Angels Finally Make Moves During Offseason
By Colin Dixon December 22nd, 2018
Picture Via @Angels Twitter
After wasting another year with the best player in baseball on the roster the Los Angeles Angels have made some moves to hopefully make a playoff push. The Angels went 80-82 last year with an injury flooded season and need to act fast if they are going to keep Mike Trout on their roster after 2020.
Trout will become a free agent after the 2020 season and the Angels have only taken him to the playoffs once and they did not win a game. If the Angels are going to keep Trout on their roster they need success and they need it soon.
Last years Coach Mike Scioscia stepped down and now Brad Ausmus has taken over for the Halos and he has a ton of holes he will have to fill before the season begins.
Last year the Angels patched up their pitching rotation by adding Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani but after just one year in the majors, Ohtani had to get Tommy John Surgery. Angels General Manager Billy Eppler was tasked with finding more arms to add to a very injury prone pitching staff.
All offseason the Angels have been silent and have made little to no moves at all. But, in this last week, the Angels decided to sign Pitcher Matt Harvey and Pitcher Trevor Cahill. Both pitchers are past their primes and both signed one-year deals.
Just a couple of years ago Matt Harvey was in the consideration as the best pitcher in all of the MLB until his production completely fell off. Last year after starting the year being designated for assignment by the Mets to be later picked up by the Reds, Harvey went 7-9 with a 4.94 ERA.
Harvey still has mediocre arm talent and will be an innings eater for the Angels if he stays healthy. The Angels still believe Harvey has a lot more left in the tank and will hope he can be a huge part in their rotation.
Joining Harvey is longtime veteran Trevor Cahill who rejuvenated his career last year with the Oakland Athletics. Cahill started his career with the Oakland A's and then found his way all around the league being a starting and a relief pitcher until he found himself back with Oakland in 2018.
Last year in Oakland, Cahill went 7-4 with a 3.76 ERA and he was a major part in the A's successful 2018 season. The Angels are hoping he can bring a major veteran presence to the very young Angels pitching staff.
The other "addition" to the Angels pitching staff this offseason was Pitcher Parker Bridwell. Bridwell was magnificent for the Angels in 2017 but in 2018 had elbow issues and was not as dominant in his short season that ended early because of the elbow issues.
In November Bridwell was placed on waivers by the Angels and he was picked up by the Yankees. With various additions to the Yankee pitching staff, Bridwell was not needed so the Yankees put Bridwell back on waivers and the Angels decided to bring him back. When healthy Bridwell will add a consistent arm to a pitching staff that lacks consistency.
The Pitching Rotation will most likely be Tyler Skaggs, Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, Matt Harvey, and Andrew Heaney. If the Angels pitching staff can stay healthy the Angels will be a sleeper team to look out for. They have one of the best offensive teams in the game (in my opinion) but they have lacked a healthy pitching staff the past couple of years.
Along with all these additions to the Pitching Staff, the Angels have added some bats for the offense. They signed veteran first basemen Justin Bour and traded for veteran second basemen Tommy LaStella.
Bour will be mixing in time at first base and DH with Albert Pujols but it will be interesting to see how he is used later in the season when Shohei Ohtani returns to the team to hit.
LaStella will hopefully fill the hole at second base for the Angels. Last year multiple players saw time at second with an infield who was injured all year. LaStella comes from a winning clubhouse in Chicago with the Cubs and the Angels look to use his playoff experience to their advantage.
2019 is a huge year for the Angels and they will need to do well if they are going to keep Mike Trout an Angel for life. If 2019 is another wasted year in Trout's prime they will need one helluva 2020 to keep him in town once he becomes a free agent.
As an Angels fan, I was a little skeptical of what the Angels were doing when they singed Harvey and Cahill but these signings could be huge for the Angels in 2019. They decided to get multiple innings eaters for less than the price of one big name pitcher. As much as I would've loved to see a Dallas Keuchel or another Japanese Pitcher Yusei Kikuchi join the Halos, these moves were cheaper and both players have a lot of potential.
If the Angels stay healthy in 2019 they could be dangerous(ish) but I do not know how much the pitching staff will be able to compete with teams like the Astros or A's on a regular basis. As much as I want them to sign big names to big money if they are going to keep Trout they will not be able to keep spending as they normally do in the offseason.
The MLB is trending with getting younger but the Angels, on the other hand, got a little older this year but that veteran presence will add a lot of value to the Angels roster. And if that value adds wins that will most likely be what keeps Mike Trout an Angel for life.
