtani as the centerpiece and save over half a billion dollars in the meantime. Don’t worry about competing next season. That’s what they do every year and they never compete anyway. The Angels owe more money to players than any team in baseball. That’s the problem. That’s why they can’t even buy pitching. Stop worrying about having big expensive names and start trying to compete. Last I checked the Braves didn’t have a name as big as Trout or Ohtani on their team. They didn’t pay anyone as much as Rendon or even Upton either. That’s how they became Champions. What are the Angels doing?
The argument that they haven’t signed a free agent over $100M in the last decade is a) incorrect, and b) easy to understand. They signed Rendon two offseasons ago to a fat contract. Beyond on that, they are just now getting out from under some of those ridiculous contracts (e.g., Pujols, CJ WIlson, Josh Hamilton). They still have to pay Upton $28M this season, and after that, they’ll be free of that dark era in Angels history.
Well, @lafong, nothing.
Nothing at all. But. It would surely help my Yanks, as just one example.
Is this where I propose Andujar & Frazier for Ohtani? Asking for a troll.
Uninformed
Dipoto ruined this team. Time for a full fledged rebuild. These guys stink. Every player under contract is vastly overpaid, other then Ohtani. Thanks Dipoto. Let’s tear this thing down. Hell, we should relocate to Reno or Flint, Michigan or something. We got all the money in the world and we still suck, our fans suck, and most of all Jerry Dipoto sucks.
Angels aren’t getting anywhere without bullpen arms.
Make a big splash by extending Ohtani and then sign Carlos Correa!
The Angels don’t need to get $40 million to spend. They can spend around $100 million and be around the fake tax. They never get close to the maximum amount. Arte Moreno just needs to stop being cheap on pitching. He can sign two great starting pitchers and Raisel Iglesias along with a great setup man. He better start spending or he won’t have fans buying tickets anymore.
You don’t trade Ohtani you trade Trout but unfortunately for the Angels his contract is so ridiculous that the return would be disappointing. How many teams are going to be willing to take on $37 million a year for another almost decade? The answer is none especially now that he’s starting to become a regular on the IL. The last thing I want is a guy who really doesn’t care about winning all that much who’s okay with sitting 3/4 of the season for a strained calf while his team toils away. I’d say it must have been hard for him to watch Ohtani become the biggest star in baseball but I think as long as the checks cash he couldn’t care any less. All things being equal I could think of 20 players right now that I’d take over Trout and honestly the number would be higher if I included pitchers.
I wonder about Trout’s tradeablility myself but it was just this year while he was on the IL that I thought I saw postings on here by the staff suggesting he would have a lot of trade value.
I’m a Yankees fan so take this with a grain of salt. How about Stanton, Frazier and any 2 prospects (with a 3 name exclusion TBD) for Trout? And the Yanks will also throw in 2-3 solid lower level promising prospects. Angels would be freeing up about $150M or so in the deal.
FSF stop it! You’re a clown bro. You say they should trade Trout because he not worth it. Then you want him to be traded to you favorite team…. Lmfao!…
Stop! Trout isn’t going anywhere. He wants to be here, and not any fan, or front office person doesn’t want him here either… To funny!
FSF;
All team fans live in a fantasyland about their players and prospects. But this is one of the few things NYC fans actually do better than anyone else.
The Yankees roster is almost totally filled with overpaid and underperforming players. There are very few Yankee players other MLB teams want – with Stanton at the top of the list of who they don’t want. Realistically, the players that would be attractive to teams are Urshela, Montgomery, and maybe a couple of the young relievers (that washed out as starters). The Yankees play all veterans because their highly touted and publicized prospects don’t pan out. Go back 5 years and look at all the can’t miss guys that did.
You want to trade a so-so DH being paid as a superstar, a failed prospect, and a number of other “prospects” for the best all around player in MLB? I don’t blame you for trying. But understand something – your Yankee team has to buy FA’s and hope to swing a trade by taking on salary in order to field a team each year. Most of the players can’t play baseball; almost all get worse, not better; they’re being paid outrageous salaries; and when their FA is coming up they all expect large raises…..which no one in MLB will give them.
ALL teams have a litany of “can’t miss” prospects. If the Yanks are so filled with overpaid and underperforming players, why do they make the post season every year? Talk about dense.
As for wanting Trout, what’s good for the Yanks is not necessarily good for the Angels. If you don’t get that SwingtheFNbat, they your the obvious clown.
@ FSF;
Let’s see……
The team that has the 1st or 2nd highest MLB payroll each year, finishes in the top 1/3’rd of AL teams, and goes nowhere in the playoffs.
Are you a politician? Want to buy some swampland in Florida?
If you don’t realize that the post season is a crapshoot, you have no business opining on baseball on any level. Who the heck thought the Braves would win this year or that the Nationals would a couple of years ago. Neither of whom had anything close to a $200M payroll.
