Angels News: What's Next for LA After Missing Out on Top Four Shortstops
On Saturday, All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson signed a seven-year, $177 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. With that signing, all top four shortstops entering this free agency cycle — Swanson, Carlos Correa, Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts — have now signed with new teams. That means, for a team like the Angels still looking for help at that position, they'll have to look elsewhere.
The Angels still have some options on the free agent market, but none are anywhere near the level of the top four.
The Angels have been linked to a few other veteran shortstops on the market — both via free agency and a trade. They've been linked to 14-year veteran Elvis Andrus, who's currently a free agent on the market. They've also been linked to Guardians' shortstop Amed Rosario, and, more recently, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, who may now have to move to second base with the addition of Correa.
However, Angels GM Perry Minasian has said he feels this team has "talent" on the roster at shortstop, alluding to the fact that they may not make an upgrade this offseason after all. But when you look at the production that they got from shortstop last year, it was less than stellar. In 574 plate appearances, Angels shortstops had an abysmal OPS of just .601. Clearly, they need to upgrade that spot.
So, the Angels will now scour the market for deals, and potentially land a guy at much less of a cost who could still provide some depth at the position. Anything would be better than last year, so we should expect the Angels to do something regarding the shortstop position this offseason. However, we now know it won't be a major splash.
