2014 was a year this franchise needed. Jerry Dipoto had come in as GM in late 2011 and made a lot of flashy offseason moves right away. These moves cost a lot of paper, and also made a ton of sense on paper. But on the field, we’d yet to see any indication that they were wise investments for the present or the future. The payroll was inflating at an alarming rate and the team hadn’t sniffed the playoffs in five years. But then for one year, we saw that it could work. For one year, the Angels were the best team in baseball. Much of it fell apart the next year, of course, but for one glorious season everyone got to bask in the glory of regular-season dominance. Is 2016 the sort of year we can see that again? We can’t answer that just yet, but we can look at some similarities between the current team and the 2014 squad.
Free Agency
2014 – Angels didn’t spend any money really. Their biggest free agent acquisition was reliever Joe Smith, who helped solidify the bullpen. There were a lot of smaller moves for role players that were shuffled on and off the roster, but as far as the free agent market goes, Dipoto was surprisingly quiet.
2016 – Angels didn’t spend much on free agency. So far, the biggest acquisitions are Geovany Soto and Daniel Nava. They did make some smaller fringe moves like Craig Gentry, Rafael Ortega, and Cliff Pennington, but nothing that really increased payroll.
Trade Market
2014 – Angels made two major trades. The first trade brought in 3B David Freese and RHP Fernando Salas, in exchange for outfielders Peter Bourjos and Randal Grichuk. The Angels sacrificed future assets in Bourjos and Grichuk in exchange for current assets Freese and Salas. This one came back to bite the Angels a bit later on, but for just 2014 it was a good deal. In the second, they traded slugger Mark Trumbo and received LHPs Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago in return. This opened up an eventual spot for C.J. Cron, but mostly stabilized a rotation with practically no young talent on the way.
2016 – Angels made two major trades. The first, and most notable, trade brought in defensive wizard Andrelton Simmons in return for fan favorite Erick Aybar and top prospects Sean Newcomb and Chris Ellis. While Simmons won’t be helping the Angels out offensively like they need, he does come in with five controllable years on his contract and offers a great deal of value outside of the batter’s box. In the second, the Angels traded young fire-baller Trevor Gott and received 3B Yunel Escobar in return. This opened up a hole in the 7th inning for which there’s no immediate successor—potentially four or five guys could take on the role—and filled a hole at third base, where the Angels had prospects but no sure thing. It also filled a need in the lineup for a leadoff hitter, a position with which Escobar is familiar.
Offense
2014 – Angels offense was expected to be a weak spot with Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols’ health in question, the unproven Kole Calhoun and C.J. Cron taking up at-bats (after Ibanez was cut), and Erick Aybar’s .301 OBP in the middle and bottom portion of the lineup. The only certainties seemed to be that Mike Trout would do amazing things and Howie Kendrick would do good things.
2016 – Angels offense is expected to be a weak spot with Pujols health in question, the light hitting Giavotella and Simmons hitting in the bottom of the lineup, and with Cron and Daniel Nava’s ability to produce at the front and middle of the lineup still a major question. The only certainties the Angels have are that Mike Trout is destined to keep doing amazing things, while Kole Calhoun and Yunel Escobar will be adequate-to-solid.
Starting Pitching
2014 – There were major question marks in the rotation as Angels had no idea what they could expect from Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, or Hector Santiago. The year before Richards had two very different halves, Santiago hadn’t done enough to stick in the rotation, and Skaggs had watched his velocity trend downward all season. C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver were starting to show signs of wear, and the Angels had no rotation depth beyond career minor league Matt Shoemaker, who was seen as a swingman at best.
2016 – Major question marks continue to surround the Angels as they have no idea what they can expect from Tyler Skaggs coming off TJ surgery, Hector Santiago coming off an horrible second half, or Matt Shoemaker coming off a year where he struggled with command. Both C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver are expected to spend some serious time on the DL due to their age and generally not being able to throw baseballs any more. Garrett Richards and Andrew Heaney are expected to be bright spots, but questions surround them as well.
Defense
2014 – Angels were expected to have a solid defense highlighted by Kendrick, Aybar, and Trout up the middle, with former Gold Glove winner Albert Pujols at first and Kole Calhoun in the right-side corners. There were question marks at catcher, third base, and left field, though.
2016 – Angels are expected to have a very good defensive unit with Mike Trout and Andrelton Simmons playing up the middle. Kole Calhoun is coming off a Gold Glove season, Pujols should be back at first base at some point, and the Angels have two very good defensive catchers in Carlos Perez and Geovany Soto. Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry should be fine in left. There are question marks at third base and second base, though.
Previous Years
2014 – Angels were coming off a disappointing 78-84 season, with no real reason to believe they’d be significantly better. Sure, a lot went wrong in 2013, but who’s to say the same wouldn’t happen in 2014? Most experts pegged the Angels to win around 83 or 84 games, and the more optimistic blogs (such as the one you’re reading) wouldn’t dare predict anything beyond a potential 87-89 win season. The Rangers were the darlings of the AL West, having twice made it to the World Series recently. The A’s pitching staff was much too deep to overcome, and even the most optimistic “experts” pegged the Angels for nothing more than a potential second wild-card birth.
2016 – The Angels are coming of a disappointing 85-77 season, one where they really should’ve won the AL West and if not, they really should’ve won the first wild card spot. But a second half tailspin robbed them of a potential playoff birth, as did a final game loss to the rival Texas Rangers. The Angels had big opportunities to upgrade this offseason, but instead chose not to spend any money. While they’ve managed to fill many roster holes, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Some projections have the angels pegged to be a 78-win team, while traditionally more accurate ones have the Angels slotted in around 82-84 wins. Even the most fan-friendly websites won’t predict a 90-win season from this team, and it’s hard to blame them. The Rangers are coming off a surprise division title and look like they’re only going to get better this season. The Houston Astros are the division darlings right now because of their wealth of young talent, most of whom were acquired in via the draft after years of placing dead-last by purposefully tanking seasons. If the Angels are lucky, a birth as the second wild card could be in the works.
While there are similarities here and there, we of course can’t say for sure that the 2016 Angels will end up going on a 98-win binge like they did in 2014. But it just goes to show that, sometimes, mediocre teams can have amazing seasons and good teams can have bad seasons. The Angels look like a decent team headed into 2016, and if recent history is any indication, they may end up surprising a few people. Heading into 2014, no one would’ve believed that Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker would be two of the best starting pitchers in baseball. So who knows, maybe this is the year players like C.J. Cron or Nick Tropeano break out? We’ll just have to wait and see.
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