The Los Angeles Angles have made a lot of roster moves this offseason, and at first glance it’s easy to be impressed. Trading for Baltimore Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez was an intriguing move, to say the least, and other moves to add infielder Vaughn Grisson and pitchers Jordan Romano, Drew Pomeranz and Kirby Yates also come with possibilities.
But there’s one big question that has yet to be addressed, and Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com posed it in a recent piece: How aggressive will the Angels be in adding to the roster?
If you’ve followed the Angels for any amount of time, you know that this question is basically a code of sorts. In Angels talk, “aggressive” means spending money, which is something the Halos haven’t really done yet. All of the moves that have been made so far are bargain basement specials, with the more productive free agents and trade prospects slowly disappearing from the market.
It takes a certain amount of diligence to track the moves the Angels move on from, because they basically pass on everyone who wants a reasonable amount of money.
The latest passes were on third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, who would have been a good fit for the Halos at the hot corner, but instead it was the Toronto Blue Jays who ponied up and gave Okamoto a four-year, $60 million deal. The same logic applies to starter Tatsuya Imai, wo signed with the Houston Astros for three years and $54 million.
Both Japanese players took less than expected in a somewhat depressed market for international players from that particular country. There are other free agents left, not to mention deals to be made, but it seems safe to wonder if the Angels will be anything other than “in on” them.
It’s not hard to guess the reasoning behind this—it’s Arte Moreno logic at its finest. The owner recently saved about $13 million in salary in the Tyler Ward trade, which led to speculation that that money would be used in a larger deal, but it hasn’t happened.
The settlement in the civil suit trial of late pitcher Tyler Skaggs wasn’t disclosed, but given the course the trial took, it’s safe to say the owner had to do a fairly massive payout. Add in the money Moreno will have to pay out as part of the Anthony Rendon contract settlement, and it’s not hard to understand why the Angels aren’t doing any big-money signings or trades.