This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series. Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.
Few teams generated more offseason headlines than the Angels, as the team reloaded in a major fashion for another run at playoff contention.
Major League Signings
- Zack Cozart, 3B/SS: Three years, $38MM
- Rene Rivera, C: One year, $2.8MM
- Chris Young, OF: One year, $2MM
- Total spend: $42.8MM
Trades And Claims
- Acquired 2B Ian Kinsler from the Tigers for minor league RHP Wilkel Hernandez and OF Troy Montgomery
- Acquired RP Jim Johnson and $1.21MM in international bonus pool money from the Braves for minor league RP Justin Kelly
- Acquired a player to be named later from the Rays for 1B C.J. Cron
- Acquired OF Jabari Blash from the Yankees for cash considerations or a player to be named later
- Acquired $1MM in international bonus pool money from the Twins for minor league OF Jacob Pearson
- Selected RP Luke Bard from the Twins in the Rule 5 Draft
Notable Minor League Signings
- Chris Carter, Eric Young, Ian Krol, Curt Casali, Emmanuel Burriss, Rymer Liriano, Colin Walsh, John Lamb, Jose Miguel Fernandez, Kevin Maitan, Livan Soto
International Signings
- Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH: $2.315MM signing bonus (Angels paid $20MM posting fee to Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters)
Extensions
- Justin Upton, OF: One year, $17.5MM (total represents new money added via extension, as Upton signed a five-year deal that overwrote the four years remaining on his pre-existing contract. Upton had the option of opting out of his contract and becoming a free agent after the 2017 season.)
Notable Losses
- Cron, Ricky Nolasco, Huston Street, Yunel Escobar, Brandon Phillips, Yusmeiro Petit, Bud Norris, Jesse Chavez, Ben Revere, Cliff Pennington, Andrew Bailey
Angels 25-Man Roster & Minor League Depth Chart; Angels Payroll Overview
Needs Addressed
One of Anaheim’s biggest moves was completed before the offseason even began, as Justin Upton agreed to forego opting out of his contract in exchange for a new five-year agreement. The newly-crafted deal essentially acted as a one-year extension that added $17.5MM in new money to the $88.5MM that Upton was already owed from 2018-21, guaranteeing him a total of $106MM over the five-year span.
Upton hit .273/.361/.540 with 35 homers over 635 PA last season, seemingly confirming that his slow start with the Tigers in 2016 was perhaps just an adjustment to the American League. A full season of Upton’s bat is a huge boost to an Angels lineup that (apart from Mike Trout) didn’t deliver much offense in 2017, and the combination of Upton, Trout, and Kole Calhoun is arguably baseball’s best outfield. Both Upton’s enjoyment of his time in L.A. and his misgivings about the free agent market factored into his decision to stay, and he surely he must feel even better about his choice after watching his team thoroughly bolster its roster.
The most-discussed addition, of course, was Shohei Ohtani. The 23-year-old Japanese star’s plans to jump to Major League Baseball led to months of speculation, particularly since Ohtani and his camp gave little hint about what he was particularly looking for in a North American club. (Money wasn’t a prime factor, as Ohtani’s age made him subject to international signing bonus rules, and thus he could only receive a signing bonus for whatever his new team had available in its remaining bonus pool.) After virtually every MLB team submitted a detailed explanation of their plans for deploying Ohtani’s unique two-way skillset, the field was then narrowed to seven teams, five of which were on the West Coast. While geography certainly seemed give the Angels an initial boost, their in-person meeting seemed to clinch matters, as Ohtani said he “just felt something click” when after talking with team officials.
For just a $2.315MM signing bonus, the Angels now have at least six years of control over a talent who has intrigued scouts and executives like almost no other international prospect in recent memory. Not only will Ohtani step into the Angels’ DH mix (after hitting .286/.358/.500 over 1170 career plate appearances in Japan), he’ll also become the team’s projected number two starter, after Garrett Richards. Of course, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the phenom this spring, as discussed further below.
While it remains to be seen what Ohtani can contribute against MLB pitching, the Halos also augmented their lineup with a pair of proven veterans. Second and third base were both areas of need with Yunel Escobar and Brandon Phillips headed for free agency, and after looking around at various trade and free agent options at both positions, Los Angeles used both avenues to create what could be the game’s best defensive infield.
