The Los Angeles Angels have had two bright spots in the past decade and that’s it, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Those two players have single-handedly kept the Angels from becoming the laughingstock of the league. It is truly a shame that the generation’s best player, Trout, has only appeared in three postseason games in his career. Ohtani is an anomaly that MLB hasn’t seen since a player like Babe Ruth. It doesn’t happen much that during a rebuild a team gets basically handed two of the greatest talents the game has ever seen. The Angels finished with 73 wins in 2022 and definitely want to improve their record this upcoming season. 

A big change was definitely in store for the ball club when owner Arturo Moreno announced he was planning to sell the team. He still hasn’t officially sold the team but both sides are still exploring options. Moreno bought the team in May of 2003 and that was right after their 2002 World Series win. They really haven’t done anything since. Not all the blame goes to Moreno but at some point, you gotta think he should change some things up. However, that is not the biggest concern for the Angels at the moment. 

Their pitching is definitely a concern for them right now. The bright spot in their rotation is obviously two-way star Shohei Ohtani. He has had an outstanding, record-breaking career so far. Besides his great hitting, he is an amazing pitcher that features a 100 mph fastball and nasty sinker. While he was on the rubber for Los Angeles, he had a 2.33 ERA (earned run average) with 219 strikeouts and 15 wins. Ohtani became the first player in baseball history to have 200 strikeouts in a season and 30 home runs this season. Ohtani finished second in MVP votes and fourth in Cy Young Award voting. That is one of the most impressive, absurd things ever done in baseball. Right after the season ended, there were rumors spreading around that the Angels were exploring trade options for Ohtani. The Angels shut that down real quick. 

The team’s ERA in 2022 was 3.77 which was the ninth-best in the league. That is great but there are many weak spots they need to improve on. In 2022 we saw four no-hitters including one by Angels rookie Reid Detmers. Reid is a great rookie prospect who has some promising stuff. The “pitch to contact pitcher” kept opposing hitters to only a .231 average but had a pretty high ERA of 3.77. Patrick Sandoval is also a solid piece who had a breakout 2022 season. He improved his ERA by .71 points this season. The first step in the right direction for the team was signing lefty-pitcher Tyler Anderson. Anderson had a 2.57 ERA in 2022 with the cross-town rivals, Los Angeles Dodgers. This was a great addition to the squad. 

The hitting is obviously a strong point for this team. Mike Trout has been the best hitter in baseball over the past decade. The three-time MVP has a career .303 batting average with 350 home runs.  Trout is on a 12-year-$426.5 dollar contract with the Angels so he will most likely be an Angel for the rest of his career. Shohei Ohtani is the other half of the dynamic duo. Even though we already discussed how good of a pitcher he is, Ohtani is just as good if not better as a hitter. The former MVP batted .273 with 34 home runs in 2022 which was his “off year.” Those two guys will be battling for the American League MVP for many years to come. They have made a few quick little moves to improve the offensive side of the game. 

They made a trade for outfielder Hunter Renfroe in exchange for three of the Angels’ young pitchers. Renfroe had a slash line of .255/.315/.492 with Milwaukee in 2022 through 125 games. They also traded away another prospect arm to the Twins for defensive wizard Gio Urshela. Urshela has always had great defense but the hitting has always been a concern. He had a few great hitting seasons with the Yankees and had a pretty good season last year with Minnesota, he looks to further that with the Angels. 

Other key members of their lineup include Anthony Rendon, David Fletcher, Jared Walsh, and Taylor Ward. Rendon was a top third baseman in the league not too long ago however, injuries have kept him out of the game for awhile. He has only played in 157 games for the Angels over a span of three seasons. The only full season of baseball he played with the Angels was in 2020, which was a shortened season due to Covid-19. It was only 60 games and he started in 52 of them. Fletcher and Stassi were solid consistent players for Los Angeles this past season. Walsh also is a great lefty bat for the ballclub. 

The Angels were ranked having the worst farm system in major league baseball. They only have one prospect featured on the MLB’s top 100 prospects list and that is catcher Logan O’Hoppe. He was shipped to Los Angeles from the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline for then Angels center fielder Brandon Marsh. O’Hoppe was picked in the 23rd round of the MLB’s Amuetuer Draft which is a really high round to end up at MLB’s 64th best prospect. O’Hoppe has four hits in his fourteen at bats he has had in the bigs and he looks to continue the success in 2023.  

The Angels aren’t done making trades and signings this offseason and there are definitely a few free agents left they should pursue. Trey Mancini should be one of them. The veteran could fill the hole they have in left field. Although he didn’t play much left field last season and he isn’t the best defensive player, that could definitely be an option for the Angels. With the Angels lack of bullpens arms they should look into arms like Craig Kimbrel, Taylor Rogers, Will Smith or more. This team has made it aware that they are not done yet and are coming into 2023 with a chip on their shoulder and a championship in mind.

Next Up: Part 4-The Baltimore Orioles (to come)