I thought the Nationals would win a few years ago. They were the best team in the NL from late June on. I watched almost all their games.
And if it’s a “crapshoot”, how come the Yankees haven’t gotten to the WS since 2009 – 11 years ago?
And what’s your obsession with payroll being a prerequisite to winning? Do you – or any NYC sports fan – have a clue about how the games are played?
–
When some people see the writing on the wall……they think it’s a forgery.
As for the Nationals, sure you did. I’m sure hindsight always helps with our misremembering. They could have easily not won. THAT is the point.
As for the Yanks not winning a WS, that’s because it is precisely a crapshoot. Do you not understand what “crapshoot” means?
I have no obsession with payroll. You’re the one that seems stuck on it and brought it up about the Yanks wasting money. As for my comments on the Angels dumping Trout partially for payroll, I’m merely opining based on the notion that even though the Angels supposedly have all this money, they haven’t once hit the luxury tax so it seems like keeping payroll is somewhat of a priority for Moreno.
He just doesn’t understand it, @FSF.
I have patiently (& impatiently) tried to explain it to him several times. The Yanks, LAD, & the sox aren’t running high payrolls to “win a World Series”. Don’t get me wrong here. They all world love that. But the investment is really to ensure a playoff entry year in & year out.
No better example of why you do that than the ’21 Braves, uh? Got hot at the right time. He was probably one of those guys recommending that the Braves sell at the deadline. Ya know?
His take probably has something to do with being a Royals fan. Or perhaps some out dated & overly simplistic economic view. Whatever, he just doesn’t get it, man.
Best of luck. But you are beating an extremely dead horse here.
And that’s the thing though. No team will take Trout, Rendon, or Upton without most of the contract getting eaten up. I don’t want either Ohtani to get traded, and I definitely don’t want Trout to get traded. However, because Ohtani is cheap, you can trade him for a solid SS and possibly a solid SP. Leaving money left over for Iglesias, another SP, and it gives flexibility at DH where Trout, Upton, and Rendon can be used for off days. The team can also go back to a five man rotation which won’t ruin the routine of most starting pitchers, because they are all about routine. The Angels only have about 50mil to spend, unless Moreno decides to open up his pocket more and raise payroll. Let’s say, Iglesias gets 15mil, and they get a SP at 25mil, that leaves them with 10mil to shore up the BP, a SS, and a backup catcher. Unless Moreno decides to push payroll closer to 200mil, the team won’t get everything they need to fill the holes without trading away someone.
QH, I don’t understand your logic. Your idea is to trade the player who had the most amazing MLB and perhaps sporting season in history, who happens to be one of the best hitters and pitchers in the league all in one, to get a “solid SS and possibly a solid SP”.
Not only does that sound insane, but it sounds 10X insane considering all of the way more than solid SS and SP available this offseason. I’m not exactly sure what you think the Angels would accomplish with such a move.
They can get more for him, I’m sure. What it will accomplish is holes getting filled where they are needed, allow more flexibility with the DH for the aging stars, and give pitchers their normal routines back. Pitchers are all about routine and a six man rotation may keep them away from the Angels. You’re talking as if there is an unlimited budget on the team when there isn’t. The Angels have too many holes to fill with an approximately 50mil to spend, and after 2023 they will have to pay Ohtani. 100+mil on Trout, Rendon, and Ohtani, and then you have to think of all the arbitration eligible players coming up and all the other holes that they will have to fill then also. Also, who is to say Ohtani can repeat what he did this past season? Sell high, and get good package for him.
Yes, and if payroll is that big of a deal, why not get rid of the 30 year old with $340M of commitment remaining who has been injured each of the last 5 seasons except 2020 which was obviously a very shortened season. That way they would have $90M to spend and Trout barely played last year anyway so what would they be missing as a baseline?
With that $90M, you could get all of Scherzer, Verlander, and 2-3 additional solid to star level free agents.
“Unless Moreno decides to push payroll closer to 200 million get everything they need…”
Your math looks right from here. Go on a bit of free agent spree (well, more like a “spree+”) & now you are in that 85-90 wins/season level. Perhaps even a little better.
But. Now you are definitely in the Wild Card mix. & you have a couple guys that can win a game for you all by themselves. Hell, Trout & Ohtani can win a *series* for you on their own. That’s a pretty Big Deal. & the fact is, it’s really not overly far-fetched. Entirely possible.
Is it a guarantee? Of course not! However, 29 teams *don’t* win a championship every single year. Because; baseball is really hard. You also have to reach the playoffs to win a title. Which, with a good winter LAA can definitely put a playoff squad on the field.
Because no one is going to trade for Trout and that contract for the reasons you just listed.
