Angels: Halos Among Highest-Graded Teams From Insiders’ Offseason Grades
It's been a wild offseason for a lot of teams, with about $3 billion spent in this winter's free-agent market. While the Angels haven't signed any of the biggest names on the market, they've quietly had a very productive offseason, even if Jomboy doesn't think so.
Over at The Athletic, they put grades on every team's offseason. No team earned an A, but three of the biggest spenders — the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers — scored an A- from the experts. And just behind those three were the Halos.
Los Angeles Angels
Grade: B+The Angels addressed a lot of their obvious needs this offseason. Starting corner outfielder (Hunter Renfroe). Back-end reliever, another starting pitcher. And then help on the infield. Most importantly, they can credibly say they’re more prepared for an injury, which was a massive issue last season. If Anthony Rendon gets hurt, for example, then there’s Gio Urshela and/or Brandon Drury to pick them up. The Angels didn’t really address their needs at shortstop, at least not yet. And they also did give up some organizational pitching depth to acquire players — something they can’t afford to do. The Angels also signed another player with a qualifying offer (Tyler Anderson), which takes away a draft pick and money to sign international players. So it was overall a very solid offseason, but by no means perfect. It’s clear that Angels GM Perry Minasian was boxed into short-term and relatively cheap acquisitions with the team expected to sell throughout the offseason. Arte Moreno’s change of heart probably won’t change much with the start of spring training just a couple weeks out. — Sam Blum
As Blum says, the offseason wasn't perfect. The Angels would have loved to add one of the elite shortstops on the market, for example. But the guys they added filled specific needs and should fill them well, and there's not much more you can ask for in an offseason.
The Halos already have Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Anthony Rendon. They didn't necessarily need more star power. They needed depth and role players, and they added that. They definitely earned this B+.
