The last few years left field has been the least productive position for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. But, LA has now fixed that. The club traded for Cameron Maybin then signed Ben Revere, so left field should be more productive in 2017. The other significant off-season transaction the Angels have made this Winter was a trade that brought over Danny Espinosa. In order to acquire the slick fielding infielder Los Angeles had to give up two minor league prospects. However, the Angels have arguably the worst farm system in the game currently. But, that doesn’t mean the major league squad is all that bad.
Of the last 6 seasons left field has accumulated a 4.56 WAR, that’s 0.7/year. Their new left fielders, Maybin and Revere, have an accumulated WAR of 5.8 over the last two seasons (excluding Revere’s injury prone 2016 campaign). Other than a finally solid left field, of course the Angels still have Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun occupying center and right. The Angels not only filled the hole in left field, but the one at 2nd base.
Danny Espinosa will now be the Angels full-time 2nd baseman with flexibility to play other positions. In 2016 Espinosa hit 20+ bombs for the second time in his career while playing in 157+ games for the third time in his career. But, what was impressive this past season was the fact that Danny had 7 defensive runs saved at shortstop. However, his range factor was below league average, but that’s ok because he will be playing second for LA. His career range factor at 2nd base is above league average at 4.91. However, he will not be the only defensive gem in the infield.
Andrelton Simmons’ middle name is defense, as he is the owner of two gold gloves. Simmons’ bat may not be his strength, but he did add some value in the lineup. He hit for his second highest batting average of his career in 2016, and had a offensive WAR of 2.3. But, his bat is not the biggest in the infield.
Future Hall of Famer, Pujols, will play some first base other than DH, but CJ Cron is the main guy. After 2 semi-productive years, Cron hit for an all-time high .278 in 16’. Despite only playing in 116 games, Cron drove in a mere 70 runs, as well as gapping 25 doubles. Although Cron and Simmons hit for better averages in 16’, third baseman, Yunel Escobar, is the player with a high average. Escobar had a career year in DC his 2015 campaign, then hit over .300 for a second straight year in 16′. In result, he gathered a 2.7 offensive WAR. But, despite Escobar and company possibly pushing the Angels up in the 2017 offensive rankings, the team still needs to pitch.
Health is the biggest road block for the Angels pitching staff. Having their ace Garrett Richards healthy is the big key. Richards’ injury riddled 2016 campaign limited him to 6 starts. But had a spectacular 15-win, 200+ inning season in 15’. His counterpart, Matt Shoemaker, increased his innings pitched by 30 in 16’, while allowing less than 70 earned runs. Speaking of inning eaters, Ricky Nolasco has logged 191+ innings 4 of the last 5 seasons. The rest of the rotation consists of young bucks who were all once top prospects like Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs. But, what’s it worth having a healthy rotation if there is not a healthy bullpen?
Closer, Huston Street, is coming off of his worst season of his career. He had 6.45 ERA this past season. However, before that, he was one of the most consistent closers in the game for 11 years. The Angels have some diamonds in the ruff to set up Street. Deolis Guerra was a nice surprise going 3-0 in 56+ innings in 2016. Fellow Venezuelan, Jose Alvarez, has given the Angels 57+ innings out of the pen in each of the last 2 seasons. Lastly, after two years of high ERA’s, Cam Bedrosian had a 2016 ERA of 1.12, while opponents batted .207 against him. Borrowing the likelihood that the front office wont add any more significant bullpen pieces, the current pen is not all that bad.
The minor league system is shot, but the front office has done a nice job to improve the major league roster. There still a hole at catcher, but left field and second base have both been upgraded. The remaining lineup is filled with the same starters from 2016. The Angels may not be a team that can compete for a playoff spot, but 80 wins may not be out of reach. Until the farm system can be grown back up, and big contracts come off the board, this team will be good enough to put fans in the seats and give playoff contenders hell.