I think you underestimate his market. We’re living in a world where Lindor has the same $340M commitment. Yeah, I’ll take Trout a hundred times over.
IMO, they definitely should push the payroll towards the higher end if they do not want to trade anyone, but that’s a Moreno thing unfortunately. This is the year for them to do that. Houston, I don’t think, will be good this coming season. Same with the A’s. Texas I think is a year or two away from being competitive, and Seattle is, well Seattle. Still, I do not believe they will be able to extend Ohtani beyond 2023 unless Perry works some magic with the players he signs this offseason and the farm system becomes stronger by 2023. I think Perry is on the right track, but Moreno will have a lot to do with how this offseason goes for Perry.
And now that Lindor has that commitment, do you think anyone will say “I’ll trade for him and pay him all that money”? Huge contracts like that are almost impossible to move.
Not for Lindor but Trout, yes. You honestly think the Yanks wouldn’t take him off the Angels hands if they wanted to give him up without picking up a cent of his contract?
Okay then. What would Trout haul in from the Yankees 20th ranked farm system? Keep in mind the Angels farm system is currently ranked around five spots lower.
Yankees always find ways to make trades for superstars.
@ Fsf
No one is denying Ohtani is a great player (when healthy). What they are also not denying, is that there is only room to so many Mega deals on one roster, and upon that player signing it, their trade value becomes virtually nil. The moment Ohtani puts pen to paper, he moves from being valuable, to being a long term risk, with little trade value. The Angels will be trying to sign a SP to a Mega deal, also. How you going to pay for it all?
I wonder though if the angels kicked in $40M (which is amazingly not that much anymore) in a rendon deal if a team would take him for 6/150 at age 31? When not injured he’s still upper tier and the D is still there. Considering they’d prob get back a couple of decent prospects is that something that could realistically happen? 3b is not that deep anymore around MLB.
I figured you’re a Yankees fan. You people will never stop. You’re as bad as Phillies fans. Trout is going nowhere. He’d have to okay any trade and he isn’t likely to approve a trade to the Yankees.
So, Trout told you he doesn’t care about winning and was ok with being injured? Wow
A team doesn’t trade away Trout or Ohtani and make the team better. The team gets worse.
That team is the Marlins or Pirates. I sure don’t see Arte Moreno wanting to be known as the new Pirates. He has to step up finally and spend, spend, spend on pitching. If he doesn’t he’s going to have an empty ballpark all season.
Mark – The team has the same pitching issues every year yet the ball park fills up. You’re wrong if you think suddenly fans will stop going to games in 2022. Would you listen to some random guy (aka fans) tell you how to spend your money? No. Neither would I. Minsasian has to be creative with the money Moreno gives him to spend.
You can make a stand though and stop going to games.
The best part of these threads is reading about the Angels, the worst part is the trolls that gather and rip a team they know nothing about.
The Angels are not trading Mike Trout.
Trout isn’t going to be traded. First, he has a no trade clause in his contract. How many teams can afford Trout’s contract? Trout is the best player the Angels have ever produced and also the most popular. He is just 30 and I expect him to have a huge bounce back season.
Day in, day out, we still dream about a true ace.
Do I still have hope after all these years? Always.
I want them to re up Iglesias for 18 per and sign Castellanos. Just start reducing suitors for Ray so he has to stay 😀
Can’t buy a title–the yankees and bosox (and even LAD) have proven that over time. That much money tied up in three players, and one of them is not worth half that? Egad. Make fun of the Rays and their penny-pinching ways all you want, but I’d rather have a sensible front office that puts together a team rather than a group of individuals.
True. I think people are sleeping a bit on Sandoval and Suarez as in house rotation pieces. And Detmers and Canning aren’t far removed from top prospect hype.
That said, we definitely need to buy some arms.
The Red Sox and Dodgers literally have titles within the last 5 years.
Not only have the Red Sox and Dodgers have won 5 of the last 18 World Series, the only small to mid-market teams to win since 2000 are the Marlins and Royals (and possibly AZ in 2001, but they had a couple big names in Schilling, Johnson, etc.) Not a lot of evidence backing his claim that big name FAs can’t win championships
“Dodgers and Red Sox have won 5 of last 18 WS” Dodgers won a 60 game pandemic shortened season championship, and hasn’t won a full 162 game season championship since ‘88. Sox have won 4 since ‘04. I do believe they can win out, but I think it’s harder when you have big name personalities clashing in the dugout. We all know baseball players do best when they all are humble and work together.
the season that was played last year was won by LAD. the record books consider it official.
Amen DarkSide
I don’t know if you just hate the Yankees but your example would have been much more effective if you said the Yanks, Dodgers and RS won TEN (10) of the last 25 championships.
@Kewldood69 the Dodgers have a title alright but it comes with one of these: *. The Dodgers haven’t won anything real so you can’t use them in your argument.
