Angels Working To Re-Sign Andrew Bailey
The Angels are engaged in early talks to retain reliever Andrew Bailey, GM Billy Eppler tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). While there’s no deal yet, it seems that the Halos are making the veteran righty a priority.
Bailey, 32, has battled through arm issues in recent years, but was finally healthy in 2016. He struggled with the Phillies, but seemingly found a home in Los Angeles late in the season. It’s worth remembering that Eppler was with the Yankees when they gave him rebound opportunities in 2014 and 2015.
Over a dozen appearances with the Angels, Bailey allowed just three earned runs on nine hits while recording eight strikeouts against only two walks. And he ultimately landed in the Halos’ closer role, locking up six saves.
It remains to be seen what kind of contract Bailey can command, and what other interest might develop, but that late-season push may at least have earned him a major league deal. Still, clubs will be mindful of his lengthy injury history as well as the fact that he struggled to a 6.40 ERA over his 32 1/3 innings in Philadelphia to open the 2016 season.
Angels Designate Cory Rasmus For Assignment
The Angels designated 29-year-old right-handed reliever Cory Rasmus for assignment, according to Taylor Blake Ward of Scout.com. Rasmus posted a 5.84 ERA, 6.2 K/9, 5.8 BB/9, 1.46 HR/9, and 30.4% groundball rate in 24 2/3 innings for the Halos this year.
Rasmus endured multiple DL stints for a groin strain this year, culminating in July surgery. He returned in September and made five appearances to close out his season. Cory, younger brother of free agent outfielder Colby Rasmus, was a first-round draft pick of the Braves in 2006 out of high school, back when he had a number two starter ceiling. Rasmus was a supplemental pick the Braves had gained for the loss of free agent Kyle Farnsworth. The Angels acquired Rasmus a few days before the 2013 trade deadline, shipping veteran reliever Scott Downs to Atlanta in a trade between GMs Jerry Dipoto and Frank Wren. His best year in the Majors was 2014, when he posted a 2.57 ERA in 56 innings, including six starts.
Angels To Exercise Club Option Over Yunel Escobar
Unsurprisingly, the Angels will pick up the $7MM club option over infielder Yunel Escobar, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. The team would otherwise have paid him a $1MM buyout.
Escobar, who just turned 34, continued to hit after heading to Los Angeles last winter in a deal that sent reliever Trevor Gott to the Nationals. He ended with a .304/.355/.391 batting line and five home runs over 567 plate appearances.
Ultimately, the veteran infielder isn’t a terribly exciting option. He doesn’t walk a ton but also rarely strikes out, and relies upon batting average to make up for below-average power. While he has carried a rather lofty batting average on balls in play over the last two years (.347 and .339, respectively), that’s supported in some part by the fact that Escobar keeps the ball on a line or on the ground much more than the league-average hitter. (He hit fly balls just 20.8% of the time, as against the league’s 34.6% rate.)
Though he was long a shortstop, Escobar isn’t considered a valuable defender at third. Both UZR and DRS have rated him as well below average at the hot corner in each of the last two seasons. Still, there’s value in the fact that Escobar can handle third reasonably, and also that he’d presumably be able to take residence at second if needed.
All said, it was an easy call for the Halos to make. The team recently added another one-year veteran in Cameron Maybin, and is looking to fill in needs on limited commitments wherever necessary. Locking in Escobar leaves the team looking to add a second baseman (or, perhaps, a third baseman) and build out the pitching staff. The future payroll situation remains unchanged thus far, maintaining some flexibility for the organization.
Angels Claim Vicente Campos From Diamondbacks
The Angels announced that they’ve claimed right-hander Vicente Campos off waivers from the Diamondbacks this afternoon. Campos was originally acquired by Arizona in the trade that sent Tyler Clippard to the Yankees over the summer, but ended up undergoing surgery for a fractured ulnar this September that came with an expected eight-month recovery time, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic notes on Twitter.
The 24-year-old Campos made his Major League debut this season, tossing 5 2/3 innings of relief for Arizona (in one appearance) and allowing three runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts. He pitched across three minor league levels this season between the D-backs and Yankees systems, ultimately spending most of his time at Double-A. In 142 2/3 minor league innings this year, Campos notched a 3.22 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
Originally a Mariners farmhand, Campos went to the Yankees along with Michael Pineda in the now-lopsided Jesus Montero trade. MLB.com rated him 14th among Yankees prospects midway through the season and noted that he has the potential for three average-or-better offerings but also comes with serious durability concerns. That he was able to total a combined 148 1/3 innings between the Majors and minors this year — easily a career-high — bodes well for an Angels team that is in unequivocal need of pitching depth if he can recover from his surgery. Campos may not be ready to open the season on a big league pitching staff, as he has just 6 2/3 total innings at Triple-A in his career and will still be returning to full health, but he could eventually emerge as an option for the Halos next season.
