Los Angeles Angels: Left-handed bat options
The Los Angeles Angels have done an excellent job of re-making their team this offseason, though there is one notable hole – bats from the left side. Who could fit for the Angels?
The Los Angeles Angels have made strides to add players for their 2018 season, signing the top name of the offseason and acquiring other pieces to give themselves an impressive chance to win in 2018.
However, the Angels have left a hole in their roster with a lack of left-handed bats. This could come back to bite the team, especially late in games or the playoffs. We’ll take a look at some possible additions they could make to add a lefty bat, but first we will examine the current roster.
Current roster
After acquiring him during the 2017 season, the Los Angeles Angels reworked and extended Justin Upton‘s contract rather than deal with a possible opt-out. That gave them a power-hitting bat in the middle of the lineup.
Offseason moves strengthened the lineup and the infield defense as the Angels signed Zack Cozart to be their third baseman and traded for second baseman Ian Kinsler from Detroit. However, the addition of both led to furthering an already present lineup issue with the Angels – a lack of a lefty bat.
Currently only Kole Calhoun among regular starters in the Angels lineup swings from the left-handed side with no Angels hitters even switch-hitting. At first base, the Angels intend to go with a platoon of Luis Valbuena and C.J. Cron, with Valbuena’s left-handed bat likely getting the heavy side of the platoon and being available to handle second and third base when he’s not in the starting lineup. The other feasible left-handed bat would come from Shohei Ohtani, if the Angels choose to let him DH on a semi-regular basis.
The current projected bench at Roster Resource includes all right-handed hitters as well, though switch-hitting Kaleb Cowart, Eric Young, Jr., and Nolan Fontana will certainly compete for a bench role in spring, as will lefty-swinging Jose Miguel Fernandez.
So who else could be options for the Angels?
Next: Returning Angel
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
Cliff Pennington and Jarrod Dyson
While the Los Angeles Angels truly need a bat from the left side that could be productive, they may have to “settle” for a player who offers glove over bat skills.
On the infield, the Angels could bring back an old friend in Cliff Pennington. Pennington is a veteran of 10 major league seasons, hitting just .243/.310/.341 over that time with minimal power and speed.He’s only had one season of more than 200 plate appearances where he hit above .270. He’s never hit double-digit home runs or topped 30 stolen bases.
Pennington started at shortstop for three seasons before his ineffective bat was too much for the Oakland A’s to keep running out there. He spent the last two seasons with the Angels, hitting .232/.287/.320 with 6 home runs and 4 stolen bases over 405 plate appearances.
The downfall with Pennington is that he is coming into his age 34 season and has been making solid money the last few seasons (a combined $3.75 million over the last two years). He might want to get a seven figure deal to sign, which could be an issue for the Angels.
If the Los Angeles Angels were to focus on a defensive outfielder to back up Trout, Calhoun, and Upton, an excellent option still on the market would be Jarrod Dyson. Dyson spent last season with the Seattle Mariners after spending the first 11 years of his professional career in the Kansas City Royals organization.
Dyson struggled with a full-time job in 2017, but he shined once he lost the starting job, flashing his excellent defense and speed on the bases. While never accumulating 400 plate appearances in a single season, Dyson has totaled over 15 bWAR in his major league career, with roughly half of that value from his defense (much of his offensive value comes from speed).
Dyson has earned solid money over the last few seasons, and even though he will be in his age 33 season, he will likely want $2.5-3 million to sign.
Next: Expensive options
Neil Walker and Melky Cabrera
With $15 million or a little more of room in their salary structure before the luxury tax is an issue, the Los Angeles Angels could go big for a player who may want a one-year deal for good money that could be fairly expensive for that short term, especially if the player knows he’s likely not getting a full-time role.
Two guys stick out for this possibility for the Angels. In spite of bringing in new players to handle both second and third base, bringing in Neil Walker, who primarily plays those positions, would be a wise choice.
Walker is a switch hitter who has played primarily second base over his career, but last season he added third base to his background. He’s not an elite defensive player by any means, but he’s not a negative either.
Walker has been a 20+ home run hitter in his career as recently as 2016. Last season in 385 plate appearances, he hit 14 home runs.
Over his career, Walker has been a significantly better hitter from the left side as well. He has a 113 point split in favor of the left hand side over his career, and in 2017, the split was even heavier, hitting all 14 of his home runs from the left side with a 244 point higher OPS from the left side.
Walker accepted the Mets’ qualifying offer last season, and at his age 32 season, it’s very feasible that he would take a 1-year deal for the right amount, though that may require 8 figures to get done.
While not quite to that same price level to sign, Melky Cabrera has been a steady performer for the last seven seasons. While not a home run guy, Cabrera has hit .297/.340/.442 over the last 7 seasons, averaging 32 doubles and 13 home runs.
Cabrera is not a guy who can cover center field, but he can work in the corner outfield. Melky is nearly equal from either side of the plate in power and contact skills over his career, but he has been hitting better from the right side.
Most likely Cabrera won’t need to have 8 figures for his age-33 season, but he’ll likely be a high 7-figure guy.