A 60 game season is an exhibition season. No stats or titles from 2020 should be carried forward. It’s a joke for anyone to think it was a legitimate season like any other. It certainly was not. Pure exhibition season.
The Dodgers have been in 3 Series. You can say money at least gives you a solid shot to win.
The season may have been an exhibition. On the other hand no champ in history has had to march through such a long playoff.
2000 was no different than 1988. The rings for both years are not tainted.
In 2002 a Dodger fan called the Angels World Series win a non World Series win because they were a wild card team.
Haters are gonna hate. Ignore them.
We need more than an ace. We need about 400 quality innings added between the rotation and bullpen.
Stroman is the fastest route to that IMO. He’s a 30 start. 180 inning guy.
The rest have either too much injury risk or too little consistency.
If you want stroman, better hope you get a defensive wizard at shortstop again. Stroman is a super groundball pitcher. Not sure how Rendon and fletcher are defensively heading into 2022, but with shortstop open you need a solid guy.
Works for me. You add a good D SS and the entire infield is GG caliber. Contrary to last years stats say, but because of injuries mainly. this Angels team will be solid on D again, No worries there.
that’s Fletcher
Agreed on SS. There’s enough thump elsewhere in the lineup to prioritize glove here.
Possible trade targets: Rojas from Miami, Farmer from Cincy, even DeJong but I’d want some help with that contract.
Too bad Iglesias was so horrible for us last year. A normal year from him would be great.
Stroman is a 5 inning pitcher.
I was gonna challenge you on that then I looked…
33 stars- 179 IP: 5.42 IP/Start
Career 173 starts- 1018.0 IP: 5.88 IP/Start
So yeah might be about 5 innings with 6 likely more often than 5
@tstats This is not uncommon in today’s game. He averages about 6 innings per game., same as Scherzer. This is much better than what the Angels are accustomed to. Last year they came into the season with 3 “openers”, Bundy, Quintana, and Heaney. They would go 1 to 3 innings and the bullpen would have to go 6-8 innings a night.
Starter do not go longer than 6 innings very often. This is why you need a good bullpen. You need to seek out Halo11Fan and he can tell you about the importance of a good bullpen.
I know this. I just thought stroman was more of a length guy
Who isn’t these days? Throwing 7 innings is the new “complete game pitched.”.
There were only 3 guys I think that threw even a measly 200 innings this past year. That over a season’s worth of stars only equates to just barely 6 innings averaged. Those are the “workhorses”. So 5 innings is supposed okay today. Not okay with me and I still ponder as I have for the last 40 years why they can’t have a 4 man rotation when they had been doing it for 100 years. I don’t buy the injury reason as plenty of start pitchers pitched 250-300+ innings for well over a decade and sometimes two.
Part of ’21 numbers was.because of building pitchers back up after the pandemic. I expect that number for starters to increase this coming year.
Also don’t need to worry about pulling him for a pinch hitter in the AL.
Could have had Andrew Heaney for only $8.5 million.
No thank you, that ship has sailed.
Ohtani is making $5.5 million last year and next year. That make Heaney worth about 3 dollars and 50 cent if my math is correct.
That made me laugh. It makes you wonder what the Dodgers are thinking right? I mean imagine having so much money to spend that you give that guy $8.5 million. Crazy for sure oh and also stupid. I guarantee that no other team would have touched him for half that.
You’re so right. And it highlights the ridiculous competitive imbalance in the game when most teams can’t take on that level of risk.
What about Nola for marsh?
Are you serious? I highly doubt the Phillies would give up their ace for a hit or miss prospect who looked shaky at best in his MLB debut.
Ace lol
Wheeler is their ace
Considering what seems to happens to big-time free agents after they sign with the Angels, if I were one, well, I might want to avoid them altogther!
You mean like bartolo colon winning a cy young, Vlad winning an MVP, or you talking about like torri hunter or Houston street having pretty successful results? Even c.j. Wilson’s time in Anaheim wasn’t a bust. I’ll give you Hamilton, Gary Mathews jr. and I guess pujols, even though he made Arte Moreno way more money than Moreno paid him.
That Cy Young was stolen from the great Johan Santana
Doesn’t matter if they get a “Marquee Starter”. He’ll still have to work daily with the coaches and others that run the pitching area. At some point he’ll be making modifications on their suggestions. That’s why teams with poor pitching often bring in a few name pitchers, and more times than not, within a year or so their effectiveness slowly dwindles away.
The Angles need to change the way their organization works with pitchers. If they can’t maximize the pitchers on their roster now, a “Marquee Starter” isn’t going to succeed for long.
@Samuel Bingo my friend you win the prize and not only can they not work with veteran pitchers they can’t draft and develop any either. A organization wide overhaul is exactly what’s needed.
