After injury-shortened 2021 seasons, two of the Angels’ biggest stars are healthy. Mike Trout’s agent Craig Landis tells Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times that Trout is “100 percent” ready to fully participate in Spring Training activities whenever the lockout ends, while a source familiar with Anthony Rendon’s recovery says the third baseman is also a “full-go” in the wake of surgery to correct a hip impingement.
Trout and Rendon combined for 84 games in 2021, and were in the same starting lineup together only 19 times. Trout was at least still his superstar-level self before suffering a season-ending right calf strain on May 17, hitting .333/.466/.624 with eight home runs over what ended up being his only 146 plate appearances. For Rendon, a series of nagging problems sent him to the injured list on multiple occasions and limited his production to only a .240/.329/.382 slash line over 249 PA.
The majority of Rendon’s injuries related to his left leg, though it was actually a right hip problem stemming from his rehab for a left hamstring injury that finally ended his season in August. Rendon said during a radio interview in November that the timing of the surgery was intended so he could head into Spring Training with a clean bill of health, and that now appears to be the case, even if the lockout has delayed the entirety of the normal baseball calendar.
Trout’s calf strain was a source of constant frustration for the former MVP, the Angels, and baseball fans as a whole, as the outfielder was seemingly close to a return on multiple occasions except his calf never stopped feeling sore after Trout took part in baseball-related activities. Trout and the team held out hope until September before officially shutting things down, again with an eye towards an early start on getting Trout fully healthy for the 2022 season.
Needless to say, the returns of Trout and Rendon in full health and with their usual levels of production could give the Angels one of the league’s most dangerous lineups. Of course, pitching has long been the Angels’ biggest obstacle, but the team has re-signed closer Raisel Iglesias and also added Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen to the rotation mix, not to mention what other moves could be in store once the transactions freeze is lifted.
This is good news
I really hope both these guys stay healthy all of next season. They can turn that Angels offense into something ridiculous if they reach the levels they are capable of. Rendon, Trout and Ohtani could make the best hitting heart of the order in baseball if they all get back to form. Rendon and Trout are power hitting OBP machines and Ohtani is likely to out home run all of them. It would be great to see Ohtani pitch a shutout in a game where the 3 of them all have back-to-back-to-back home runs. Rendon has been really disappointing since signing there. I hope that was just a temporary injury problem and not a new trend. Trout’s injury lasted a shockingly long time last season. I hope it doesn’t crop back up. I’m not an Angels fan but Ohtani and Trout are both really good for baseball as a whole. They bring in new fans. We all need those guys on the field everyday. A healthy Rendon can only make them better. Thor can be really good for baseball if he stays healthy too. People love his high velocity fastballs and persona. If the Angels can just get some more pitching. They need at least one or two more serious aces. I wonder if they would consider going after Kershaw. He’s already so accustomed to LA. They need more pitching than that though because Kershaw, Thor and Ohtani all look pretty injury prone right now. Even if they don’t make the playoffs the Angels should be a very fun team to watch if everyone stays healthy. They would have a lot more money to spend if they didn’t waste so much on that dumb Upton contract. That guy hasn’t been worth a damn in years. I can’t believe the Angels are paying him $28 million next year. He probably won’t even play. At least Pujols terrible contract is finally off the books. They should have more money to spend next offseason when Thor and Upton both come off the books. Ohtani is going to want most of that money though so now might be their best shot. Getting rid of Upton’s salary is good but it won’t make a difference if they just have to pay all that money to keep Ohtani.
Spring Training? Surely you jest….
Spring Training? Surely you jest…..
—————————————-
He is serious. And don’t call him Shirley…….
too long…skip!
I have been watching baseball since 1957……
A strike is initiated by the employees or players. Major League Baseball (MLB) Lockouts & Strikes There have been nine work stoppages in MLB history, as a result of five strikes and four lockouts.
