Los Angeles Angels Season Preview: Still Not Good Enough to Reach October

Editor's note: Welcome to SI's MLB preview. Click here to view every team's outlook in 2020, including predictions, projections and, yes, a preview of the 2030 preview. Click here to read the Angels fantasy preview.

Before last season, the Angels played small ball rather than sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado. They wound up spending more than $34 million on five free agents, all of whom turned out to be sub-replacement-level players. What was your favorite Matt Harvey memory, Anaheim fans?

This winter GM Billy Eppler doled out $35 million the right way: He signed superstar third baseman Anthony Rendon to a seven-year deal for that much annually, giving centerfielder Mike Trout the lineup complement he has always needed (Albert Pujols was in decline when he got to Anaheim) while addressing a position that has been a weakness for years. Adding Rendon cuts the gap between the 2019 Angels and contention almost in half.

The problem is the rest of that gap, which is on the mound. While Eppler added depth with righthanders Dylan Bundy and Julio Teheran, each is the sort of No. 4 starter the Angels have in bulk. They hope to get Shohei Ohtani’s arm back by May after Tommy John
surgery, but given his injury history, it’s hardly clear he can spearhead a staff.

Anaheim’s season will come down to three pitchers who, as rookies, had a combined 5.64 ERA over 210 2/3 innings. Can at least one of Griffin Canning, José Suarez or Patrick Sandoval, all fair prospects 24 and younger, take a big step forward?

Whether in or out of AL West contention, Anaheim remains one of the most watchable teams in the game. Three-time AL MVP Trout, two-way phenom Ohtani, Gold Glove

shortstop Andrelton Simmons and rookie outfielder Jo Adell can provide better late-night TV than any talk show on the networks. Unfortunately for Angels fans, with the team’s rotation, there will be fireworks from the opposition as well. — Joe Sheehan

Projected Record: 90-72, 3rd in AL West

They need a 15-win improvement to hit the over: Anthony Rendon’s arrival and Shohei Ohtani’s return to the mound get them most of that. New rotation depth does the rest.

Key Question: Does Great Hitting Compensate for Mediocre Pitching?

That’s the experiment the Angels will be conducting this season. Their lineup will undoubtedly be one of the best in baseball, but that might not matter if their pitching staff makes every opposing team look like the ‘27 Yankees. — Matt Martell

Player Spotlight

Moving Up: Jared Walsh, 1B/RP

Though he scuffled at the plate in MLB, the pitcher/first baseman hit 36 homers in Triple A and had a 3.50 ERA in stints in the majors and minors.

Moving Down: Justin Upton, OF

The 32-year-old outfielder no longer hits for average or defends well. In a season cut short by turf toe and a right knee injury, he slugged just .416.

Watchability Ranking: Worth It

Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Anthony Rendon (plus Andrelton Simmons’ glove)—that foundation is so fun to take in that you can let yourself overlook the questions around the pitching staff. (Well, maybe.) — Emma Baccellieri

Preview of the 2030 Preview

Mike Trout, OF/DH: The lifelong Angel has plateaued—if only we all could plateau at our peaks! He enters 2030 with 144.2 WAR, No. 7 all time, after passing Hank Aaron last year. Trout stands to accrue WAR a little less aggressively now that he’s moved from centerfield; he should be close to Wille Mays (No. 5) when the 12-year deal he signed in 2019 expires. Sadly, he will never pass Mays in World Series appearances; Trout’s Angels have made it to the ALCS just twice, and lost both times. — Craig Goldstein