The Los Angeles Angels have been one of the more active teams in free agency. With two of their division rivals making the playoffs last season, the Angels are trying to keep up in the AL West. The team is at a crossroads going into next season. They have had seven straight losing seasons; one superstar is entering his 30s dealing with injuries in the last two seasons. And another superstar is a scheduled free agent after the 2023 season. In short, the 2023 season is critical for the Halos.
From Heaven to Hell
The Angels’ 2022 season initially started with great promise. They were 27-17 with both Memorial Day weekend and the start of June approaching. Unfortunately for them, things soon came crashing down spectacularly. The Angels went through a 13-game losing streak into June, dropping them to 27-31. They never managed to get back to .500, falling as far as 21 games under.500 at one point in the season. They ultimately finished 73-89, a very distant 33 games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West.
The Angels went through its fair share of turnover during the season. First, manager Joe Maddon was fired during the club’s June losing streak and replaced by Phil Nevin. Then at the trade deadline, they were one of the more active sellers on the market. Noah Syndergaard, Brandon Marsh, and Raisel Iglesias were all moved to contenders, Syndergaard and Marsh both going to Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Iglesias was sent to the Atlanta Braves.
It was the seventh straight losing season for the Angels, and the eighth straight year with no postseason baseball in Anaheim. After being one of the elite teams in the 2000s, the Angels have only made the playoffs once since 2010, being swept in the ALDS by Kansas City in 2014.
The Stars of the Los Angeles Angels
The Angels still boast premier talent, but they are both in different positions with the team. Mike Trout has been the face of the Angels franchise since his rookie season in 2012, as he has won three MVP awards with the club. And as such, he has been paid as a franchise player, to the tune of a 12-year, $426.5 million contract in 2019. Unfortunately, Trout has not been able to stay on the field as often in the last two years. In 2021, he only played 36 games due to a calf injury. In 2022, Trout was limited to 119 games because of a rare back condition that could be chronic. He has proven to still be very productive when healthy, but health is starting to be a factor.
Shohei Ohtani has taken off in his last two years. The two-way star won his first MVP award in 2021, hitting 46 home runs and driving in 100 runs while going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 130.1 innings. Last season, Ohtani came in second behind New York’s Aaron Judge in MVP voting. Taking on more workload as a pitcher, he won 15 decisions, averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings, and produced a 172 ERA+ in 28 starts. At the plate, he hit .272/.356/.519 with 34 home runs and 95 RBIs. However, his free agency is on the horizon, and there is speculation that his next contract could be historic. One could bet that nearly every team in the majors will be inquiring about Ohtani.
The State of the Halos
The Angels have been busy in the offseason so far. One of the first moves of the offseason was signing pitcher Tyler Anderson to a three-year deal after a career year with the crosstown Dodgers. They then traded for Gio Urshela from Minnesota and signed Brandon Drury to help shore up their infield production offensively. The Halos also traded for outfielder Hunter Renfroe, presumably to fill a hole left by Brandon Marsh’s absence.
As for the in-house players, Anthony Rendon has not played to the level of his seven-year, $245 million contract he signed in 2020. However, it is mainly due to injuries, as he has only played 105 of 324 games for the Angels in the last two years. David Fletcher was missed last season due to his own struggles with injury, as the middle infield was a position of weakness for the club in 2022. Taylor Ward was a bright spot, hitting .281/.360/.473 with 23 home runs and 65 RBIs in his first year as an everyday player. And after an All-Star year in 2021, Jared Walsh could not replicate his production last year.
The Angels are pushing their chips on the table this season because they have to. Mike Trout is entering his age-31 season having made the playoffs once in his career. Shohei Ohtani has not sniffed playoff baseball in his MLB career yet. We have seen this franchise try to compete for years now to no avail. But if there was ever a time to break the streak of bad fortune, it has to be the 2023 season. It may be a crowded division between Houston, Seattle, and the improving Texas Rangers. But the Los Angeles Angels may not have much time left with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani together.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