Angels Acquire Cameron Maybin, Exercise His Option
The Angels wasted no time in filling their left field need this winter, as they announced on the first afternoon of the offseason that they’ve acquired Cameron Maybin from the Tigers in exchange for minor league righty Victor Alcantara and exercised Maybin’s $9MM club option for the 2017 season.
After an aggressive 2015-16 offseason, the Tigers shifted course recently, with GM Al Avila saying the team was going to prioritize getting younger and would no longer “play above its means.” Moving Maybin allows the Tigers to trim some money off the 2017 ledger without losing the talented outfielder for nothing, and they’ll now not only save his $9MM salary but also the $1MM they’d have paid by simply buying the option out. It remains to be seen what the Tigers are receiving in exchange, though the Angels notoriously have one of the league’s worst farm systems (if not the worst). Nonetheless, the Tigers can still pick up a piece or two to add to the farm system and better position themselves for the future.
Maybin, 30 in April, was originally drafted by the Tigers in the first round back in 2005 but found himself traded to the Marlins as one of the centerpieces of the Miguel Cabrera blockbuster (Andrew Miller was the other headliner). After bouncing around the National League a bit for the next several years, Maybin ended up back with the Tigers last season in a trade that sent Ian Krol and Gabe Speier to the Braves. A fractured wrist and a sprained thumb cost Maybin nearly half the season, but in the 94 games that he was healthy, he was quite productive, batting .315/.383/.415 with four home runs and 15 stolen bases. Defensive metrics have been down on Maybin’s work in center field for the past couple of years, but a move to left field should yield more favorable ratings.
Maybin will line up in the Halos’ outfield alongside superstar Mike Trout in center field and the highly undervalued Kole Calhoun in right field to give the Angels a talented and athletic trio of outfielders. With left field taken care of on the first day of the offseason, the Angels can quickly shift their focus to other areas of need this winter, namely second base, catcher and the pitching staff. As for the Tigers, the subtraction of Maybin will leave the team looking for center field help, although they could also turn to young JaCoby Jones in center field.
The 23-year-old Alcantara spent this past season with the Angels’ Double-A affiliate and logged a 4.30 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 4.6 BB/9 and a 55.6 percent ground-ball rate in 111 innings (20 starts, nine relief appearances). MLB.com rates Alcantara as the Halos’ No. 8 prospect and gives him a plus fastball and above-average slider on the 20-80 scouting scale. He’s been a starter for most of his minor league tenure, though the MLB.com report on him notes that Alcantara may not have the command or third pitch required to be a starter in the Majors and could instead be a highly effective reliever. Baseball America pegged him fourth among Angels farmhands in their midseason update and noted that his fastball velocity has dipped as he’s developed a more controlled delivery that is easier to repeat.
MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter link) first reported that the Tigers were exploring trades for Maybin, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that the Angels were acquiring him (Twitter link). Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press reported that Alcantara would head back to the Tigers (Twitter link).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Outrighted: Red Sox, Angels, ChiSox, Braves, Pirates, Giants
The seventh game of the World Series rightly dominated the baseball landscape Wednesday, but there were also several outrights from around the majors. Here are those assignments:
- The Red Sox announced that they’ve activated Josh Rutledge from the disabled list and outrighted him off the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old hit .265/.345/.388 in 56 plate appearances with the Sox this season and is a lifetime .262/.312/.397 hitter in 1088 Major League PAs. Capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop, Rutledge should find opportunities to make a club as a bench piece next spring when he inevitably elects free agency following his outright assignment.
Earlier Updates
- The Angels have outrighted left-hander Brett Oberholtzer to Triple-A Salt Lake. The club previously designated Oberholtzer for assignment Oct. 28, which came after he logged a career-worst 5.89 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 42.3 percent ground-ball rate in 70 innings between the Phillies and Angels this year. Overall, Oberholtzer has posted a 4.36 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 39.3 percent ground-ball rate in 324 major league innings.
