Five MLB Teams With The Grimmest Future
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels have seemingly been in the same position for the entirety of Mike Trout‘s career. For a fleeting moment, they were a number one seed in the postseason. However, they were easily pushed aside by the Kansas City Royals in a three-game sweep.
Mike Trout is a generation-defining talent, who simply has had the misfortune of being buried on a team riddled with mismanagement. During his tenure, big-name players have come and gone. Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Dan Haren, C.J. Wilson, and Zach Grienke have come and gone but to no avail.
There has been only one line of consistency in this decade of Angels baseball, mediocrity. The attempts to build a roster around Trout and his other high-priced teammates of each respective year- by both Jerry Dipoto and Billy Eppler- can be criticized for their lack of sustainability.
Perhaps a lineup with Trout, Pujols, Anderlaton Simmons, Shohei Ohtani, and Justin Upton can have sustainable success. However, a pitching rotation with no steady presence and little depth does not provide enough of a compliment. The issue is that at any point in time the Angels have not been able to create a complete roster that plays a complementary style.
One attributable factor to this unfortunate set of circumstances is the constant status of the Angels’ farm system as towards the bottom of the league. A few players not reaching their potential and some unwise trades have hollowed it out over the years. To follow this up, the Angels have never had a realistic chance to rebuild it due to the presence of Trout.
Unfortunately, they have not found the correct pieces to place around him and they have done enough not to be in the bottom 10 of the league, where they can replenish their prospect pool. This current state of affairs is unlikely to change. Jo Adell will have an impact, as a top 10 prospect overall. Yet, there is not much more behind him and that is a troubling sign.