That’s 8 too many for me
1972 – strike
1973 – lock out
1976 – lock out
1980 – strike
1981 – strike
1985 – strike
1990 – lock out
94-95- strike
2021 – lock out
Here’s the score card for anyone who cares
It’s time to clear out the egos & PLAY BALL!
Nice history lesson but what’s your point?
And this is the first times games will be missed because of a lockout.
About 1700 have been missed due to a player’s strike.
I’d much rather have a work stoppage now.
My point is obvious, I’ve watched 25 years of pure baseball & now it’s all at risk because of money and ego. For the next 49 years. it’s all about the “industry”. Puke
What’s pure baseball? The game today is completely different than the game in the 60s, 70s, 80, 90s, 2000, and 2010s.
I’m not sure what pure baseball is.
I didn’t watch baseball in the 50s. So I can’t write about that.
Yeah, you can’t
Good luck with the crap you watch now
Baseball is evolving, has always been evolving, and this current evolution based on the three true outcomes, where there were more strikeouts than singles, is as bad as I’ve ever seen.
If you have only watched 25 years of baseball, you missed the 70s. So you missed some really good baseball. Because compared to the 70s, the 2000 were crap.
I really don’t know what will happen with the next evolution of baseball, but getting rid of the shift is a good start. Widening the bases is a good start.
I’ve watched baseball for 25 years when it was pure, then, folks like you started darkening the waters. For you to be so lame as to say I missed the 70’S on up, nah. I’ve watched the deterioration since .you and yours took over. Nothing but squabbling and money grabbing.. Joe Dimaggio would be ashamed.
At the end of the 70s. Players were making 20,000 dollars a year. It was a better game but is that what you want to go back to.
I missed the 50s. So what?
The point I was making is the game is always evolving. I think the game is going to get better.
The point is, the history of anything is important to what leads up to it, including the 50’s
I’m a huge Joe DiMaggio fan but he was literally one of the most “money grubbing” players the game has ever known.
Yes. I love baseball history. In think It’s important for fans to know it. It helps me appreciate the game more.
^^^ 2 old guys arguing ^^^
Stuff like this is why I love going to Thanksgiving every year.
At least they didn’t have to walk uphill to school in 19 feet of snow. Both ways. Just to have the teacher beat them and teach them nothing. Then come home and have their mom cook their leather shoes for dinner. Every night. And every morning for breakfast. That’s what my grandpa had to do. You know how many pairs of shoes he had to steal just to feed his family and get beat the right way? He wouldn’t tolerate these whippersnappers.
The game today is most certainly NOT completely different than it used to be. It is slightly different.
Didn’t Dimaggio hold out over money?
Go look at the 1972 World Series. Check out the time of the games? How long pitchers went. Check out how the Reds stole 14 bases and hit 3 HRs. Check out how many Relief Pitchers are used. How many strikeouts there were.
Go to the seasons, check out the same stuff.
If you transported someone from 1972 to 2021, they be shocked.
Also the use of paragraphs would help
Your owner doesn’t want to make any concessions. He’s one of the worst offenders about spending lots of money unwisely.
Upton $28M next year? It’s this year and it’s over.
Carburetors man, that’s what life is all about.
What spring training ? Of 2023?
Age 32 season for Rendon- he will never be very good again, let alone great. 3-4 WAR player at best at this point, and might not even produce that ever again. Replaced the pujols contract with the Rendon contract, basically. Replaced one of the worst contracts of all time with another one of the worst contracts of all time. Rendon was just a desperation move when they didn’t get the player they really actually wanted (Cole).
I don’t think he’s ever been great, but the way he plays should age well.
I think you would have a very tough time backing up the Rendon has never been great comment.
Said he never will be great again. Didn’t say he was never great.
He was addressing another commenter.
Ok.
he’s not a home run hitter. more of a doubles hitter. at his workout he is hitting lasers as he always has.
He was great in 2019, and continued being great in the post-season., that year.