- The White Sox have outrighted outfielder J.B. Shuck to Triple-A Charlotte. Shuck has over 1,000 major league plate appearances to his name, and 406 of those have come with the White Sox since last season. In 241 PAs this year, Shuck batted a woeful .205/.248/.299.
- The Braves have outrighted right-handers Casey Kelly and Brandon Cunniff to Triple-A Gwinnett. Kelly placed anywhere from 24th to 76th in Baseball America’s prospect rankings from 2009-12, but injury- and performance-related issues have beset the former Red Sox and Padres farmhand. Notably, Kelly went from Boston to San Diego in 2010 in a deal involving then-Padres prospect and current Cubs superstar Anthony Rizzo. That trade brought first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox. The Padres then sent Kelly to the Braves last offseason for catcher/pitcher/outfielder Christian Bethancourt. The 27-year-old Kelly subsequently amassed 21 2/3 frames of 5.82 ERA pitching with matching strikeout and walk rates (2.91 over nine innings) this season. Cunniff has logged 52 big league innings – all with the Braves since last season – and recorded a 4.50 ERA, 9.17 K/9 and 5.37 BB/9.
- The Pirates have outrighted infielder Pedro Florimon, catcher Jacob Stallings and southpaw Zach Phillips to Triple-A Indianapolis. The most notable member of the group is Florimon, a defensive specialist who has collected a combined 752 major league plate appearances with the Orioles, Twins and Pirates. Only 50 of those PAs have come with Pittsburgh since he joined the organization via waivers prior to the 2015 season. Stallings, whom the Pirates chose in the seventh round of the 2012 draft, took his first 15 major league trips to the plate this year. Phillips also got some work with the Bucs this season, impressing over 6 2/3 innings (two earned runs, six strikeouts, one walk). The 30-year-old previously racked up 15 2/3 total frames with the Orioles and Marlins.
- The Giants have outrighted catcher Tony Sanchez to Triple-A Sacramento. Sanchez has accumulated just 155 major league PAs since Pittsburgh drafted him fourth overall in 2009. He divided 2016 between the Triple-A affiliates of the Blue Jays and Giants and combined for an ugly .201/.298/.317 line across 228 PAs.
Angels Claim Abel De Los Santos, Designate Brett Oberholtzer
The Angels announced today that they’ve claimed right-hander Abel De Los Santos off outright waivers from the Reds and designated left-hander Brett Oberholtzer for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Cincinnati originally claimed the 23-year-old De Los Santos from the Nationals this past July, and the right-hander tossed 5 2/3 innings for the Reds in the final month of the season. That marked the second season which De Los Santos received a brief cup of coffee in the Majors, as he also pitched 1 2/3 innings with the Nationals in 2015. While De Los Santos has solid numbers at the minor league level, he’s been roughed up for eight runs on nine hits and five walks in his 7 1/3 big league innings. De Los Santos tossed 20 1/3 innings in Triple-A this season and logged a 3.54 ERA with a 26-to-13 K/BB ratio, and he has a lifetime 3.03 ERA in Double-A as well. He’ll give the Halos a depth option in a bullpen that faces some uncertainty heading into 2017.
As for Oberholtzer, his removal from the 40-man roster subtracts a rotation option for the Angels. The 27-year-old struggled mightily in 2016, though, pitching to a career-worst 5.89 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 42.3 percent ground-ball rate in 70 innings between the Philies and Angels. The former Astros southpaw found himself traded to the Phillies last winter as part of the Ken Giles blockbuster, but wound up with the Angels following a waiver claim. Ultimately, his tenure in both Philadelphia and Anaheim proved to be brief.
In 324 innings as a Major Leaguer, Oberholtzer has a 4.36 ERA to go along with 6.1 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 39.3 percent ground-ball rate. If he clears waives, he can look for a new organization on the free agent market this winter.
C.J. Cron To Undergo Thumb Surgery
Angels first baseman/designated hitter C.J. Cron will undergo an arthroscopic debridement to address an impingement in his left thumb, the team announced today. Cron has been experiencing pain in the base of his thumb recently according to the team, and as Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times points out (Twitter link), the 26-year-old slugger did suffer a broken left hand back in July. The recovery time on the operation was announced as six to eight weeks, so Cron should be fully ready to go once Spring Training arrives.
