Mike Trout and the rest of the Los Angeles Angels did not come into the 2016 season with high expectations, and for the most part, things played out the way many baseball pundits expected. Injuries, a rocky rotation and a subpar bullpen were all key reasons of why the Angels experienced a year they would probably like to forget.
2016 Record: 74-88, 4th in the AL West
After posting the best record in the American League two years ago, the Los Angeles Angels saw themselves fall slightly back to the pack in 2015, finishing with a 85-77 record. That decline continued this season and it wasn’t pretty.
Coming into 2016, the Angels were relying on a few veterans and journeyman to help the team get back into the postseason. The likes of Jered Weaver, Albert Pujols and Huston Street were once all-star players, but would their bodies hold up over the course of another 162 games? Also, the Angels came into the season with players like Daniel Nava, Johnny Giavotella and Carlos Perez expected to playing in a starting role. The rotation was filled with talented pitchers that came with some risk with the Angels having no clear ace to rely on.
In terms of predictions, nobody at ESPN predicted a division title prior to the start of the year. In fact, only one panelist (Steve Wulf) thought that the Angels would even make the playoffs.
Angels fans would also have to deal with the harsh reality that help from the farm system was not on the way. Baseball America ranked the organization’s prospect pool dead last in their organizational talent rankings that they put out prior to the start of the 2016 season.
This isn’t to say that the Angels didn’t have talent on their roster. Whenever you have the best player in the world all hope is not lost. There was also upside in their rotation and with some of their offensive pieces. But as we all know, everything just never seemed to materialize for the club as they pretty much never threatened to make a postseason run throughout the entirety of the 162 game season.
Here’s a look at what went right and what wrong for the Angels in 2016.