Only 16 players in baseball surpassed Zack Cozart’s 5.0 fWAR in 2017, as the veteran Reds shortstop augmented his always-impressive defense with a breakout year at the plate, hitting .297/.385/.548 with 24 homers over 507 PA. That performed earned him a three-year, $38MM deal from the Angels, though with a lack of teams in the market for shortstop help, Cozart had to agree to switch over to third base for the third time in his professional career. It’s hard to imagine much, if any, of a fielding dropoff for Cozart at his new position given his prowess at shortstop, and if his hitting come anywhere close to last year’s numbers, the Halos will have landed a star at a near-bargain price.
Several teams tried to benefit from the Tigers’ ongoing fire sale by making offers for Ian Kinsler, though it was the Angels who finally landed the veteran second baseman for the moderate price of two decently-regarded prospects. Moreso than the prospect return, the Halos’ willingness to absorb the $11MM owed to Kinsler in 2018 and Kinsler’s own interest in coming to Anaheim (he waived his partial no-trade clause to approve the deal to the Angels, who had been on his 10-team no-trade list for tax reasons) made the deal happen.
The 36-year-old isn’t a long-term answer to Anaheim’s longstanding second base hole, and Kinsler is coming off the worst offensive season (91 wRC+, .236/.313/.412 over 613 PA) of his 12 years in the big leagues. Still, even if Kinsler duplicates that slash line, he’d still represent a marked upgrade over what the Angels got from their second basemen in 2017. Kinsler’s glovework was still as good as ever last season, and between Kinsler, Andrelton Simmons at shortstop, and Cozart at third, opposing batters will have a hard time sneaking grounders through the Halos’ infield.
Beyond the big-ticket additions, L.A. also added quite a bit of veteran depth at the Major and minor league levels. Chris Young and Rene Rivera will respectively handle the backup outfielder and catching duties, while such notable figures as 2016 NL home run leader Chris Carter are in camp as non-roster invitees.
As well as the experienced names, the Angels also obtained some much-needed young talent for their thin farm system as a result of the Braves’ loss of 12 international prospects due to signing violations. With Ohtani’s bonus accounting for their remaining 2017-18 international pool funds, Anaheim dipped into its 2018-19 pool, which was allowed via MLB’s rules for how teams could pay for this sudden influx of international talent on the market. Shortstop Livan Soto was inked for an $850K deal, but the bigger prize was 18-year-old Venezuelan shortstop Kevin Maitan. At the cost of a $2.2MM bonus, the Angels added a player who was the most highly-touted name from the 2016-17 int’l class, even if Maitan’s stock has dipped after a disappointing 2017 season.
Questions Remaining
For all of the hype and promise surrounding Ohtani, there’s also an equal amount of doubt as to whether he’ll be able to legitimately perform as a two-way player in the big leagues, simply because such a feat hasn’t really been accomplished since the days of Babe Ruth. It may be years before we can fully weigh in on Ohtani’s two-way potential, though his Spring Training struggles both on the mound and at the plate have led to some speculation about whether he’ll be able to provide immediate help to the Angels in 2018. Spring numbers for any player, of course, should be taken with a grain of salt, though the controversy that Ohtani’s slow start has already generated is an early sign of the unique scrutiny he’ll face in his MLB rookie season.
Ohtani’s presence has led to a ripple effect on the Angels’ roster. Since he is slated to receive at least a couple of DH days per week, Albert Pujols will now be getting more time at first base, a position the future Hall-of-Famer has been increasingly unable to play over the last two seasons due to foot injuries. Pujols is hopeful that his injury-free offseason will help him handle more time in the field and help him rebound from a mediocre year at the plate, and it’s worth noting that Pujols was still posting above-average run-creation numbers (as per wRC+) in every season prior to 2017. The Angels would happily take Pujols returning to even his modest 2016 stats, though at age 38, it’s also possible that the slugger may have declined for good.
Luis Valbuena also suffered through a tough 2017 season, leaving the Angels with a pretty shaky pair of first base options for the coming season. Due to the first base/DH roster crunch, C.J. Cron was dealt to the Rays, leaving L.A. with even less depth at first. The Angels will be lacking at two key spots in the lineup should Pujols and Valbuena continue to struggle and if Ohtani needs time to adjust to Major League pitching. Carter can’t be seen as anything more than a wild card given his own disastrous 2017.
The Angels will be deploying a six-man rotation, in a nod to both Ohtani (given his part-time hitting status and to somewhat emulate his longer rest periods between starts in Japan) and to the other five projected starters, all of whom have been plagued by injuries in recent years. Richards, Matt Shoemaker, Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs, and J.C. Ramirez combined for just 359 1/3 innings last season, and Parker Bridwell and Nick Tropeano are also on hand as less-than-reliable minor league depth options. Ricky Nolasco wasn’t re-signed, leaving the Angels without a reliable innings-eater to help anchor a rotation with a lot of uncertainty.