Cron landed on the disabled list on July 9 and was sidelined through Aug. 20 with the hand fracture referenced by Moura. His offense upon his return was largely similar to his pre-injury production — though he did experience a mild dip in power — and he finished out the year with a strong .278/.325/.467 slash in a career-high 445 plate appearances. Perhaps more importantly, he continued to make strides in his plate discipline; while his walk rate was still a below-average 5.4 percent, that mark was up from 4.1 percent over his first two big league seasons. And, by cutting back on the number of out-of-zone pitches he chased, Cron was able to drop his strikeout rate from 20.3 percent to 16.9 percent.
While Cron isn’t an elite bat, it seems clear that he posses 20- to 25-homer pop in his bat if he can stay healthy over the life of a full season. To date, the 116 games he tallied in 2016 are a career-high, though, so he’ll hope for a healthier campaign in 2017, which will be the platform year for his first season of arbitration eligibility. Cron can be controlled through the 2020 season via that arbitration process.
Cafardo’s Latest: Hart, Melancon, Hill, DiSarcina
In his latest notes column for the Boston Globe, Nick Cafardo looks at the remarkable list of front office talent incubated by John Hart during his stint as the Indians’ general manager from 1989-2001. Such names as Chris Antonetti, Mark Shapiro, Neal Huntington, Ben Cherington, Paul DePodesta, Josh Byrnes and Dan O’Dowd worked together in the Cleveland front office and went on to run their own front offices as general managers, baseball operations heads and/or club presidents. Of course, those executives all developed their own notable staffers, to the point that Hart’s front office tree extends to virtually every team in the sport. Here’s some more from Cafardo’s column…
- Mark Melancon will draw a lot of interest in free agency this winter, both as a closer and potentially, Cafardo opines, as an Andrew Miller-style hybrid reliever. Melancon could be willing to accept such a role if he still gets paid like a top-flight closer, and Cafardo thinks firemen could eventually surpass closers as the highest-paid members of a bullpen. “Don’t kid yourself, one reason Miller accepts his role is because he earns closer money,” Cafardo writes.
- “The Nationals are expected to go hard” for Melancon, Cafardo reports, which isn’t a surprise given how well he pitched for Washington after he was acquired at the trade deadline.
- Major League sources often cite a three-year/$45MM contract for Rich Hill in free agency this winter, and Hill could even get more the better he pitches during the Dodgers’ postseason run. Last month, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes outlined five reasons why he is predicting Hill to receive at least $45MM, despite Hill’s age and injury history.
- Angels first base coach Gary DiSarcina could be a candidate for two jobs with other clubs, based on his past experience working in the Red Sox front office and managing their A-ball and Triple-A affiliates. Cafardo suggests that Mike Hazen (the former Red Sox GM and newly-hired Diamondbacks GM) could consider DiSarcina as the new D’Backs manager. Boston bench coach Torey Lovullo has been rumored to be a top contender for the Arizona job, so if he indeed leaves, Cafardo wonders if DiSarcina could return to Fenway for a job on John Farrell’s staff.
Offseason Outlook: Los Angeles Angels
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After a season that was destroyed by injuries, the Angels will attempt to assemble a healthier, more competitive team for 2017.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Albert Pujols, 1B: $140MM through 2021
- Mike Trout, OF: $119MM through 2020
- Andrelton Simmons, SS: $47MM through 2020
- Ricky Nolasco, SP: $13MM through 2017 (includes $1M buyout on 2018 option; Twins to pay $4MM)
- Huston Street, RP: $10MM through 2017 (includes $1M buyout on 2018 option)
- Cliff Pennington, IF: $2.25MM through 2017
Arbitration Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections via MLB Trade Rumors)
- Garrett Richards (4.148) – $7.0MM
- Shane Robinson (4.124) – $600K
- Kole Calhoun (3.130) – $6.9MM
- Matt Shoemaker (2.156) – $3.8MM
- Cory Rasmus (2.155) – $700K
- Brett Oberholtzer (2.127) – $1.0MM
- Non-tender candidates: Robinson, Rasmus, Oberholtzer
Contract Options
- Yunel Escobar, IF: $7MM or $1M buyout
Free Agents
You’ve heard the Angels’ sob story by now. They suffered a rash of injuries early in 2016 that effectively ruined their season, forcing them to lean on questionable starters like Tim Lincecum in a desperate effort to find someone, anyone, who could take the ball every fifth day. They have Albert Pujols signed to a toxic contract. And they have a thin collection of prospects that, before the season, ESPN’s Keith Law (Insider-only) described as “by far the worst system I’ve ever seen.” Woe be the Angels, woe be Mike Trout, and woe be GM Billy Eppler, who took the job last October.
