Los Angeles Angels: Left-handed bat options

Nick Franklin, IF/OF

One thing to consider in any additions the Angels may make is that they only have roughly $15 million total in payroll room before they would need to worry about the luxury tax, which is something they certainly would worry about.

That’s why a move for someone like Franklin makes so much sense. Franklin jumped up prospect lists before the 2011 season after a monster 2010 in the Midwest league as a teenager, when he had a 20/20 season as a shortstop.

Franklin is a switch hitter that has been with the Rays, Brewers, and Angels the last three seasons. He’s familiar to the team for sure, but he was brought in to start when he was part of the 2017 roster.

He adds the option to play shortstop, which is something rare among the players that the Angels have in house currently for the bench.

One thing in Franklin’s profile to consider is that Franklin has hit 150 points better in OPS from the left side in his major league career. As recently as 2016, he combined in the majors and minors for a .791 OPS from the left hand side, hitting .278/.343/.448.

Certainly, the Angels would be familiar with Franklin, and they could likely get him for a minor league deal, which would make him even more attractive as a pickup. He offers some power from the left side along with the ability to handle shortstop.

If the team chooses to go away from Franklin for reasons that they discovered while he was in the organization in 2017, what other routes could they go?

Next: Defensive specialists