@ Mystery Team
I lived in SoCal for decades.
Mike Scioscia was being groomed by the Dodgers to take over when Tom Lasorda retired as manager. When the O’Malley’s sold the team the new owners (corporate) set about destroying everything Rickey / Dodger tradition. Scioscia was met by 2 suits after managing an AA game one night in Texas to tell him he was fired. The Angels immediately pounced on him.
Shortly thereafter he was made Angels manager. As a Catcher he had handled the Dodger pitching staff – a team that developed pitching and was built around pitching. (In that era, Scioscia, Tony Pena and Charlie O’Brien – Braves – were the best handlers of pitchers around).
Scioscia had the Angels playing a Dodgers brand of NL-style baseball. GM Bill Stoneman had been a ML pitcher and worked well with Scioscia. Once he retired Scioscia had nothing but trouble with the other GM’s, as the organization got further and further away from teaching and developing pitchers.
All teams can get something out of 3-4 pitchers each year. But constantly making them and others better is done by those that understand the craft and know how to work with what a pitcher has in order to bring out the best in him. Only the greats can go to a team and blow away hitters on their own. Look at how the Pirates of the time ruined Derrick Cole.
Again, the Angels need to make an organization-wide commitment to understanding, teaching, and developing pitching. That will not happen in a year or two.
Thanks Samuel, maybe the Angels should of just hired you a long time ago, and they would of been just fine right now. 😉 haha
@ SwingtheFNbat;
Maybe the Angels should have hired a GM like Stoneman and left him and Scioscia alone with a budget.
Now get your clothes laid out for school tomorrow or there’s no breakfast for you. Moms orders.
I’ll give you Stoneman but it was Sciosia who wanted guys like GMJ and Wells and refused to use data.
He’d use a guy in a certain inning no matter his splits, who the opponent had up, match ups, etc. none of it was factored in.
It’s almost like the angels have only picked 3 starting pitchers in the first round since 2005 and two of them were taken in the last two years lmao
Exactly
A nightmare scenario for Angels fans is if they sign one of the top SS, lets say Story but then settle for lower tiered starter(Matz/Woods/Kikuchi).
I don’t think they land Scherzer/Verlander/Ray/or Gausman (I am leaning that these players are going to re-sign with their current teams), but Jon Gray and Stroman would be HR signings. They need to keep away from Rodon and Thor or anyone with any flags on their medicals.
You’re right! No one wants to play with Trout, Ohtani and Rendon and live in Southern California! They prefer the rain of Seattle and all the extra travel for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 20-years!
What are you talking about? Did I even mention ANYONE would sign with Seattle in the post? Reading comprehension is not your strength, Try getting out of your mother’s basement once in a while.
No he comprehended just fine Mr. Insults. He was referring to your crystal ball in saying, the 4 aces you had there, that were not going to sign with the Angels, and would stay with there same teams. Thanks for stopping by.
Well you are a Mariners fan talking about Angels fans.
@swigntheFNbat – Really is that why he said they would prefer Seattle? Most articles and posts I have seen have stated the exact same that these FA are as likely to sign with their current teams as to move on. The % of them signing with the Angels is miniscule in that calculation if you estimate at 35% current team vs 65% the field, Angels have to compete with the other 15 to 20 teams lining up to sign the upper tier SP.
Thanks for your opinion…
@marinersblue Mr. Capt obvious. Your only good take on this blog that you have is the obvious one in, “most the top pitchers will all re-sign with there current teams”. You’ll probably get 2 right there bro, haha… Good job, you should stay with the obvious, because all your other takes are terrible.
@SwingtheFNbat whatever d bag. Who ever calls another person on a blog they don’t know a bro is an @$$hat..
Works for me. You add a good D SS and the entire infield is GG caliber. Contrary to last years stats say, but because of injuries mainly. this Angels team will be solid on D again, No worries there.
Do we consider Tyler Anderson and Martin Perez marquee starters?
Um no.
Theres not many “Marque” starters on the market. Scherzer is the only real top starter but hes getting older and the injuries are starting to pile up. Verlander is past his prime and injury is a big concern. You don’t know what you will get from Robbie Ray, hes a mystery. Stroman is not a playoff team ace, hes more like a third guy on a playoff team. Only guys I would call “Marque” are Degrom, Cole, Beiber, Wheeler, and Scherzer. Guys like Verlander, Kershaw, and Wainwright almost done. Guys like Buehler, Burnes, Woodruff, Nola, Urias, Bauer, and Fried are close to that level but not quite there yet
Excellent post!
It’s silly season and everyone that had a good year in 2021 or had good seasons earlier and are recovering from injuries are considered living legends that will automatically take their new teams to the WS.
