We’re halfway through the hot stove season, and most teams are starting to get a sense of how well they’re doing. That’s good news for half of them to some extent, but the Los Angeles Angels landed in the lower half of this midwinter progress report from Brad Doolittle of ESPN.
Specifically, the Angels landed at 27th, so the results aren’t good. Doolittle summed it up as follows: “ It's not all bad. But it's pretty bad.”
The “not all bad” part is about the sheer number of moves the Angels have made. They did make one significant trade at the start of the offseason, moving power-hitting outfielder Taylor Ward for Baltimore Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez, who represents a top-of-the-rotation possibility if the Halos can get and keep him healthy.
That was a solid start, but what’s followed is one minor move after another. Most of those moves involved signing relievers who have seen their career spiral after suffering injuries or submitting lackluster performances. To put it simply, if you’re a wounded or failed pitcher with some potential, the Angels have a potential spot for you. They also traded for a failed middle infield prospect, Vaughn Grissom of the Boston Red Sox, who will get a shot at both second and third base.
All of these moves are about money, basically. Owner Arte Moreno lost the Tyler Skaggs civil suit badly, so he’s facing what is likely a significant settlement amount, and Moreno will also be shelling out $7.5 million a year for the next five years to pay former third baseman Anthony Rendon not to play.
There was some thought that the money saved from trading Ward and settling the Rendon contract might be used toward better players, but at this point it's fairly clear that’s not going to happen. Moreno wouldn’t even pony up to pay a real manager, instead hiring former catcher Kurt Suzuki on a one-year deal with incentives.
There is a silver lining in all this, however. As Doolittle noted, the bullpen projects will have a lot of strikeouts. The offense has some power, so the Angels will score runs.
The one silver lining in all this is Suzuki and the new pitching coach hire, Mike Maddux. Maddux has a track record here, having led the Texas Rangers staff to the World Series in 2023. If he can bring order out of the chaos that was the Angels pitching staff last year, there is a path back to .500 given the power and run-scoring potential of the offense.