Perhaps, perhaps not. Way too early for this conclusion, especially now healthy and only age 32. Let’s see him healthy first.
I didn’t realize that Rendon was already 32. That sucks. That makes it a lot more likely his real decline is already underway, injuries aside. On a year to year basis, Rebdon’s contract is actually a lot worse than Pujols. Pujols only averaged $25 million a year. Rendon is averaging $35 million a year. The only contract handed out at the time worse than the Rendon contract was the Strasburg contract for the same price. Both of those guys are still owed a combined $350 million and both of their careers might already be over. Don’t forget the Angels also still have to pay Upton $28 million next year and his career is definitely over. That’s $63 million next year just to Upton and Rendon. The Angels actually have one of the most insanely top heavy payrolls in MLB. Upton, Rendon, Trout and Pujols all combined to do pretty much nothing last season. The Angels still paid those 4 guys $132 million combined for 1 season of nothing. That’s 4 guys making a lot more than some entire teams to do almost nothing. They finally have Pujols off the books but they replaced him with Thor who also did nothing last season. Upton, Rendon, Trout and Thor combined for almost nothing last season but next season the Angels owe those 4 guys over $120 million. That’s also a lot more than some entire teams make going to 4 guys who did nothing last year and unlike Pujols the Angels still owe those guys all that money just for next season. Arte Moreno should be an NBA owner. Baseball is more of a team reliant sport and no star can win it for you. But Moreno still hands out these massive contracts to single players almost every year like he expects them to be the answer all by themselves. Think about how much total money Moreno still owes to Rendon and Trout. It’s over half a billion dollars plus another $28 million to Upton for next season. That’s way too much money to owe so few players. Especially when they are all coming off bad seasons. No wonder he never has the money to sign pitching. You’re right about Cole. Moreno should have either upped his offer to beat the Yankees for Cole (I heard he only offered $24 million less than the Yankees which means he stood no chance) or he should have just waited and signed someone else like Zack Wheeler or saved the money for a different offseason. Dropping $245 million on Rendon when everyone knew the Angels biggest need was pitching really was a desperation move. He spent money just to spend it even though it wasn’t on the right player or even on the right position.
still too long ….next!
Good points, and going along with your points, Trout’s prime is also over- 2019 was the final year of his prime. He’s roughly a 5 WAR player at best now and the only thing he’s good at now is batting. He’s now bad with the glove, no longer a base stealer, and no longer durable. Trout’s only good at the plate (when he’s actually on the field), nothing else at this point. Syndergaard is garbage and was just another desperation move just to try to show that the Angels ‘did something for the pitching staff’, even though he has been declining every year since 2016, hasn’t even been good at all since 2018 (nearly half a decade) and is just garbage at this point. Truly a team going nowhere.
You do know that Trout was having his best season when he got hurt last year?
You’re saying 2019 was the final year of his prime. How can you compare 2020 which was a Covid shorten season and 2021 in a year his season was over in May?
It’s pretty amazing that people don’t realize that Mike Trout was really good last year.
Last year he led baseball in wRC+ for players with more than 10 plate appearances.
In those 140+ plate appearances, Trout was great. The best hitter in baseball…by a mile.
2019 was the final year. Arguably 2018, but definitely no later than 2019. He will never again post more than 6 war in a season, and he wasn’t playing at a superstar pace in 2020 either.
Yeah this is just absolutely false. Trout still has 8+ WAR seasons ahead of him. He’s that much better than everybody else and inner circle Hall of Famers tend to age better than the average career dude. You’re beyond wrong about Trout.
No, he’s roughly a 5 war player in terms of what he can actually produce when his deteriorated skill-set and lack of durability are factored. For example, he was only playing at a 5-6 war pace in 2020 because he was terrible in the field and (to a lesser extent) because he was no longer a base stealer. He was playing at a better pace in 2021, yet he missed 126 games, so he ended up with around 2 war. At best he can produce 6 war at this point and he definitely will never produce 8 war again.