I’m enjoying the patter here this offseason, but firmly believe that 2 years from now the few and that remember the hubbub around the 2021-22 FA class will wonder why. I look for a lot of teams being stuck with bad contracts (as usual) – starting with whoever signs Seager and Marte.
Like all previous seasons, team success in 2022 will primarily be from multiple veteran players that improved their games.
@Metsin7 Verlander is done based on what? The last season he pitched he was the Cy Young winner. Is a risk because of age and coming off an injury, sure, but cant say he is done until we actually see him pitch. If you are going to write him off because of injury, you may as well scratch Bieber and DeGrom off your list. Cole can be scratched off to because of due to sub 2 ERA before they started checking for foreign substances and ERA over 4 after they started checking and only going 2 innings in the playoff game.
I do find it a little odd that Scherzer, who will be 38 in July, and Verlander who is 39 in February and is coming off TJ surgery are being discussed as “sure bets.”
Don’t get me wrong, could they both have great season’s in ’22? Definitely — wouldn’t put it past ’em, but being the ages they are and for V in particular, coming off a major procedure, it’s hard for me to see them as locks for success.
Well based on how Scherzer pitched this past year and how durable he was until he was finally asked to do too much, he seems like a good bet.
As for Verlander, the scouts in attendance at his recent showing said he was throwing his usual 96 mph bullets and was looking great.
Plus, both these guys will command very short term deals though Scherzer could still go over $100M. With V, you really aren’t gambling all that much. Prolly a 1-2 year sitch at $20-40M.
Short and sweet. No.
This may be the offseason for the Angels to pick up a high end starting pitcher. Not one of these Dylan Bundy/Alex Cobb band-aids. They should make a real run for Scherzer. If Trout and Rendon are both healthy, you can tell Scherzer that he’ll have two of the best hitters behind him, in Trout and Ohtani. He’ll have his former teammate in Rendon there too. A young stud outfielder in Walsh. And a pitching staff with a young star (Ohtani) and a young star in the making (Sandoval). To go with that, the Astros and A’s are both trending down.
Knowing the Angels, they’ll do none of this, and pick up someone not even close to that level and will spend half the season injured. And there’s no guarantee a Scherzer type will be interested anyways, because of the injury history that will be behind him in Trout, Rendon, and even Ohtani.
Nonetheless, the Angels’ offseason will be interesting for sure.
Walsh isn’t an outfielder, he plays first base.
You’re totally right, my bad.
Yep, Marsh plays the outfield and Walsh plays first base. Don’t feel bad even the Angel announcers mix them up sometimes.
Despite their future Hall of Famers, the Los Angeles Angels apparently have the longest current streak of consecutive losing seasons at six.
The Angels probably deserve a break.
Angels need to add 3 top-notch starters. Maybe Verlander, Kershaw, and Cueto. This is the year they should sign pitching first, and then fill in the gaps elsewhere on the field.
this ain’t no famtasy!
That’s a fine idea. So why are you suggesting they sign 3 reclamation projects, only one of which looks to be a potential ace again.
Eh…short term but expensive contracts, trying to re-establish themselves thereby motivated more than usual. If they get injured again contracts paid by insurance. Low risk high gain – but the risk(millions of dollars) really isn’t a risk with an open wallet spending team like the Angels.
It doesn’t have to be those 3 guys…but it’s high time for them to go and get the pitching they need in order to win now.
Sherzer for 3 years at a high dollar amount plus 2 or 3 other very good starters would be ideal imho.
You do realize that insurance policies for recently injured pitchers will add considerable cost to those signings.
$38 M to Upton for what ? That’s brutal !!!!
That’s $28M… not as bad as $38M but still pretty bad.
A little over 20m avv if that helps for Upton. They back loaded the heck out of it to 28m.
$28m is the final year of his backloaded contract.
yes. they will be overpaid, will underperform and need TJS, but they will have name recognition. that’s good enogh, right?
Holy David Fletcher! When did that contact happen lol. 24 mm!!??
Fletch 24 million over 4 years is not a lot.
The Angels will sign Carlos Correa.
10 years 450 million.
Great, another bat no pitcher
“Will the Angels finally land a marquee starter this offseason?”
Yes. They will sign Jason Marquis
Nope
“Will the Angels finally land a marquee starter this off-season?”
A definite “Yes”! I believe a minimum combo of Stroman and a mid, to back end of the rotation guy qualifies.
In no ways is Stroman a marquee SP. He is a solid mid-rotation piece who would be a great fit for the Angels though.
I watched Stroman closely in 2021 and am familiar with him prior. IMO he is a solid #2 or #3 in a strong rotation. Can’t go much deeper into games so he needs that RP Bridge to assist but this is par for the course nowadays.
Stroman is also a gold glove caliber SP with cat like reflexes.