Speaking of eating innings, the Angels lost a pair of bullpen workhorses when Yusmeiro Petit and Bud Norris left in free agency to respectively sign with the A’s and Cardinals. The club is hopeful that Cam Bedrosian, Blake Parker, and Keynan Middleton can all continue to build on their impressive performances last year, and some veteran help was added in the form of Jim Johnson. That trade with the Braves was more about acquiring international bonus money for the Ohtani chase than it was specifically about adding Johnson given his rough 2017 season, though his advanced metrics indicate that his 5.56 ERA last year could’ve been due to some bad luck. The pen is also short on left-handers, as Jose Alvarez is the only southpaw reliever on Anaheim’s 40-man roster.
With potential needs in both the rotation and bullpen, it strikes me that the Angels could be one of the better fits for Alex Cobb or Greg Holland, who are both still available in free agency. Signing either qualifying offer-rejecting player would cost the Angels $500K in international pool money and their second-round draft pick (57th overall), but it could be a price the club is eventually willing to pay if Cobb or Holland were willing to accept a bargain-rate one-year contract. The rotation seems like more of a need than the bullpen given the lack of room for error with a six-man rotation, though L.A. didn’t dabble much in the free agent pitching market (aside from Ohtani’s singular situation) and is seemingly content to see what it has as the in-house arms get healthy. If not Cobb or more of a pure innings-eater, the Angels could look to add starting pitching if they’re in contention and have a need at the trade deadline.
Overview
With more losing seasons (three) than playoff appearances (one) in the Trout era, the Angels are undoubtedly eager to strike while the superstar center fielder is still in his prime. 2018 isn’t a must-win year since Trout and most of the other key pieces are locked up beyond the season, though Richards and Kinsler are both free agents next winter and longtime manager Mike Scioscia is also entering his final year under contract. There hasn’t been much talk about a Scioscia extension, and while it wouldn’t be surprising to see a new deal worked out for the game’s longest-tenured manager, it does create the possibility that the organization could embark in a fresh direction in 2019. In an era when the Red Sox, Nationals, and Yankees all parted ways with veteran managers despite making the playoffs, it seems like Scioscia may require a significant on-field improvement if he wants to keep his job.
Fortunately for Scioscia, he’ll have more to work with this season. Despite all the injuries and the below-average offense, the Halos flirted with wild card contention for a good chunk of 2017, and could potentially make a much stronger run at the postseason this year with Cozart and Kinsler in the fold, plus a full season of Upton. Anaheim has been hurt in the past when acquiring veterans just before they start to decline, though the Ohtani signing represents a much-needed influx of young star talent into the roster, given the farm system’s lack of prospect depth in recent years. Avoiding the injury bug remains a major concern, but the Angels made some bold moves to correct the flaws in last year’s roster.
What’s your take on the Angels’ winter? (Link for app users)
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
A for bringing back Upton and winning the Ohtani sweepstakes. The infielders they brought in are more of a B in my opinion.
The issue is that they didn’t address their rotation. It almost reminds me of the 2014-2016 Orioles. They actually have a decent position player stockpile, why not complete your team and fill the glaring holes?
The Angels signed a potential #2 starter. How is that not addressing their rotation?
He also is a potential back of the rotation SP. But at least the Angels added SP which was a huge need, unlike Seattle.
Even if Ohtani was a #5 starter, which I’ve never heard a scout project, the Angels still addressed their rotation.
Have you looked at the data.. Of course you haven’t. The Angels starters were 6th in the AL in ERA last year. The Ms were ninth. The Angels best pitcher last year is going to start the year at AAA. The Ms best pitcher has yet to throw 150 innings in a big league season.
The Angels got 130 innings from Heaney, Richards and Skaggs last year, The trio are likely to get well over 400 this year. Felix Hernandez is hurt and is pretty much done. Ramierez is hurt. So basically you add Marco Gonzales and Mike Leake to an already inferior staff and you think that compares to the added innings of Richards, Skaggs, Heaney and acquiring Ohtani. Oh brother.
Richards is less reliable than Felix and he’s not hurt. Kuma will probably throw nearly as many innings and he won’t be available until July. Paxton is better than anyone on the Angels staff and it isn’t even close.
Um…paxton hadn’t thrown even 130 innings until last year, which was his only good year so far by the way
They needed more than 1 pitcher
They have like 9 starters.
The Angels had a top 10 pitching staff by most metrics last season, so no, they aren’t like the Orioles, whose pitching was dreadful that year.