2019 will be exciting to watch but do not sleep on the Angels cause if healthy they will do damage and will sneak up on a lot of teams.
After wasting another year with the best player in baseball on the roster the Los Angeles Angels have made some moves to hopefully make a playoff push. The Angels went 80-82 last year with an injury flooded season and need to act fast if they are going to keep Mike Trout on their roster after 2020.
Trout will become a free agent after the 2020 season and the Angels have only taken him to the playoffs once and they did not win a game. If the Angels are going to keep Trout on their roster they need success and they need it soon.
Last years Coach Mike Scioscia stepped down and now Brad Ausmus has taken over for the Halos and he has a ton of holes he will have to fill before the season begins.
Last year the Angels patched up their pitching rotation by adding Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani but after just one year in the majors, Ohtani had to get Tommy John Surgery. Angels General Manager Billy Eppler was tasked with finding more arms to add to a very injury prone pitching staff.
All offseason the Angels have been silent and have made little to no moves at all. But, in this last week, the Angels decided to sign Pitcher Matt Harvey and Pitcher Trevor Cahill. Both pitchers are past their primes and both signed one-year deals.
Just a couple of years ago Matt Harvey was in the consideration as the best pitcher in all of the MLB until his production completely fell off. Last year after starting the year being designated for assignment by the Mets to be later picked up by the Reds, Harvey went 7-9 with a 4.94 ERA.
Harvey still has mediocre arm talent and will be an innings eater for the Angels if he stays healthy. The Angels still believe Harvey has a lot more left in the tank and will hope he can be a huge part in their rotation.
Joining Harvey is longtime veteran Trevor Cahill who rejuvenated his career last year with the Oakland Athletics. Cahill started his career with the Oakland A's and then found his way all around the league being a starting and a relief pitcher until he found himself back with Oakland in 2018.
Last year in Oakland, Cahill went 7-4 with a 3.76 ERA and he was a major part in the A's successful 2018 season. The Angels are hoping he can bring a major veteran presence to the very young Angels pitching staff.
The other "addition" to the Angels pitching staff this offseason was Pitcher Parker Bridwell. Bridwell was magnificent for the Angels in 2017 but in 2018 had elbow issues and was not as dominant in his short season that ended early because of the elbow issues.
In November Bridwell was placed on waivers by the Angels and he was picked up by the Yankees. With various additions to the Yankee pitching staff, Bridwell was not needed so the Yankees put Bridwell back on waivers and the Angels decided to bring him back. When healthy Bridwell will add a consistent arm to a pitching staff that lacks consistency.
The Pitching Rotation will most likely be Tyler Skaggs, Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, Matt Harvey, and Andrew Heaney. If the Angels pitching staff can stay healthy the Angels will be a sleeper team to look out for. They have one of the best offensive teams in the game (in my opinion) but they have lacked a healthy pitching staff the past couple of years.
Along with all these additions to the Pitching Staff, the Angels have added some bats for the offense. They signed veteran first basemen Justin Bour and traded for veteran second basemen Tommy LaStella.
Bour will be mixing in time at first base and DH with Albert Pujols but it will be interesting to see how he is used later in the season when Shohei Ohtani returns to the team to hit.
LaStella will hopefully fill the hole at second base for the Angels. Last year multiple players saw time at second with an infield who was injured all year. LaStella comes from a winning clubhouse in Chicago with the Cubs and the Angels look to use his playoff experience to their advantage.
2019 is a huge year for the Angels and they will need to do well if they are going to keep Mike Trout an Angel for life. If 2019 is another wasted year in Trout's prime they will need one helluva 2020 to keep him in town once he becomes a free agent.
As an Angels fan, I was a little skeptical of what the Angels were doing when they singed Harvey and Cahill but these signings could be huge for the Angels in 2019. They decided to get multiple innings eaters for less than the price of one big name pitcher. As much as I would've loved to see a Dallas Keuchel or another Japanese Pitcher Yusei Kikuchi join the Halos, these moves were cheaper and both players have a lot of potential.
If the Angels stay healthy in 2019 they could be dangerous(ish) but I do not know how much the pitching staff will be able to compete with teams like the Astros or A's on a regular basis. As much as I want them to sign big names to big money if they are going to keep Trout they will not be able to keep spending as they normally do in the offseason.
The MLB is trending with getting younger but the Angels, on the other hand, got a little older this year but that veteran presence will add a lot of value to the Angels roster. And if that value adds wins that will most likely be what keeps Mike Trout an Angel for life.
2019 will be exciting to watch but do not sleep on the Angels cause if healthy they will do damage and will sneak up on a lot of teams.