Don’t get me wrong I like Stroman quite a bit. I just associate “Marquee” with a staff Ace and I don’t view Stroman at that level. He is a solid #3 who by the end of the contract will be more of a #4.
I hear that alot but last year he was better than that just on a bad team. (No QO)
I disagree, a solid #2 or 3 is marquee, and when he gets his $100m, that will definitely qualify…. BTW, if he matches last year and has back to back seasons like that… Ace/ marquee!
You are wrong and probably think McD’s is an fine dining and real BBQ is dicky’s.
The Angels are dysfunctional, starting with the owner. Signing a “marquee starter” isn’t going to turn the whole organization around. And the last thing we need is spending on an old SP who might have a year or two of production in him, just to give fans false hope.
Michael Wacha, Tyler Chatwood, and Jake Arietta…I’m calling it now.
They need 2 big time starters and at least 1 solid #3 to put in their rotation to be competitive.
On a side note, it’s funny how some players can still be arbitration eligible…. Like poor phil…. 9 years service but not enough days in the actual show… lol
@bravesfan, that would be amazing if they get all of that. Screw competitive, they would have the best staff in BB then… Haha
If they got Cobb + Stroman I think they’d be in a great position. Add an arm like Sonny Gray from Cincinnati since they are shedding payroll and you have some solid depth and can let the youngsters start in AAA.
The Angels need to cast a wide net for SP & RP this offseason. Sign Stroman for sure, maybe pickup Syndergaard on a moderate multi-year deal with an opt out to compete with the Mets QO. Trade with the Marlins who have an excess of controllable quality arms. One top FA SP, one like Syndergaard with upside, and one controllable young SP, and a whole lot of RP makes the Angels winners for 2022 and beyond.
Hint:
Aaron Loup, LHP
Player Data: Age: 33 (12/19/1987), B/T: L/L
Primary Stats: 65 G, 56 2/3 IP, 6-0 W/L record, 0.95 ERA, 0.935 WHIP, 57 K, 3.56 SO/BB
Advanced Stats: 2.8 bWAR, 1.6 fWAR, 422 ERA+, 2.45 FIP, 1.8 WPA (Baseball Reference), 1.50 WPA (FanGraphs)
2021 salary: $3 million
Do the Angels really want someone coming off TJ surgery though? No team has been more snake bitten by injuries to their staff.
Medical exam and records will be crucial. He hasn’t pitched in 2 years so probably innings limit in play for 2022. He had a setback last year and when he finally returned for his cameo he wasn’t throwing curveballs or sliders ( huge red Flag). He doesn’t listen to coaches and was overthrowing in his ramp up prior to the setback.
The potential is there but he needs to learn to be a pitcher and not just a thrower. I am hoping he can become a Jered Weaver and might be worth the risk. Not sure if he has IQ to be Weaver like which is a very high goal.
The wide net needs to include a dive into a rule 5 pickup if there is such a thing with the new CBA.
It will be a challenge for them – a lot of teams with deep pockets looking for starters this winter. They should seriously consider trading a few people to free up cash.
The biggest issue with the Angels of the last 10+ years of offseasons has been there damn owner. He signs mega contracts and holds the team back from areas they need help. Look at the Pujols scenario. I hate to say this but they should of locked up Trout earlier instead of later because now you owe him the bulk of all that money in his later years… Pujols anyone? It’s Trout I know but still later years…
I predict the Angels will sign Kevin Gausman. He will become an overpaid free agent who has only one good season in his career and he then returns to mediocrity and once again, the Angels get burned and look bad.
They always pay for free agents at the second half of their career and look how it has turned out.. owner is a moron with too much control.
This team has wasted the great years of Trout with no playoffs just like we did with Ichiro. Better change that and fast..
@least they won a WS with Trout. When Ichiro first signed and the M’s won 116 he probably thought the playoffs were a given. Little did we know then that was his lone post season experience with Seattle.
marinersblue96: “@least they won a WS with Trout.”
Uh, no. Angels haven’t even won a single playoff game with Trout.
@Sealbeach Comber my bad, Trout has seemed to be around for so long but there is no way he would of been on the 2002 team.
The Angels didn’t waste Trout in 2021. He was hurt most of the season.
The pitching market has more question marks than “marquee” options.
Use the trade market and get a few players to start then assess what risk / reward guy you want.
Ideally we send two prospects to Cincy for Castillo.
Sign a cost effective stopgap at SS until Paris or one of the other 3 top 10 minor league SS’s are ready.
Sign Cobb
Sign either Sherzer or Ray. Prefer Ray for age and less AAV.
Address the pen. Sign Iglesias, Rosenthal and kelly.
Should get us slightly over the $190 mark with Ray, closer to $210 with Sherzer unless they can defer and backload with Upton off the books.