You keep repeating yourself over and over. lol
@Hammer – Both Upton’s & Thor’s contracts are done after this season (2022). The only big money players under contract for 2023 are Trout & Rendon. So the Angels will be in good shape to sign Ohtani and sign a staff ace, whether that be Thor or one of next season’s free agents. Lorenzen was a sneaky good signing. He’s very versatile; he can start, he can open, he can be a setup guy and he can even close games if need be. He doesn’t strike out a lot of batters but he gets a lot of ground ball and weak contact outs.
The Angels do need to add one more starter for 2022, but he doesn’t necessarily need to be a #1 or #2. If Rodon is willing to take another 1 year deal, he’d be their best option as Kershaw won’t play for the Angels. It’s Dodgers, Rangers or retirement for Clayton. Even taking a shot on Kim wouldn’t be a bad move. Much like Lorenzen, Kim doesn’t overpower anyone but he gets batters out and is also versatile. Imagine facing Ohtani, Kim then Thor? Opposing teams’ timing would be completely thrown off. if LAA can add one more good pitcher and stay healthy this season, they should be in the playoff mix for sure.
@Dorothy: I agree with most of what you have said. I think you are overestimating Kim as a starter, though. He is good at run prevention but he can’t go deep into games. He doesn’t even average 5 innings pitched per start anymore. And he spends half of every season injured. He’s basically a cross between a long man reliever and an opener. Both of which have no spin rate, velocity, strike outs or command. He can’t stop walking batters either. How valuable is a guy like that who can’t eat innings even when he’s healthy and still gets injured literally all the time? I also think you are underestimating what it will cost to keep Ohtani. I wouldn’t be surprised if Moreno were willing to pay Ohtani half a billion on his own. Knowing Moreno, he will give Ohtani half a billion. Then he will wait until Soto is a free agent and give him half a billion. Then he will expect that to fix everything. Great players and all but too much money for them and no supporting cast. This isn’t coming from and Angels hater either. I hope the Angels do well. I just think they will take a route similar to that based on Moreno’s past behavior. And let’s be honest. Steve Cohen didn’t hire Eppler because he thought he was a good GM. Steve Cohen hired Eppler because he proved he was Moreno’s puppet and Cohen wants a puppet himself.
F. Y. I. This is Upton’s last year of his contract with the Angels.
Zack Wheeler Clearly said he wanted to play in the East Coast angels were interested in Signing Zack Wheeler
You should change your handle to “Voice of Unreason” You sound bitter.
Arte Moreno was behind the Pujols and Rendon signings as I recall. So he can blame no one but himself for being enamored with signing them. As much as I hate Dipoto, I don’t think he is to blame for signing Pujols. I liked Eppler and many of the things he did for the Angels, but I don’t think he can be blamed for the Rendon signing. With Upton coming off the books and and increase in the CBT, hopefully they spend more wisely the next time around.
It seems the Angels have a huge track record of signing players that used to be very good but won’t be worth the contract.
For example, CJ Wilson, Josh Hamilton, Justin Upton. I just don’t understand the logic and it amazes me how the Angels’ front office always seems to make the same mistake repeatedly by signing these guys
I think every team has that.
CJ Wilson pitched 600 innings his first three years here and made the All-Star team. He made 98 starts in three years. I wouldn’t call him a miss.
Upton was not a free agent. The Tigers dumped his salary.
Hamilton was a disaster. But there was Vlad and Grich and Hunter Baylor won an MVP. Colon won a Cy Young.
I just feel like the Angels do this more than any other team in history. It seems as though besides Trout that all the contracts they’ve acquired have been near disasters
And obviously Trout wasn’t acquired from another team. Just saying his contract is the only one it seems that won’t be disastrous for the Angels
The Angels acquired Carew, Iglesias, Dan Haren. They also acquired Upton and Wells.