Zack Cozart signing is a good one for the Angels. Good defense. Will take away hits on the hot corner.
Many questions to what they’ve done can only rate a…C
Can Cozart stay healthy and how will he do at third?
Can the pitching staff stay healthy especially the starters?
Is Kinsler to old to really make a difference?
Is this lineup to RH?
Who’s gonna close?
Finally,when are they gonna decide Ohtani should only pitch?
Can Cozart stay healthy and how will he do at third?
Cozart is extremely good defensively and should easily be able to handle 3B.
Can the pitching staff stay healthy especially the starters?
Probably not
Is Kinsler too old to really make a difference?
At worst he’s a 2 WAR guy, he’s never going to hurt a team
Is this lineup too RH?
That is a myth, Trout could mash using the bat with his feet, doesnt matter what side is pitching to him.
Who’s gonna close?
Bedrosian
Finally,when are they gonna decide Ohtani should only pitch?
His 2018 Spring Training stats should never be viewed seriously like this, I mean like 2 weeks of play are you’re writing a 23 year old with previous success off forever? Yeah dont do that.
If anything kills their playoff chances, it’s gonna be their rotation and health. If they can stay healthy, and perform well, they’ll easily compete for a wildcard spot. If their rotation gets hit with injuries again, and Ohtani doesn’t perform well, their chances will be eliminated. It also won’t help if something happens to Cozart, who has been injury prone the last few years.
The Angels have a tremendous… TREMENDOUS amount of talent in their rotation If they stay healthy, they should be great. . I’m not saying they’ll stay healthy.
As for Cozart… Injury Prone? The last two seaons he has more than 500 PA. He has more than 500 PA in five out of the last 6 years. Now 500 ABs is not 600 ABs, but I wouldn’t call that injury prone.
Cozart has averaged 107 games a season for his career..that’s injury prone.
Never head the words “TRMENDOUS amount of talent” when describing Angels pitching..usually terms such as-maybe enough or hopefully enough.
*TREMENDOUS* *heard the words*
Don’t cook and post kids…
Again 5 out of the last 6 years 500+ PAs. When you say 107 games, you and including his rookie year where he played 11 games and the year he played 53 games. That is pretty disingenuous.
If you are saying you need more than 500 PAs, then OK. I’m not worried he’ll get 500 PA. He may not, but he typically does. Are you worried he’s not going to do something he’s done 5 out of the last 6 years? I’m not.
I think the Angels will not be hurt badly giving those 200 extra PA to Cowart, Valbuena, Thaiss and even Ohtani.
Ohtani, Richards and Heany have a tremendous amount of talent. When your swigging strike rate is 13.5 percent, that’s a tremendous amount of talent. That is elite. Everyone thinks Richards (12.7) and Ohtani have a tremendous amount of talent. Kershaw is 14.1., Strassberg is 13. Paxton is 12.5. I don’t think people have any idea how talented Heaney is. He’s tremendously talented. .
Cozart hasn’t played more than 125 games since 2015.
He had a knee surgery in 2015. Caused him no issues in 2017.
They shut him down in September 2016 with knee “soreness” He likely could have played the entire year, the Reds were not exactly in contention.
And he had a strain quad last year, likely could have played, but it was the Reds and he was playing short, not 3rd.
He hurt his knee… REALLY BADLY. He had surgery. I don’t consider that injury prone. It’s one injury. If you want to say the surgery he had June 11th 2015 is still lingering, I’d have to disagree. But it’s more accurate than calling him injury prone.
Given their team budget, these moves were terrific. I loved the Cozart signing but it’s interesting for if the Angels had waited, they likely could have had Cozart for cheaper or maybe would have signed Moustakas.
well then I’m glad they didn’t wait, moustakas can hit homers but doesn’t bring much else to the table.
There isn’t a team more destined for disappointment than the Angels. If healthy, they’re making the playoffs, but they never ever are healthy and their pitching coaches do nothing but ruin arms.
The biggest Angels question this year is: How is Mike Scioscia going to handle not being able to come out of the dugout and waste everyone’s time like 50 times a game?
One last thing, Jim Johnson is done as a MLB pitcher.
Lots of if’s on both sides. Kind of like “What if my 3B breaks his wrist? Then what?”
If their 3rd basement breaks his wristt they’re still a division favorite because they’re the much better LA team
Too soon?
