The Angels have been one of the more active teams this winter and still have some more moves planned. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that they are looking for upgrades at shortstop. However, he adds that the club’s immediate focus is a back-end reliever.
The club’s interest in shortstop upgrades is hardly surprising, as they’ve been looking for solutions at the position for a while now. Andrelton Simmons held down the spot from 2016 to 2020, largely providing offense near league average alongside his customary excellent defense. After Simmons reached free agency, the club tried José Iglesias at the position in 2021, which didn’t work out.
Going into 2022, they tried some more glove-first options by adding Tyler Wade and Andrew Velazquez to join David Fletcher as players in the mix. Fletcher missed most of the year with injuries, leading to Velazquez getting 100 starts at the position this year. His glovework was rated well, but he struggled at the plate, hitting just .196/.236/.304 for a wRC+ of 50. Even if Fletcher were healthy, it’s not guaranteed he would have been much better since he’s been in the league five years now with his only above-average season at the plate coming in the shortened 2020 campaign. Luis Rengifo had a nice year on offense in 2022 but is probably overmatched as an everyday shortstop in the field, better suited to play second base or a utility role.
Though it’s logical that the club would look for upgrades, they may not be a contender for the top free agents. This year’s crop of free agents features a group called the “big four” at the top of the market: Trea Turner, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson. However, Rosenthal reports that they are more likely to join more obvious contenders and that the Angels are wary of the soaring prices. Turner reportedly signed with the Phillies today for $300MM over 11 years. If the Angels are looking for options outside of the that group, the free agent market features Elvis Andrus and their old friend Iglesias, while players potentially available in trade include Amed Rosario and Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Turning to the club’s bullpen, that’s another area where it’s sensible for them to look for upgrades. Angels’ relievers collectively posted a 3.97 ERA last year, placing them 18th out of the 30 clubs in the league. They also traded Raisel Iglesias to the Braves at the deadline, leaving them without a surefire lockdown closer. Rosenthal didn’t mention any specific targets, but Kenley Jansen is one of the few proven closers available in free agency. Since the Braves have Iglesias under contract for another three years and are getting near the luxury tax line, it’s possibly he will have greater employment opportunities elsewhere. It would make for a fitting endnote to the Iglesias trade if the Angels replaced him by grabbing Atlanta’s closer, but there are other options. Some of the other relievers who are available in free agency include Carlos Estévez, Adam Ottavino, Matt Moore and many more.
2023 figures to be a pivotal season for the franchise, as the team is reportedly for sale and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is entering his final season before free agency. The club has been busy so far this winter, signing Tyler Anderson to upgrade their rotation while adding Gio Urshela to the infield and Hunter Renfroe to the outfield. The middle infield and bullpen stand out as the most obvious areas to continue upgrading, and it seems that’s exactly where the club is looking to make their next moves.
But you have Squid!
IKF and Wandy for Ohtani!
That’s not fair, Yankees at least need to throw in Donaldson to make them even consider. (Angels eat the rest of his contract)
Dude, is it me or does Bryan Reynolds look like IKF all grown up?
They are the same person like Hanna Montana and Mylie Cyrus.
If Arte wasn’t selling the team I would have put Correa to Anaheim as likely.
Don’t be stupid like Dumbrowski and overpay.
Rosario would be a godsend here.
Taylor Rogers is a guy I’d take a flier on. He was bad for a month in a hitter’s park.
Meanwhile the AA bullpen should start making its mark at the MLB level this summer.
I also really like Swanson for the Halos out of the FAs. Seems like the best bet for the money. Although, with the way things have been going he could go for 10/$200M.
I’d love Swanson but with the team for sale I can’t see anything that big happening.
Swanson to the Angles? No matter where he goes, he still wants to win, the Angles ain’t it…
Curly Was The Dumb Poster
Thank you Curly, that was acute comment
I don’t know Fletcher fan, I thought his take was obtuse.
Curly – I love comments like this. If the Angels picked up Swanson, Rodon, deGrom, Verlander, et al, you would still say “the Angels ain’t gonna win.”
Teams get better by adding good players. At some point, the Angels will have added the players necessary to win. I think they are close…and closer if they add a meaningful short stop and a closer.
The wild card for the Angels’ bullpen is a potentially healthy Chris Rodriguez. When healthy he has shown a nasty power sinker and sharp breaking ball, both which miss a lot of bats.
Iglesias played a horrible SS his one year. The Angels need a SS who has excellent range and a decent bat. I think that player would have to come via trade. If St Louis signs one of the big FA SS then maybe a trade for Edman would be a possibility.