Or so it would appear. Without a doubt, the Angels have problems. But their situation is more complex than their 74-88 2016 season and terrible farm system make it seem. The worst might be over, and the team can take big steps this winter toward a much-needed reboot.
The Angels’ poor 2016 performance was due in large part to a pitching staff that, by advanced metrics like xFIP and SIERA, ranked with the Reds as one of the league’s worst. That staff should be much better next season. Garrett Richards, who pitched just 34 2/3 innings in 2016, appears to be healthy after opting for stem cell treatments rather than surgery to rehab his torn UCL. It’s far from certain dodging Tommy John will work out for him, or that he’ll return to his earlier form, but the news so far is promising. Tyler Skaggs, too, could pitch a full season after missing all of 2015 and most of 2016 due to arm trouble. The 2017 Angels already appear to have more healthy rotation talent than the 2016 team did, and that’s before even making a move.
Then there are Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson, who made a combined $40MM in 2016. Neither helped the team — Weaver spent the season on a futile quest to prevent opposing hitters from smashing 83-MPH fastballs to smithereens (although he deserves some credit for soaking up 178 innings despite his velocity troubles), and Wilson was hurt. They’ll both be free agents, and their departures will give the Angels considerable payroll flexibility, as they’ll only have about $125MM in payroll commitments for 2017 (including their arbitration-eligible players) compared to $165MM last season. In the recent past, they’ve limited payroll in an effort to stay beneath the luxury-tax threshold; it’s not entirely clear where the threshold will be next year, but it is clear the Angels will be comfortably beneath it before they begin shopping.
This is, unfortunately, not a good offseason to go hunting for pitching help, which the Angels will still need even if we make the tenuous assumption that Richards and Skaggs will be fully healthy. Those two could join Matt Shoemaker and Ricky Nolasco in the Angels’ 2017 rotation, but the team still needs a starter, or maybe two. The best starters the organization has who haven’t yet been mentioned here are Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano, who are both likely to miss the 2017 season after having Tommy John surgery. And the team’s farm system seems unlikely to produce much in the way of starting pitching help, or to give it much currency to acquire a starter on the trade market. The Angels do have lefty Nate Smith at Triple-A, and perhaps Brett Oberholtzer could be an option if he misses Super Two. Alex Meyer is another possibility. But the Angels don’t have much in the way of depth.
That could mean they enter a free agent market headed by Rich Hill, Ivan Nova and Jeremy Hellickson. Alternately, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register recently suggested, they could use their available funds to take on a bad contract. They’ll have to get creative to make trades, but there should be a variety of pitch available with salaries high enough to limit the prospect cost they’ll take to acquire — someone like Jaime Garcia or Clay Buchholz, who both have 2017 team options, could make sense, or perhaps the Angels could pursue a young veteran like Tom Koehler or Drew Smyly.
The Angels’ position players were productive in 2016, as any group of hitters led by Mike Trout will tend to be. Trout, Kole Calhoun and Andrelton Simmons give the Angels a formidable core, and the team also seems somewhat settled at third base (where they’ll almost certainly exercise the option of the productive Yunel Escobar, although perhaps it’s at least faintly possible they could move Escobar to second and try to acquire a third baseman instead) and 1B/DH (where they have C.J. Cron and Pujols’ immovable contract).
That leaves catcher, second base and one outfield spot. Luckily for the Angels, the markets at those positions are more robust than the starting pitching market. Available catchers include Matt Wieters, Jason Castro and the injured Wilson Ramos. There’s also the chance the Angels could again gamble on Geovany Soto, who missed most of 2016 due to various injuries but was productive when he played. Soto might be an especially good fit for the Angels in that he would likely only require a one-year deal, helping the Angels balance their desire to be competitive in 2017 with the likelihood that they won’t contend until future seasons. Whoever the Angels end up with, he’ll likely pair with Jett Bandy, who struggled to get on base but otherwise had a reasonably productive rookie season in 2016.
The second base market is headlined by Neil Walker and Chase Utley, with only Walker requiring what figures to be a significant long-term commitment. It’s surely a long shot, but signing both Utley and either Sean Rodriguez or Steve Pearce would be an interesting outside-the-box move. Rodriguez and Pearce are both right-handed batters who hit well and could be good complements to the lefty-swinging Utley, while also potentially helping the Angels’ outfield situation.