Good point. Jim Johnson has been living on borrowed time in ATL for the past several years, so anything the Angels get out of him will be a bonus. I get the feeling he’ll be back with the Braves before the year is out.
whatever happens to JJ doesn’t matter. the Angels only took him for the international signing money. if he can actually pitch it’s just the cherry on top
I would like to say for the record, and completely expect to be trashed in the comments, but I think that Ohtani will end up being a bust. A productive major leaguer;a #3 starter at the most and a bottom of the lineup hitter with limited power. He does not deserve to be compared to Babe Ruth.
why do you think he’s a 3 starter though? He has great stuff and velocity.
Yeah, a #3 starter in the majors is hardly a bust. I don’t expect him to be used as a hitter more than 2 seasons, tops. But when/if he focuses on pitching alone, I believe he’ll be even better.
I’d be surprised if he’s a total bust, but the media downplayed the fact that he’s never faced ML pitching or ML hitters before, so the adjustment period could be substantial. Who could realistically expect this guy to set the world on fire right outta the gate?
I think the only reason he is being compared to The Bambino is because of the two way play. Nobody is electing him to the HOF yet so you can get your Yankee Panties out of a bunch.
What were you saying when he was still a free agent though? Because I know there’s a lot of people who have new opinions on him since he didn’t pick their team.
Dude, a #3 starter who can play DH and give someone a break every once in a while at the bottom of the lineup is NOT a bust.
F is for Failure
The Angels could have added Giancarlo Stanton and Cesar Hernandez. They were exactly what they needed and they could still have added Cozart and probably for a lot less money if they had waited.
Why didn’t the Angels use their farm to get Stanton and Hernandez? The Angels are in a soft rebuild; they are planning for a future without Mike Trout.
When the Angels fail to make the postseason this year they will announce that they need to forgo competing for the playoffs in favor of a of long term outlook and then the Mike Trout rumors will explode.
Upton has a much better contract than stanton and phillies were asking way too much for Cesar. One of the biggest criticisms of the angels has been their farm system, and they did a fantastic job of not only retaining it but improving it.
1. Angels don’t have the prospects for such trades.
2. This team does NOT need Stanton.
3. Soft rebuild? Really?
4. Why did I just spend time responding to this?
This happens in every thread here on the Angels….fans of the other 29 teams pour their wishful thinking onto the Angels. “Oh, the Angels are so bad, they *must* trade Trout and rebuild…”
How would they’ve gotten both Hernandez and Stanton? They don’t have the prospects to do so.
“They don’t have the prospects to do so.”
Yeah they did. You need to update yourself on the Angels farm system. They have three very good outfield prospects.
The Marlins got nothing for Stanton and they sent the Yankees money.
First of all Stanton might have used his NTC to decline the Angels like he did for the Cards and Giants. Second the Marlins completed what they set out to do,rid themselves of that salary.
They Havnt sent the Yankees money yet! Stanton hasn’t decided if he’s gonna opt out or not!
Yea, he only said he wouldn’t waive his clause if the team was any of The Championship Series teams.
They could have easily got Stanton. The Angels weren’t one of the 4 teams on Stanton’s trade list. So it’s moot. A tall player like Stanton will not age well. Angels shouldn’t want any part of that 10 year deal.
A tall player won’t age well? LoL! Heard it all now!
Well look at the really tall hitters over history. Nearly all of them were essentially finished as we know them at 35. Long arms equal long swing. Long swing gets even longer when the bat speed starts to go. Further compounded if the player adds bulk they don’t need, as all of us tend to do after 30. All of them require the DH, even if they were previously elite defensive players. There are exceptions as a hitter, notably Dave Winfield, but it’s rare. Compact players, like Trout, are more apt to have long careers as a good hitter.
Please provide some real expert analysis on your opinions. Don’t be that guy!!!
Look up the number of tall hitters ( over 6’3 ) who were still raking in their late 30’s. Nearly all them were players shorter and more compact than that.
what farm? not like they could have given up the Kinsler prospects for Stanton lololol.
Their outfield is full, and they just got out of Hamilton’s bad contract and are in the middle of Pujols. Why would they immediately add another one right back into the payroll, while having to give up Jones or Adell?
Hernandez would’ve made a lot of sense though, but he’s not that much better than Kinsler, who costed a lot less in prospects.
I understand why people wanted a starting pitcher or two signed, but the free agents this year were either too expensive to fit in the budget (Darvish, Arrieta), not any better than what the team has (the entire second tier), or some combination of both (Cobb).
But the “if” in “if the pitchers stay healthy” has to be bigger for the Angels than anyone else.
