Los Angeles Angels: What Are Their Top Five Offseason Priorities?
After finishing with an above-.500 record the previous two seasons, the Los Angeles Angels have to take a hard look at their roster in what was a tough year for Mike Scioscia and company. What moves should the front office make to help get the Angels back to being a winning organization?
There have certainly been better times for the Los Angeles Angels than what transpired in 2016. Injuries, a shaky bullpen and a patchwork starting rotation were the main reasons why the club declined this season. If you want a full review of the Angels 2016 season click here.
With everything that happened in the 2016 regular season now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead to what the Angels need to do if they hope to get back into contention in 2017.
At this point, there’s no room for a rebuild in Los Angeles unless of course the organization felt the need to trade Mike Trout (which they shouldn’t). Outside of their 24-year-old centerpiece, there is really no other player that a contender would really give up much value for. No team wants to knowingly take on the outrageous contracts of an Albert Pujols or a Huston Street, so it would be tough to go young fully, especially with the lackluster farm system that the team already has. The organization’s given the best course of action seems to be to try to pick up the pieces and catch lightning in a bottle.
The American League West looks to continue to be a fairly strong division again next season with the Rangers retaining many of their key players. Houston is young and growing with many of their better players entering their primes. The Seattle Mariners are also clearly a threat because of how they played towards the end of the 2016 season.
General manager Billy Eppler and his staff certainly have a lot of holes to fill, but here are a few key needs that he must address before the start of the 2017 MLB regular season.
Note: Obvious moves like picking up Yunel Escobar‘s 2017 $7 million team option will not be included.
1. Get Injured Starters Healthy and Find a Low-Risk, High-Reward Starting Pitcher
Starting pitching is so crucial when it comes to being successful in the major leagues. Not many clubs can win consistently without having reliable starters to send out every five days. Not having this assurance with their starting pitching staff certainly made it much more difficult for the Angels to just even compete day in and day out.
Injuries were a key factor to why the club did not have the starting rotation that they probably hoped. Opening Day starter Garrett Richards made only five starts before being put on the disabled list for the remainder of the 2016 season. Similarly, 23-year-old lefty Andrew Heaney was only able to make one appearance before being shutdown for the entire regular season.
However, while the injuries to both hurlers were serious, neither elected to undergo Tommy John surgery right away with the hope that it would decrease their recovery time. This plan is working out for Richards as a recent report from The Los Angeles Daily News notes that he is on track for an day return. Heaney on the other hand, did opt for Tommy John in July, which means that he won’t be back until the end of the 2017 regular season.
It is optimal that the Angels get both have these pitchers back healthy at some point as the team doesn’t have enough funds to go all in on another veteran starter.
Los Angeles should be on the lookout for a starter that would accept a short-term deal. The starting pitching market this offseason is one of the worst in recent memory, so a bounty of them are going to be overpaid. However, there is some good options for the Angels to take a flier on.
Brett Anderson, Jorge De La Rosa, Mat Latos, Bud Norris and Henderson Alvarez all seem like pitchers that could accept a “bet on myself” deal that might benefit both them and the team they decide to pitch for. All four pitchers have had success in the past and would be good insurance if there are more injuries to the team’s starting rotation.
Billy Eppler wouldn’t be wise to put a lot of money into a mid tier starting pitcher like Jeremy Hellickson or Ivan Nova given the competition and risk. The team does have some money to spend with the contracts of Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson both coming off the books. That money would be better spent elsewhere based on the starting pitching market.
2. Find a Relief Pitcher That Can Compete for the Closer’s Spot
Just as I said with the starting pitching, it is important for the Angels to spend their money wisely when it comes to the bullpen. Closers get overpaid on the open market all the time (see Jonathan Papelbon and David Robertson). So while it be nice to make a play for Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen, there are just too many other needs that the Angels have to address.
However, there is a gaping whole in the ninth inning, which incumbent closer Huston Street is just not meant to fill. As the closer this past season, Street posted an ERA in the mid-6.00s and was was on the disabled list for a couple of months to end the season. This should not build confidence in Mike Scioscia when attempts to forecast how his bullpen when shape up next year.
With Street likely relegated to another bullpen role, a couple of other relievers should have the chance to take the coveted spot. Right-hander Cam Bedrosian had the best season of any Angels relief pitcher, but his breakout campaign was cut short due to injury as well. Bedrosian posted an impressive 1.12 ERA and a career-high 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings. The 25-year-old right hander works in the 94-96 mph and has all the makings of being a good back of the bullpen pitcher. He should definitely get a chance to win the closer’s job. Outside of him, Jose Alvarez and J.C. Ramirez could both get a look there.
But even with there being guys who could potentially win the job already in house, the Angels would be wise to bring in another relief pitcher capable of closing ballgames. Joe Blanton, Joaquin Benoit and Fernando Rodney all come to mind as guys that could get succeed in the role and not have to cost as much money. Another name to watch out for is former all-star closer Greg Holland, who is attempting a comeback after sitting out this past season as he rehabbed from an injury. It’s highly likely that he re-signs in Kansas City, but he still remains available as of now.
None of the free agent pitchers that I mentioned would be given the closer’s job, except for Fernando Rodney. But even then, he did struggle after he was traded to the Miami Marlins.
Fixing the back-end of the bullpen will be critical to the Angels offseason. The team needs to add at least one capable set up man who could potentially close game if called upon.
3. Find an Everyday Catcher
Now here’s a position that the Angels could easily improve on next season. For the most part, Mike Scioscia went with a timeshare of Carlos Perez and Jett Bandy behind the plate. Perez suited up for 87 contests, while Bandy only appeared in 70 regular season games.