They almost acquired Pine Tar Cole but unfortunately the Yankees did. Another cheater whose stats will mean nothing
@Hallo11: I thought Upton opted out of his deal with the Tigers and the Angels signed him as a free agent for even more? I could be wrong. You would know more than me as an Angels fan and I am way too busy to Google it right now. Didn’t Upton opt out of his Tigers deal though? Or am I wrong about that?
The Angels traded for him and extended him one year at a lower AAV. The Tigers virtual dumped his salary and were afraid he wouldn’t exercise his option. The Angels extended him one year because they were afraid he was going to exercise his option
Oh, damn. Why did the Angels not want him to exercise his option and the Tigers did want him to exercise his option? Thanks for the update btw. I was always curious about that because when he signed with the Tigers I could never figure out how he ended up an Angel so quickly. I thought he opted out of the Tigers contract and became an Angel. I’ll tell you one thing. I watched both Upton and Heyward up close in their primes. I thought the Upton contract was bad but I could never figure out why Heyward got $40+ million more. Every Braves fan I know would have rather kept Upton over Heyward. The Upton contract sucks but be glad your Angels took him instead of blowing much more money on Heyward like the Cubs did. They are still stuck with Heyward for years. I always like to follow how the most overpaid players are doing on the last year of their bloated deals every season. Last season I followed Pujols. I’m actually disappointed because next season I wanted to follow Chris Davis at $23 million until he retired. I thought he might have the worst season in MLB history. Since Davis retired I am going to follow Upton next season just to find out exactly what $28 million buys the Angels in 2022. After that I am going to try and keep up with Heyward and Cabrera to see what their stats are during their massive salary final years. With those guys having another year on their contracts though I can’t think of a better player to track than Justin Upton at $28 million in 2022.
Grich might get elected into the HOF in the next couple of years.
CJ wilson was in the running for the CY young one year with the Angels.
Because Tiger GM Al Avila is a very good GM and knows what he’s doing and his moves always make sense.
Yes, would be great to see these two and Ohtani at full strength in the lineup.
fs54-And Walsh at 1B
This is laughable Rendon is over the hill now and won’t play a complete season. And that’s if we even have a season.
lmao!
Rendon led the Angels in WAR in 2020 and is washed up in 2022. Got it.
Now all we have to deal with is that pesky little issue of a lockout.
How can they be tabbed as healthy for start of spring training when we don’t know when the start of spring trading will happen? Or if it will even happen in Spring? They could hurt themselves before the suspended season begins if and when. And I could write volumes about this simple truth, a La Hammer, but choose not to.
because if they are healthy now they should still be healthy come wherever ST is?
Darkside, I wish I could give you multiple thumbs up.
Then rather than are healthy the title of article should read should be healthy and since there won’t be spring training the article title should read start of season rather than ST but either way Trout again won’t play a full season and that blows because he’s unlikely to have a historically remarkable statistical full season and that matters to a lot of fans, including moi.
the point is it doesnt matter. the article clearly shows these players are ready to go for any possible start date for ST.
@Dark Side – Good for you if you could find a point in that word salad above from Brew88. I was completely lost after that first and only run-on “sentence”.
BTW, Brew88, no matter when they come to an agreement, there will be a Spring Training. Players will not go directly into the regular season without at least 3 weeks of preparation time (ST). The injury risk, especially for pitchers, is just too high to risk it.
Oh, you were taking me seriously?
At this pace, it’ll be summer training…
Thats good, especially since spring training probably won’t start til May…
Good news: they’re healthy for spring training.
Bad news: it’s possibly going to be re-named “summer training”
Or it’s called a ghost Spring.
Good one!
14 teams in playoffs…some health…just might see a playoff “contender’ yet for Trout… hack they may even get a pitcher now…holy smokes
i have never known there are so many doctors who have tested rendon personally and made conclusion that he’d never be good again. bug off, trolls!