Best case scenario for this club is for all their SPs to not only remain healthy all year but to realize their potential. The 6 man rotation cuts down on the wear and tear for a group that’s not proven durable by any stretch. I don’t know if Cobb is a viable option given his health issues. If the Angels want to invest in a depth piece who can eat some innings, Scott Feldman is still available.
their bench is much weaker than last year. Starting pitching is all hopes on being healthy. Bullpen is weaker. Infield defense is much better but hitting is a little weaker. Outfield is about the same but lost back ups. Angel fans better cross their fingers and hope for the best because the team looks like much of the last couple of years.
Hitting is weaker? Outfield is about the same? How would you justify those assessments?
How is their outfield any better? They just switched out 4th outfielders. Kinsler did not hit very well at all. Cozart had only 1 good year and that was last year other times he was just average with the bat and injury prone. Escobar had a very productive bat for the angels just couldn’t play defense. You will be very disappointed this season unless everything goes right and they have no injuries which is unlikely..
i think he was just looking for reasons to knock the angels. a full season of upton, trout, cozart, kinsler and hopefully ohtani will do the exact opposite of hurt their playoff chances
the bench has actually improved; do you really think carlos perez is better than rene rivera? and though maybin and revere are better defenders, neither has ever really hit, and both young’s should perform better than them.
How did the bench improve? Young is a platoon OF. He can only hit lefties. That is the problem with the whole team throw right handed starter and you make them below average. They are a team full of right handed bats.
I find it interesting that this report says that the only offense in the Angels came from Mike Trout. Apparently driving in over a 100 RBI by Pujols, more than the Trout’s 72 RBI, does not count. The last I heard you have to score runs to win games!!!
Albert Pujols was, by far, the worst player in baseball last season (that qualified for the batting title). RBIs are a meaningless stat. It’s easy to get 100 RBIs when Mike freaking Trout is on base in front of you 40+ % of the time. Pujols was the slowest player in baseball last season, by a huge margin, and he can no longer play defense at all. He got on base less than 30% of the time, which is absolutely terrible for a cleanup hitter. He was truly awful last season.
I love the RBIs/BA/pitcher’s wins/etc. is a “meaningless stat. “
We are all aware that they don’t go deep enough to tell a more complete story but by definition of the word they are not “meaningless.” I would gladly take the league leader in each of those 3 categories on my team anytime.
There are some “meaningless” stats that are alright. BA is nice to have a good one, but you can still be good while hitting .240 or bad while hitting .290.
But wins are awful. They are a team stat, not an individual one. It’s not fair to judge a guy off his record because he played on bad teams.
But would you not like 1 of your 5 or 6 starters to lead the league in wins?
Overthinking this stuff doesn’t make anyone any smarter.
Wins were not “meaningless” when the Dodgers had Koufax and an offense that relied on the stolen base.
Guys who have led the league in RBIs, since 2000: Bret Boone. Nelson Cruz. Preston Wilson. Mark Teixeira. Chase Headley. Vinny Castilla.
I don’t think you want Preston Wilson or Vinny Castilla on your team “anytime”
Pujols can still hit, he just needs an exemption by MLB to allow him to use a Segue for running the bases.
that’s very skewed. he may have had the worst value in the league, but no way you can say a guy who drove in over 100 runs is the worst player in the league. of course he’s not the Pujols we wanted him to be when we signed him but it’s ridiculous to say he’s the worst because one advanced stat says so.
By either version of WAR, Pujols was the worst player in baseball. Those RBIs were rendered moot by the insane amount of GIDP and his complete inability to get on base. He also can no longer run anymore, at all, nor play defense.
With Pujols at 1B , they will not be the best defensive infield . I think the Giants or Astros are better on D. Plus it’s debatable if they have the best OF also. The Cards might be right up there as well !
Sabrematricians are working super hard on trying to find a stat that makes sense of RBIs in a way that we can understand value for these guys that are only good with men on base. Pujols hits below .200 when there’s no one on, and it jumps to like .290 with someone on base. There’s definitely value to a guy that will get hits when people are on base.
When it comes to RBIs, I typically look to slugging pct. But with Pujols running ability that doesn’t allow him to get doubles and triples, then slugging is not a fair stat either.
I think what you have to do for Pujols s look at the percentage of times he drives in runners that are at first base, second base and third with less than two outs. I haven’t.. But I’d bet you a steak dinner it’s not close to the worst in the league. I don’t think you can simply judge Pujols the way you would another hitter.
Fair, pretty much every other hitter you’d judge based on fielding, running or ability to get on base. But I guess Pujols gets a pass because? I mean he was the best player in baseball for a decade. But it’s okay to acknowledge that he is a massive liability now.
I didn’t say he gets a pass. Do you find it necessary to create a strawman then argue against that?