The top prize in the outfield will be Yoenis Cespedes, making the relatively safe assumption that he’ll opt out of his deal with the Mets. The Angels weren’t among the top contenders for Cespedes last offseason because of luxury-tax concerns, but that could be different this winter. Jose Bautista, Ian Desmond and Carlos Gomez are also available. A left-handed hitter like Michael Saunders, Josh Reddick, Brandon Moss, Colby Rasmus or Jon Jay, or a switch-hitter like Angel Pagan, could work, since the Angels currently have a righty-heavy lineup. (The list of current Angels righties also includes former top Mets prospect Jefry Marte, who hit well down the stretch last season and could get playing time in the outfield as needed.) Former Angels slugger Mark Trumbo will be available after a 47-homer season, but the Angels would do well to avoid him at the price they’re likely to have to pay, since he’s poor defensively and they don’t have space at DH.
The bullpen’s 3.77 ERA in 2016 was merely respectable, and its 4.45 xFIP and 4.15 SIERA indicate that Angels relievers were weaker than their ERAs suggested. Closer Huston Street figures to be healthy after a terrible 2016 season in which he posted a 6.45 ERA in 22 1/3 innings and missed time to oblique and knee problems. It remains to be seen whether he can return to form, given his poor 2016 performance and his velocity, which has declined since 2009 and now rests at around 88 MPH. Cam Bedrosian likewise ended the season on the DL due to a blood clot, but his future appears brighter than Street’s — he had a brilliant 2016 season and figures to be healthy for Spring Training.
The 2017 bullpen should also feature some combination of Jose Alvarez, J.C. Ramirez and Mike Morin, all of whom soaked up innings at least somewhat effectively last season. And, depending on who remains on their 40-man roster once the offseason is through, the Angels will also have a variety of even lower-wattage options to sort through, like Blake Parker, Deolis Guerra, Kirby Yates, Meyer, and lefties Cody Ege, Ashur Tolliver and Greg Mahle.
Parker, Yates, Ege and Tolliver are all recent waiver claims, and the waiver claim has lately been the Angels’ most-used tool to compensate for their lack of farm system depth. The team could continue to tread down that narrow avenue and others like the Rule 5 Draft, which is where they originally got Guerra. It might even work, at least to a degree — Parker, in particular, seems likely to be at least somewhat productive in the big leagues, based on his recent minor league numbers. Still, the Angels will probably want to grab at least one experienced reliever on a big-league deal this offseason, particularly given the uncertainty regarding Street. They might also want to re-sign Andrew Bailey, who pitched well in 12 appearances with the team.
The Angels have many holes. Even if they spend relatively heavily, they aren’t likely to adequately fill them all, and it will be awhile before Eppler and his front office can produce enough homegrown talent for the team to start filling talent gaps with farm-raised players. For now, they’ll have to spend money, and be creative where spending on free agents won’t work. (The Angels do currently have the last protected pick in the 2017 draft, and therefore won’t risk losing a farm-system-nourishing first-round pick if they pursue free agents who have been extended qualifying offers.)
The good news is that they have Trout, a player so terrific that the Angels can be competitive if the rest of their players are even adequate. A player who routinely produces nine-win seasons can hide a lot of problems. The 2017 Angels aren’t going to be perfect, but Trout alone gives them a solid chance at being decent, and some smart free-agent signings could make them even a bit better than that.
After the Angels’ rash of injuries last year, there was plenty of outside discussion about the team potentially trading Trout. But the speculation went nowhere, and understandably so. It would be extremely difficult for the Angels to get fair value for Trout, for one thing. Also, he only recently turned 25, and he’ll be under team control for four more seasons. That should be enough time for Eppler to improve the Angels’ talent base. If the team’s big-league core hasn’t significantly improved in a couple years, the Angels can easily wait to trade Trout then, as long as he stays healthy.
In the meantime, the situation in Anaheim isn’t as dire as last season made it look. The team’s farm system is an ongoing problem, and it gives the organization a low floor — injuries ruined the Angels’ 2016 season, and that could happen again next year or in 2018, because the organization currently doesn’t have the depth to compensate for them. That’s a serious concern, given that it isn’t automatic that Richards will be ready to pitch and pitch well. But with Trout, Calhoun, Simmons, Richards, Shoemaker and Bedrosian aboard, there’s plenty of talent. And with money to spend, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Eppler were able to cobble together another contending team before too long.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.