LAA arguably, have the 2 best players in BB. You barely hit .500… If anyone is a dumb poster it’s you Bart
Trout27, I agree that CRod returning made improving less of a necessity – especially with Torres and Ben Joyce doing so well at AA last year and possibly joining the club at some point this year. But I did like the Esteves signing.
Is Rosario really that available? Seems like he would cost a lot in prospects, then would need a big contract soon, anyway.
He’s on his last year of club control and will make about $9.5 million.
Cleveland has in house replacements seemingly ready.
I’d say he’s 50/50 getting trading. Guardians fans?
HalosHeavenJJ;
Very slim chance he’s traded.
At this point Cleveland is unbalanced with too many LH hitters. Rosairo has the best record against LH pitchers. I doubt they
trade him unless either: 1) they find a strong RH hitter, or 2) are
out of the race approaching the trading deadline.
The do have a record of letting some of their players hit free agency
if they’re in contention. It appears that they should be in contention in 2023. Of course, that can change.
Ehhh, he could be traded I guess but I don’t really believe he will. Gabe Arias would be the replacement and he was often injured and didn’t have a good year last year. Imagine they’d be looking for a MLB player in return and that’s not an easy trade for a non superstar with only one year of control left on a team that’s trying to contend.
Dont count them out on Correa, but most likely Rosario ends up a halo.
Angels – what do u offer for TA#7 and Liam Hendriks?
Interesting. Not sure what we could give that makes sense for Chicago.
Id trade TA for Soto and Moniak
Sox won’t resign TA in 24 so a swap of future FA’s makes sense. TA and Hendricks for Ohtani for one year does make sense.
They can have Paul DeJong for a Shohei Ohtani jersey.
Trea Turner and Edwin Diaz
can’t imagine Ottavino to the Halos after he called Ohtani a b****
Well these are the 2 biggest needs I have been thinking. I wonder what kind of $ they can spend with the impending Ohtani extension or trade. I’d rather they spend in the middle class and not top FAs. But still…the sale needs to happen soon. Need a new identity and direction. Make it happen Arte!
Why is there no mention of Livan Soto? I know it was a small sample but Dude hit .400, bats lefty, and plays good D. If they’re unable to land Rosario or one of the top SS, I’d prefer him over Iglesias, IDK or Andrus. He’s cheap and they could spend the $ on other needs
Soto put up much better numbers at the MLB level than he did in AA.
I enjoyed every minute of it, but it’s probably not something he can continue.
he’s never played in AAA and needs to head there.
Developing players at the PCL level is a recipe for disaster. Neto should stay at AA.
I completely agree.
The AAA ballpark sitting at 5000+ feet elevation and the home park at sea level makes no sense, particularly for pitchers.
I was really hoping to move affiliates when the minor league carousel was in effect a few years ago.
I wouldn’t necessarily say he needs to be in Salt Lake given how the Angels let their good prospects skip AAA due to the high elevation of their PCL division not being representative of a typical MLB environment. Just look at last year’s roster, the only potentially legit position prospect that spent time in Salt Lake was Stefanic, and he’s got a similar profile to Soto except he bats righty and is 4 years older.
Thought it is true Soto is in a weird position where AA might be beneath him (he had a 121 wRC+ from 7/1 to the time of his promotion) but AAA might mess with his pitch tracking
have to give Soto another look after his performance last season, and I thought Rengifo had a nice season too
Rengifo looked really good and is only 26. He might be entering his prime.
Time to trade him as his value will never be higher. His defense at SS is below average and likely no more than a replacement value hitter.
Rengifo never looks really good. Rengifo had one good month last year and 4 months with OBP between 279 and 236.
One month he hit well, but he’s such a loud player he never looks good.
My great uncle has been looking for a good backend reliever for years
Unless Perry plans on making a significant trade to go with these pedestrian final additions at SS and relief pitcher, the Halos will be a distant 3rd place team in their division and Shohei Ohtani will be a Dodger or Yankee in a year. Do better Perry! Pony up Arte!
ddub44;
Please keep in mind that player transactions do not end on opening day.
The Angels are sooo bad
I don’t know. José Iglesias didn’t throw up Swanson, Turner, or Xander numbers but he did fine for what his capabilities were. I think he met the Angels expectations.
Angels should use Adell as a centerpiece in a deal for Tatis
Other than the top remaining 3, the best available seems to be José Iglesias.