I’m saying It’s difficult to measure ONE aspect of Pujols game, and that’s his RBI value. I typically look at slugging pct and not RBIs, but with Pujols that doesn’t really work.
Puljos makes a tremendous number of outs, he doesn’t get on base, and he hasn’t played defense in a couple of years.. He’s been a really bad player. But until you accurately add his ability to move runners, which is usually determined by slugging pct, you can’t get a FULL picture. I think he’s a bad player, I think he might be the worst in the game, but I don’t think it’s as big of a slam dunk as you think it is.
I am going to just say that if you or I were batting behind Mike Trout, we might be able to drive in 70 runs a year. And I haven’t played baseball since high school. If Billy Hamilton was batting cleanup in LA he would very easily drive in 100 runs. RBI aren’t a skill.
Billy Hamilton can’t hit. He may be the worst hitter in baseball.
Concerning RBIs, You don’t need the hyperbole. RBIs are extremely overrated, but it’s not a worthless stat. I’d have to break down Pujols Run Expectancy with men on base and compare that to other players. He’s one of the few people in baseball who can drive in a player from first base and get held to a single. With men on base, infield singles are not the same as gap singles. Billy Hamilton, for example, has a difficult time scoring people from second base on singles.
RBIs measures that difference. It’s an overvalued stat but it’s not a worthless stat.
Exactly
He is healthy this year. As to RBI not being important then get rid of those who drive in runners and baseball will become a Boring Game. Keep swallowing that Sabermatric Garbage that Batting Average and RBI are not important. Pujols was the second best Clutch Hitter in the Big Leagues despite his injuries.
Pujols wasn’t even close to the 2nd best clutch hitter in baseball last year.
Then add that garbage contract to his piss poor play…. I concur with you.
The Angels had the best off-season of any team. Hands down and it’s not even close.
The surplus value of Ohtani is hard to beat. Assuming he performs at a decent level he will represent one of the most valuable players in the game. Checking prospect reports, he clocks in at first in most rankings. Whoever won the Ohtani sweepstakes would have won the offseason on that move alone.
Kinsler and Cozart both have incredibly high floors given their defense. Injuries are the only thing to worry about with those two. They are 2 fWAR players with just their gloves. Any offensive production is a just a bonus.
Justin Upton extended is huge. Much needed big bat in the lineup.
The team has 8 starters now (including Ohtani) that can pitch in the majors. Many do have question marks thanks to injuries, but 8 decent starters is enviable for most organizations. Prior to injuries, Skaggs and Heaney were two very shiny prospects. Their ceiling is pretty high (#2 starter talent). Shoemaker is a year removed from nearly 4 fWAR season. When your #8 starter runs an ERA in the mid 3’s last year you are doing OK. They lack that true #1 starter (though Richards and Ohtani are certainly capable of getting there) but they have enviable depth.
The biggest issues are the bullpen and 1st base/DH. Not much you can do about the latter. Pujols is here whether you like it or not. The best the Angels can hope for is that Albert performs so poorly that he walks away from baseball and settles on his remaining contract. Other than that, his $30M/year is a sunk cost with no return. The bullpen is the one area that the team overperformed last year. It will be hard to replicate Petit, Hernandez, and Norris. There are arms but I expect some major regression.
Filling the holes at 2B and 3B at reasonable cost. A. A+ if it’s Dee Gordon. Ohtani signing A+ if he’s allowed to develop in the minors for a year or two like the other top prospects. F potential if they rush him now. Bullpen F. Rotation B+ potential.
Injuries are the biggest X factor and most of the starters should be on some type of reasonable innings limits. How much gas is left for a potential October is probably limited. 75-90 win team dependant on health. They don’t have the reinforcements to overcome key injuries. B- from me.
Bridwell deserves more credit. hm He went 10-3 with a 3.64 era. Not bad for a guy who got traded for nothing.
Even I don’t believe in Bridwell.
His FIP is a little scary and he hardly strikes anyone out. But I do hope he can continue to be effective
If their 3rd basement breaks his wristt they’re still a division favorite because they’re the much better LA team
As long as they can keep Arte from overpaying on free agents, the Angels should stay out of the cellar. Maybe.
Angels are similar to the Giants or the Padres a few years ago. Patchwork efforts never work and certainly won’t work here.
I just don’t understand what makes the Angels THAT MUCH better than the Mariners. Both teams have some sort of rotation weakness, whether it be health or otherwise, and the mariners bullpen is better IMO. And the offenses nearly matchup, but I think the Angels have a slight upgrade with that.