The Angels lack leadership & a winning instinct. They’ll find a way to only win 79 games (using the former 162 game standard).
You lack knowledge of the angels
You lack knowledge of leadership.
Winslow is a man of simple perfection, there is nothing that’s harder to find. He’s the one to lead us, protect us and feed us and help us to make up our minds.
The Angels have found their leader.
Who cares, baseball is going down
I’ll take “100% “over “full go”.
So why are you whining Trout? Ready but not willing.
Trout could trip over his tongue while yapping to the press and then he wouldn’t be ready anymore.
Healthy for start of spring training? In 2023? 2024?
Yay us.
never seen people so out on a player after one bad year than Rendon. how’s he doomed to never be good again but Yelich escapes all scorn? at least Rendon was good in 2020.
Every year, I compile a list of players who will almost assuredly sell for under-market value in my auction fantasy league. Rendon is on that list this year.
I have Darkside. Baylor and Grich after 1977.
A player could schedule a Tommy John for tomorrow and still be ready for this year’s spring training.
Day 1: Both injured and out for the season.
Get some pitching Arte or this is still a .500 team
Wait, we got some pitching. We need more pitching, but we got some already.
Do we know how soon spring training would start once the lockout ends? Would there be a 1-2 week free agency period then spring training?
free agency will last into a regular season. spring training will start 1-2 days after lockout ends.
Thanks I imagine there will be a flurry of signings soon after we go live. But good to hear they’ll start spring training right away.
Now you’re just rubbing it in
Hypothetically speaking
I think everyone is going to have recovered from baseball related injuries by then.
Everyone but Buxton and Degrom. 🙂
Or retired
Yay, just in time!!!
Unfortunately, now the season is injured.
For real, a 120 or so schedule might me a godsend for the Angels. I like Thor and Ohtani for 20 starts and 100-120 innings apiece. I think Sandoval and Suarez are decent behind them.
The depth, is thin. So the fewer we need from the top 2, the better.
I think you mean summer training
They’re having Pickleball tournaments on the sports channels. Hell, even bowling looking interesting. Oh hell, I’m losing it.
Got into a fist fight during a bowling championship. I was twelve but I had braces so when I got punched… was a lot of red
Does anyone think the angels in all seriousness move trout off centerfield into the corners since you’re seeing the decline in his centerfield skills? He’s already played 10 years in the position and it’s time to find someone who can handle that position.
Personally I would. And Trout’s mentor Torii Hunter did it. Let Marsh patrol center and keep Trout fresher.
It is coming. I don’t think it happens this year, though.
Same story every year with the Angels. If they can stay healthy, and everyone performs as expected, they’ll be one of the best teams in baseball.
Unfortunately, that never happens. Either Ohtani is hurt, or the bullpen implodes, or one of their core starters OD’s or there’s a global plandemic, or Rendon is injured or Trout is injured or there’s a strike shortened season with no Spring Training….
There’s always an excuse.
The last time it all came together for this team was 2014, and even then they met the Royals buzzsaw in the playoffs.
One playoff appearance in 12 years and they were swept. I won’t hold my breath.
If the Angels are not devastated by injuries and manage to get good innings out of their pen, they’ll be fine. But when is the last time either of those things happened, let alone both.
By the way, the Angels made the same mistakes in 2014 they make every year, the didn’t care about their pen, couldn’t figure out who to give the ball to, and were not a good team early in the year.
That’s where they never learn. So far they are making similar mistakes this year.
I didn’t spend a dime on the Angels last season. I don’t plan on watching another game or spending another dime on the Angels until Moreno is gone.
I grew up hating the Dodgers because I had lots of family who where Giants fans and I saw a many games vs the Dodgers at Candlestick. . But I’m missing a team to root for so much I’m thinking about jumping on the blue bandwagon. Never thought it could come to this.