Reviewing Los Angeles Angels' Offseason So Far
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The Los Angeles Angels ended up in fifth place in the AL West for the first time ever in 2024, going 63-99, and keeping their streak of never having lost 100+ games alive, if only by a hair. While the Angels have finished last in the West in the past, this was their first time in that position since the Houston Astros joined the division in 2013, and their first time at the bottom since 1999 when they went 70-92.
If they end up winning the World Series in three years, we'll have quite the trend on our hands.
With the A's on the rise, we wanted to take a look at the offseason for each team in the division thus far, and see if we can get a grasp on where the Sacramento-bound Athletics could end up. To kick things off, we're taking a look at the Angels.
Los Angeles Angels 2024 in Review
The Angels only received 57 games from Anthony Rendon, and 29 from Mike Trout last season, and with their two biggest stars not on the field terribly often, the Angels fell in the standings.
Soon-to-be 24-year-old Zach Neto had a solid campaign for the club, putting up a 114 wRC+ (100 is league average) after launching 23 homers and swiping 30 bags in 155 games. He also racked up 5.1 WAR on Baseball-Reference, and 3.5 on FanGraphs.
Logan O'Hoppe also turned in a solid season for the Halos, hitting 20 homers, and his league average bat coupled with his impressive defense behind the dish should be a solid combo for the team moving forward. He finished the year with 2.1 WAR.
On the pitching side, lefty Tyler Anderson was their best overall arm, producing a 3.81 ERA (4.66 FIP), but it was the hard-throwing Ben Joyce that got the headlines. He racked up 1.7 bWAR in just 34 2/3 innings, while holding a 2.08 ERA out of the bullpen. You have to think that Joyce will be the team's closer heading into 2025.
Overall, the Angels as a group held a 90 wRC+, ten percent below league average, which ranked the offense No. 25 in baseball. Only the Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox finished below the Angels.
On the pitching side, they finished with a cumulative 4.57 ERA, which ranked No. 26, along with a 4.68 FIP, which ranked 29th. The starting rotation finished with an ERA just under five, at 4.97, while the bullpen was actually pretty decent, putting up a 3.99 ERA, good for No. 16 in MLB.
Their 4.46 FIP told a different story, and ranked the group No. 27. Part of the reason for this is the group's extremely low BABIP, which sat at .257, while the league average mark was .288.
Angels Offseason Moves
The Angels have certainly been active this winter, with OF/DH Jorge Soler and catcher Travis d'Arnaud being the two biggest additions to the offense, while they also added Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks to the rotation.
Soler is a power bat that will hit in the middle of Los Angeles' order, being able to reach 20 home runs with ease. The last two seasons he has been 25% and 19% better than league average with the bat, though his defense is a little troublesome to his overall value to the club. If he can be the team's full-time DH, he should provide plenty of value to the Angels.
d'Arnaud, 35, will serve as O'Hoppe's backup, and he typically brings a league average bat with him while providing solid defense behind the plate.
Hendricks, also 35, can still eat up a chunk of innings, but how effective those frames will be is up for debate. He finished last season with a 5.92 ERA in 130 2/3 innings, which landed him a one-year deal with the Angels.
Arguably the biggest addition has been Kikuchi, 33. The left-hander started his career in Seattle with the Mariners, but really seemed to turn things around when he got to Toronto. In 2023, he held a 3.86 ERA (4.12 FIP), and was traded to the Houston Astros at the 2024 Trade Deadline, where he went on to hold a 2.70 ERA (3.07 FIP) in 60 innings. If he has figured something out, then he could be a huge boost to the rotation.
How Much Better Will the Angels be in 2025?
Last offseason I did an exercise where I put every move each team made into a Google sheet. For the departing players, I put up the WAR they produced with that team, and for the incoming players, I plugged in their projected WAR. At the end up added up each column, then figured combined the two numbers to see how much a team had improved (or declined).
While it's not terribly scientific, if does provide a bit of a look into how much better or worse a team could end up being. For instance, the Minnesota Twins, who were projected to win the AL Central by many, had lost 12 WAR due to their moves, and it didn't look like they'd built up enough depth. For this exercise, it's also important to remember where each club is starting from, so for the Angels, they're trying to build upon a 63-win campaign.
According to the moves the Angels have made, they have added 8.2 WAR to the roster this season, with Kikuchi projected for 3.1, Soler at 1.5, d'Arnaud at 1.3, and Hendricks finishing with 0.9. The Angels also saw the departure of Brandon Drury this winter, and with his -2.1 WAR season off the books, that provided a decent boost to the roster as well. Last winter the Angels finished with -3.8 WAR for their offseason, following the departure of Shohei Ohtani.
The key for the Angels will be to stay healthy, and that goes beyond Trout and Rendon. A healthy season from those two could give the team quite a boost, but losing Kikichi or Neto would also be a huge blow to the club's hopes of improving in a big way.
The Angels still feel like a high-60's, low-70's team, partially due to the roster additions they've made, and partially due to the West as a whole taking a step back. They may not be dangerous just yet, but they shouldn't be slept on either.
If they can get No. 1 prospect Caden Dana up to the big leagues in the second half and see some promising signs from him, that would go a long way into the direction of this franchise moving forward.
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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