Well the angels have pitching depth. And decent pitching depth. Injuries are a problem of course. M’s have 4 actual starters and Felix is nothing but a 3-4 now
Who exactly are those four actual starters that I’m missing. I like Paxton, But he has 30 Big League wins and has never started 25 games in a single year.
Who #2 Mike Leake? Really? He’s an innings eater, and with the rest of that staff, they’ll need him to eat lots and lots of innings. He’s 30 years old with a lifetime ERA of 4.12 . A nice guy to have as a #5, but he’s their number two with no upside.
Please, I’m begging….pitcher wins just don’t mean anything anymore. We can stop with all that nonsense, right?
Pitching wins mean don’t mean anything? Bill James would and does disagree with you. For the most part, pitching wins over the course of a season don’t mean too much, but pitching wins over the course of a career does. So says Bill James.
James Paxton for instance. When you are 29 years and a half years old and you have 30 big league wins, there is a problem. It’s better measured in his never having 25 starts and only once having more than 20 starts, but it’s a problem.
Then bring up his starts. Bill james, in the Politics of Glory, rails for paragraphs about pitcher wins not being indicative of anything, so I guess he’s changed his tune lately, although he has firmly entered the “grumpy old man” phase of his life these days in all sorts of ways. Pitchers have control over a very few outcomes in a game; strikeouts and walks and homers allowed. They can’t control how many innings they pitch, generally, nor what their teammates do at the plate.
Pitching wins over the course of a career may have been relevant up until the 1980s or 1990s, but that’s not the way baseball is played anymore. It’s time to acknowledge it; as much as some people might dislike it, bullpenning and tandem starters are more effective ways to win baseball games and keep pitchers healthy. There will almost certainly never be another 300-game winner again, and I think in the next decade or so we won’t see a 20-game winner again either. That doesn’t mean the pitchers are worse; it just means the game has changed. We also don’t see anyone steal 100 bases in a season anymore, because that’s not how the game is played now. We can rail against it; a lot of people prefer an older style of baseball, and that’s a preference, but Houston and the Cubs won championships playing a different kind of baseball. Times change.
You’re obviously a smart baseball fan, so it’s fun to converse with you.
Pitchers absolutely have control about the type of contact against them. McCracken had a great theory that has been proven wrong by stat cast.
I imagine your disagreement with me is about Paxton. Paxton, like Richards, like Heaney has tremendous talent. Those are the only AL West pitchers that have a swinging strike rate above 12.5., But going into 2018 they all have the same problem.
I don’t feel any differently about Paxton as I do about Richards, but the fact they can’t stay on the mound is a problem.
Angels have a significantly better OF, 3 Gold Glove level players in the IF (and one at C), and 8 MLB level SPs. Mariners just don’t.
But they are better. The Angels should be a lock for 2nd in the AL West. They’ll hit and they have excellent defense. Playoff spot indicative on rotation health and bullpen performance.
“I just don’t understand what makes the Angels THAT MUCH better than the Mariners.”
The Angels have finished better in the standings 13 out of the last 14 years.. So I’ll start there.
Scioscia will find a way to run them into the ground.
No doubt Bubba!
These Angel fans are all in a panic over this Ohtani….. Relax Halo fan. With or without Ohtani, this team is going nowhere.
I gave them a B.
Obviously getting Ohtani was nice, but he’s already lost some prospect shine. Kinsler an Cozart was solid acquisitions also. They could still use 1 more SP in my opinion, no way their current group is healthy and production through an entire season. At least a bounce back veteran should’ve been added for 1M-ish. They also need bullpen help pretty bad.
A few late off season budget signings would’ve been nice. They should’ve jumped on Linecum and another very affordable potential closer. Mark Reynolds is a guy still on the market that could make them better. Surely he’s better than Valbuena, Carter, and Pujols.
Last year the Angels starters were 6th in ERA and the Angels best pitcher last year will start the year at AAA. People need to wrap their head around that. . If healthy, and the health of starting pitching is always a question, this staff has a chance to be one of the best staffs in the league. Not to the level of the Astros or Indians, but they could easily lead the next level.
The key to this team is Richards. He’s the difference of a team that easily makes the playoffs vs a team that struggles to make the playoffs.
Yep. Lots of people on this site constantly state that the Angels don’t have any pitching, but it’s due to not having any major names. They were one of the best staffs in baseball last year, and very little has changed. They lost Petit, but they’re getting Richards, Heaney, Ramirez, and Tropeano back along with the other 5 MLB level starters they had for most of last year, and a few of them have experience in the pen. The pitching, at the very least, will not be bad. It may not even be good, but it won’t be bad.
The Astros had a terrible bullpen, FYI.