Next: Pie in the Sky
Carlos Gonzalez
If the Los Angeles Angels really wanted to make a big splash, they could go for a big bat from the left side, one that could possibly be an All-Star caliber player for the team.
Gonzalez is the type of player who could do just that. The list of accomplishments in his career is long – 3 All-Star appearances, 3 Gold Gloves, 2 Silver Sluggers, a batting title, and a top-5 MVP finish in 2010.
Gonzalez has struggled through injuries for much of his career, and since he’s been healthy after his last major injury in 2014, he’s lost a significant step on the defensive side of things, which would make him a most likely candidate to work as a fill-in in the corner outfields and spend most of his time spelling Albert Pujols at DH.
While his glove work has slipped, Gonzalez is coming off the first real “poor” offensive season of his career, and even then, there were very positive things to see coming out of the season he had. As the month of July closed, Gonzalez was hitting just .228/.301/.339 for the season with 6 home runs over 86 games and 345 plate appearances.
Gonzalez went on a tear for the last two months of the season, hitting a robust .325/.407/.583 over the final 50 games and 189 plate appearances with 8 home runs and a much better BB/K ratio as well.
Gonzalez is just 32 and getting his likely last chance for a multi-year deal, so the Angels may have to sink more than a single season into Gonzalez, but with a 40 home run season, 40 double season, 100 RBI season, and three straight seasons of at least 135 games played over the last three years, Gonzalez may be exactly the type of hitter the Los Angeles Angels need.
Another factor for the consider is Gonzalez’s track record against fellow AL West opponents. Gonzalez owns a .986 OPS against the Rangers, a .811 OPS against the Athletics, and a .973 OPS against the Astros.
Landing Gonzalez may require in the range of a 2-3 year deal for $18-23 million annually, but if he can produce at the level of previous seasons or even just the most recent production he displayed on the field in 2017, he would be more than worth it to balance out the lineup with a lefty threat.
Next: Perfect options
Jon Jay and Seth Smith
So, Gonzalez may be the pie in the sky dream. More realistic would be to get a quality backup infielder who could cover shortstop or a quality outfielder who could cover center field and still provide something with the bat.
There are really two perfect fits for exactly that on the market in Jon Jay and Seth Smith. Jay has been a starting center fielder for quite a bit of his career. Over 8 seasons, Jay has averaged over 3.5 plate appearances per game played, so a bench role would be a reduced role for him, though he’s been in that role for the last three seasons primarily.
Jay does offer excellent contact skills. While he doesn’t offer a lot of power or speed, he has a career line of .288/.355/.383 career slash line for a career OPS+ of 103, so slightly above average with the stick.
The most important thing about Jay is that he has an excellent glove in the outfield. He has the arm to handle the corners along with the instincts and range to handle center field.
Smith probably has his worst skills with the glove compared to Jay. Smith has primarily been a platoon outfielder in his career due to his impressive skill from the left side in a platoon, and he’s not been asked to play center field in some time due to that. However, he has the defensive chops to pass in center in a pinch, though likely not as a long-term starter.
His bat is where Smith would offer impressive value for the Los Angeles Angels. He has spent 11 years in the major leagues with a .261/.344/.446 line and averaged 16 home runs per 162 games. He offers excellent gap power and the ability to knock out 12-17 home runs in a platoon role.
While he wouldn’t likely get that level of playing time, Smith could certainly get his share of time pinch hitting late in games or filling in against tough righties to give Upton or Pujols a day off.
Either Smith or Jay would not be cheap, but they could both be had for a single year at $5-7 million as a very positive piece of the bench.
While these two are the perfect fits, there is one more that could be a fun draw for fans and a mentor for the biggest signing of the Los Angeles Angels offseason.
Next: Possible mentor
Ichiro Suzuki
Shohei Ohtani is arguably the most important free agent signing that the Los Angeles Angels have made in their history. With his unique two-way talent along with his ability to bring in a whole country’s interest to the Angels, how he is handled is very important.
This could be a perfect opportunity to send out one of the heroes of Japan and one of the best players the game has seen over the last 20 years while he can be a mentor to Ohtani with his experiences in the major leagues.
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Suzuki cleared 3,000 hits in major league baseball in 2016, when he hit .291/.354/.376. He struggled to a .255/.318/.332 line in 2017 with the Marlins. However, with the chance to combine his influence on Ohtani, his draw at the ticket office, and his chance to continue adding to his legacy as a hitter could be a huge bonus for the Angels, even at 44 years old.
Ichiro is currently 22nd in major league history with 3,080 hits. Even in his struggle season in 2017, he collected 50 hits. That number would bump Ichiro up to #20 overall. Simply being able to slap 80 hits in 2018, and Ichiro collected 91 and 95 hits in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, so 80 is feasible, would allow Ichiro to move all the way up to #16 overall on the career hits list.
Ichiro is a huge fan favorite, and with the Japanese population in the Los Angeles area, there would be plenty of draw at the gate for Suzuki and likely also in merchandise as well.
Whether the Los Angeles Angels go big for Gonzalez, go for the perfect fit of Smith or Jay, or get another option, a left-handed bat is certainly needed by the Halos for 2018!