While there was a pretty even split, that wasn’t because both were starting caliber options at the position. In fact, neither should probably be considered as anything more than a major league backup.
Perez hit for a dismal .209 battle average while only slugging for five home runs. However, Bandy was not much better as he only got on-base at a .281 clip in addition to finishing with a slugging percentage of under .400. This kind of offensive production is unacceptable for a starting major league player, even if they play catcher. The Angels must improve in this area if they want to be serious about contending for a playoff spot once again.
In terms of free agent catchers available, there are a few solid options. I would advise against them spending big on Matt Wieters or Wilson Ramos because both have issues that would make it unwise to invest big money in. Wieters is a frequent injury risk, who puts up solid numbers for the position, but will not produce to the contract that he is going to get on the open market. Ramos tore his ACL late in the regular season so it may be wise stay away even though he had a career year.
Having an above average offensive catcher is helpful, but is it not necessarily a criteria for success. The Angels just need to improve over what they have in the system now. Nick Hundley, Kurt Suzuki, Alex Avila and Jason Castro all seem like solid options when analyzing the free agent catchers. I especially like Hundley and Suzuki given that they have both played consistent offensively and will not cost as much as Wieters or Ramos. Avila and Castro are more platoon options, but they both make for an improvement over the Angels 2016 catching situation.
4. Spend on a Starting Left Fielder
This is the position where money should be invested in. The Angels are currently shedding both C.J. Wilson’s and Jered Weaver’s burden contracts this offseason so that money needs to be relocated somewhere. So why not in a position that is by far the strongest of the 2016-17 free agent class?
Los Angeles was widely criticized for sticking to their guns and keeping a platoon of Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry in left field for the start of the 2016 season. This obviously did not work out well as Nava finished the year only appearing in 45 games for the club in which he hit .235. Gentry was a little bit worse only playing in only 14 major league games this past year. Jeffrey Marte and Rafael Ortega saw the most action at the position, and while both were better than what the Angels started with, particularly Marte, it’s still a spot that could be improved on this winter.
There are many outfielders available that seem like a good fit for the Angels lineup. Josh Reddick would provide some extra pop in the order and has experience in the division. Ian Desmond will cost a lot but probably deserves it because of his all-star caliber numbers that he put up. Carlos Gomez may also be a solid buy-low candidate given his recent resurgence in Texas. However, there is one outfielder that looks like a perfect addition given all the factors at play in free agency.
Blue Jays left fielder Michael Saunders is likely to go elsewhere this winter as Toronto has both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista to worry about this offseason. Saunders had a career year in 2016 in most part because of his hot start. Since the all-star break he’s cooled down, but his overall numbers look good considering that he’s been sharing time with Melvin Upton Jr. and Ezequiel Carrera.
Saunders posted a slash line of .253/.338/.478/.815 in 2016. But while these numbers may seem average, Saunders did add 24 home runs, which was a career-high for the 29-year-old outfielder. At this point in his career it looks like Saunders is close to being a completed project, but he would be a nice compliment to the heavy right-handed lineup that Mike Scioscia runs out every game.
There are certainly other options available, but Saunders will be cost effective because of his second half struggles. I’m willing to bet that his first half numbers represented the player that he is rather than his recent play because he stopped getting regular at bats towards the end of the year. However, with the Angels he would be the primary left fielder and a perfect complement to the right-handed hitting trio Albert Pujols, C.J. Cron and obviously Mike Trout in the middle of the Angels order.
5. Don’t Sell the Farm
Having a successful farm system that churns out productive players every season is of the utmost importance in trying to build a winning organization. Unfortunately for the Angels, it just seems to be a code that they can’t crack. It also doesn’t help when you trade away the talent that you do have, especially when you already lack much of it to begin with.
In what was a rather stunning move last winter, the Angels made a swap with the Atlanta Braves to acquire Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons. This did come with a steep price as the Angels had to trade away far and away their best prospect in left-handed pitcher Sean Newcomb.
Newcomb is currently rated as the third best prospect in a talented Braves system and is the 46th best overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. The lefty is also close to contributing at the major league level as he has already put up some sold numbers at Double-A this past season.
Watching a top prospect like Newcomb succeed somewhere is a tough pill to swallow, especially when the guy you trade for only hits four long balls in a season. Granted, Simmons did have a solid year at the plate when looking at his batting average (.281). But with the struggles of the Angels rotation last season, I bet Billy Eppler would’ve liked to have some added pitching arsenal in his minor league system. This is why the Angels must avoid trading any of their top prospects this offseason as they look to build it for future.
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Matt Thaiss, the team’s most recent first round pick, is currently the Angels top rated prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He’s coming off a great season in rookie ball and has experience at catcher and at first base. Other prospects like outfielders Jahmi Jones and Brandon Marsh as fellas catcher Taylor Ward have potential to start in MLB one day at least in some capacity, so it would be wise for the Angels front office to hold onto them too.
It may be tempting to look outside of the free agent class this year given the many holes that the club has to fill and the lack of overall talent viable. However, Angels management needs to understand that in order to build a good farm system you can’t trade away top prospects that often, particularly when you’re struggling to find them in the draft and on the international market. Using the money available from expiring contracts to fill out the roster is a much better option than dealing from within the club’s farm system at this point in time.
Next: Angels 2016 - Five Takeaways
What moves do you think the Angels should make this winter? Let us know in the comment section below.