Stop the trout talks. He’s not going anywhere nor should he. He’s worth every penny and the ROI from the fan base. Pujols was a “bad contract” but Arte got all that money back plus some.
The good news: this off-season has an unprecedented amount of top available pitching. I’m not a huge WAR guy, but it at least baselines players talent and offers comparative value for what can be brought to a club. I took Shohei off the list because obviously he’s an Angel (he was #1 in all MLB). Here are the top 15 pitchers listed in descending WAR for 2021:
Zach Wheeler
Walker Buehler
Robbie Ray
Max Scherzer
Wade Miley
Gerrit Cole
Brandon Woodruff
Ranger Suarez
Corbin Burnes
Lance Lynn
Tyler Mahle
Kevin Gausman
Carlos Rodon
Luis Castillo
Max Fried
4 of these guys are free agents and one has been talked about in trades (Castillo). This is not even including Verlander.
If the Angels could pull of 2 of these 6 (4 free agents, 1 Castillo, 1 Verlander), with that lineup and presumed bullpen spending, they could be an entirely different club.
With this free agent class and the shrinking window for Trout, Rendon, and a cheap Shohei, now is the time to pull the trigger.
This is a good comprehensive article about the Angels. We’ve all known for years what we need. This winter has very good options for Minasian to completely turn the pitching staff around. However, I don’t see Moreno going over 180m in payroll based on history. So that leaves us with about 50m to spend. I don’t see that being enough money:
-front end starter – 25m – 25m (maybe more)
-mid level starter – 10m to 15m
-defense first SS – 8m to 12m
-3 BP arms – 15m
-backup catcher – 2m
On the low side, that’s 60m if my numbers are remotely accurate assuming we acquire all pieces through free agency. I would package Adell and Rengifo for a trade to try to fill a couple of those holes. Minasian needs to be creative but I’m hopeful he can do something meaningful this winter.
I forgot a closer so add another 15m to 20m to my estimate above.
If Arte won’t go over the $180 million amount he better sell the Angels. He’s looking at having bad ticket sales. All he cares about is selling 3 million tickets every season. Why will anyone waste their hard earned money on Angels games? They have to fix their pitching. They need a good pitching coach too. I see the D-backs just hired the Astros’ pitching coach who just retired. At least they’re serious about trying to get better at pitching. Matt Wise isn’t a good pitching coach.
We have needed pitching for 10 years yet the fans keep buying tickets.
All these calls for Moreno to sell the team are hilarious. If you didn’t take care of your lawn and a neighbor told you “you better sell your house”, would you?
Similarly, if a neighbor told you “you better spend more money on landscaping” would you?
Moreno is in business to make money. He has a budget just like you do for your life. You live your life based on your budget, not what other people tell you your budget should be. Minasian will have to manage with the money the owner of the money gives him.
Angels should be in the 22playoffs. They should explore trade partners for Upton, but even with him, they have enough to go big:
all out on a vet Ace (Verlander, Scherzer)
get your sub $20mm 2-punch (Ray, Wood)
Big but not $15mm big on a “closer” that’s open to committee (Rosenthal, Kennedy)
A couple Midlevel but pedigree (Knebel, Kela)
Then let your core do the rest. For the lineup, Trout, Rendon, Ohtani should be able to win you games but you’re gonna get standout days from Walsh, Fletcher, etc.
SS focus should be on defense, cost efficiency. A reunion with Simba doesn’t sound bad.
But Arte HAS TO SPEND
The Angels must re-sign Raisel Iglesias. Closer is really important. He proved what he can do. Just fix the rest of the bullpen. Arte can afford to spend a lot more than he spends. He’s never close to the maximum. If you want to get to the playoffs and you don’t have enough pitching you have to get more pitching.
Iglesias, Rosenthal and Kelly.
Eliezer & Dax Fulton for Marsh should get it done.
Arte Moreno needs to stop being cheap. He might spend a lot on a few players but he isn’t spending enough. Whatever the new amount is to not be taxes, spend up to that. That could be another $40 million. He could have almost $100 million to spend just for 2022. Don’t go cheap on pitching. Re-sign Iglesias for sure. Sign another good reliever for the setup job. And sign one or two good or great starting pitchers. Hardly any of the payroll even goes to pitching. That needs to change.
I love how bad this team is. Wasted HOF careers, terrible contracts, losing records.
As an Astros fan, I’m thrilled the Angels suck. Given that the team has elite players and a high payroll, they should be annual contenders.
Instead, they’re pretenders, and no threat to take the division.
Be proud of rooting for a bunch of low life cheaters.
Only 3 players from 2017 are on the team. Feel free to boo laundry.
And it’s VERY well know Biggio and Bagwell were both cheaters. And everyone with a clue knows Altuve was buzzard up when he hit the HR against Chapman.
I’m glad I don’t root for such a low life organization.