MLB Season Preview - Los Angeles Angels

2016 Record: 74-88	Manager: Mike Scioscia (1999)
4th  in Division	General Manager: Billy Eppler (2015)
Failed to make the playoffs	AAA Affiliate: Salt Lake Bees AA Affiliate: Mobile BayBears

News

• Traded C Jett Bandy to Milwaukee for C Martin Maldonado and RHP Drew Gagnon
• Acquired OF Cameron Maybin from Detroit for RHP Victor Alcantara
• Acquired INF Danny Espinosa from Washington for Ps Austin Adams and Kyle McGowin

Players Lost in the Offseason

POS.	Player	New Team	Contract
SP	Jhoulys Chacin	San Diego Padres	1 year, $1.75 million
SP	Kyle Kendrick	Boston Red Sox	1 year, $1 million
1B	Ji-Man Choi	New York Yankees	1 year, $700,000
SP	C.J. Wilson	Free Agent
SP	Tim Lincecum	Free Agent

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old Team	Contract
3B	Luis Valbuena	Houston Astros	2 years, $15 million
RP	Jesse Chavez	Los Angeles Dodgers	1 year, $5.75 million
CF	Ben Revere	Washington Nationals	1 year, $4 million
RP	Yusmeiro Petit	Washington Nationals	1 year, $2.25 million
2B	Dustin Ackley	New York Yankees	1 year, $2.25 million

Top Prospects

• OF Jahmai Jones - BP (78)

Projected Lineup

Order	POS	Number	Bats	Name	Age
1	3B	0	R	Yunel Escobar	34
2	RF	56	L	Kole Calhoun	29
3	CF	27	R	Mike Trout	25
4	DH	5	R	Albert Pujols	37
5	1B	18	L	Luis Valbuena	31
6	2B	3	S	Danny Espinosa	29
7	SS	2	R	Andrelton Simmons	27
8	LF	25	L	Ben Revere	28
9	C	12	R	Martin Maldonado	30
Bench	C	58	R	Carlos Perez	26
Bench	1B	24	R	C.J. Cron	27
Bench	UT	7	S	Cliff Pennington	32
Bench	OF	9	R	Cameron Maybin	29

Projected Pitching Staff

Role	POS	Number	Throws	Name	Age
1	SP	43	R	Garrett Richards	28
2	SP	47	R	Ricky Nolasco	34
3	SP	52	R	Matt Shoemaker	30
4	SP	45	L	Tyler Skaggs	25
5	SP	40	R	Jesse Chavez	33
LR	RP	-	R	Yusmeiro Petit	32
MID	RP	51	R	Austin D. Adams	30
MID	RP	48	L	Jose Alvarez	27
MID	RP	64	R	Mike Morin	25
SU	RP	66	R	JC Ramirez	28
SU	RP	37	R	Andrew Bailey	32
CL	RP	32	R	Cam Bedrosian	25
DL	SP	71	R	Vicente Campos	24
DL	SP	28	L	Andrew Heaney	25
DL	SP	35	R	Nick Tropeano	26
DL	RP	16	R	Huston Street	33

Most Important Player

• CF Mike Trout - This may be the most obvious choice for any of my "candidate" picks.  Trout is the best player in baseball, by a wide margin, and already one of the best to ever play the game. I'm not certain that fans realize how great Trout is when they watch him play and fail to recognize that when he retires he could be an "inner-circle" hall of famer.  Last season, Trout won his second MVP Award, and has finished second every other year since he became a full-time major leaguer.  He led the league in runs, walks, and on-base percentage and finished top ten in batting average and slugging percentage and led the league in WAR by a full win.  He has continued to refine his game to get better in areas where he feels he has a weakness similar to how Sidney Crosby works in the NHL.  In 2012, Trout stole 49 bases, in 2013, he walked 110 times and his on-base percentage increased, in 2014, he led the league in RBIs but also struck out 184 times, in 2015, he cut his strikeouts down and hit 41 home runs, and finally, in 2016, he led the league in walks and on-base percentage, while driving in 100 runs.  He has also done most of this while hitting in a poor Angels lineup.  He has said this offseason that his goal for 2017 is to go 40-40, and if anyone in baseball can do that, it's Trout.  He will be the favorite to win the MVP Award once again and any success the Angels have in 2017 will be the result of how well Trout performs.  Luckily, the team's lineup looks better on the whole which can only benefit Trout.  I think Trout will meet his goal of a 40-40 season and bat over .300 again, winning a second consecutive MVP Award.

Breakout Candidate

• SP Tyler Skaggs - It was really hard picking a breakout player for the Angels largely because of how old the major league roster is on the whole and how poor their farm system is.  Even looking in the minors, I found no one of any real promise who could be receiving his call-up this season.  Tyler Skaggs is the best candidate I could find for this and he does have a strong chance to have a good season in 2017.  It seems like Skaggs has been around for a long time now, and he has to an extent, but missed all of 2015 with injury and only started 10 games last season.  He is also just 25 and has probably only scratched the surface of his potential.  He pitched really well at all levels of the minors but has struggled so far in the majors.  I think this year will be the season in which Skaggs really breaks out as a quality major league pitcher.

Regression Candidate

• 2B Danny Espinosa - Espinosa didn't exactly have a great season with Washington last season, batting just .209 and striking out 174 times.  He did, however, hit 24 home runs and drove in 72 runs, numbers I don't think are repeatable.  He had hit more than 20 home runs just one time before last season and having that high of output while batting around .200 simply isn't the mark of a quality hitter.  He will also be playing in a slightly more pitcher-friendly park than he did in Washington, something that could also affect his statistics.

Bounceback Candidate

• SP Garrett Richards - Richards has shown glimpses of brilliance in the parts of six seasons he has pitched in the majors.  He has battled injuries throughout his career and did so in 2016, when he made just six starts after being diagnosed with a torn ligament in his pitching elbow.  He did not undergo Tommy John surgery, however, opting for an alternative procedure and is already pitching pain-free.  It will be interesting to see how effective this procedure will be long-term, but if he is able to be healthy in 2016, he should be the Angels' ace.  In his abbreviated 2016 season, he was masterful, having just a 2.34 ERA and should be able to repeat that performance in 2017.

Season Outlook

• The Angels are a tough team to diagnose because their roster is relatively untalented and has no help coming from the farm system.  On the contrary, they also have Mike Trout in his prime, a perennial MVP Award favorite and one of the best players to ever put a uniform on.  Common sense would say that they should tank and go through a rebuild but I doubt that the team's front office will ever do that, considering how valuable Trout is to the franchise.  If they traded him, they could completely turnover their farm system and go from being the worst farm systems in the game to at least a top ten system.  They would be set up better for the future but that would come at the cost of trading away a fan favorite in Trout, who is also the face of the franchise. That being said, the Angels should be slightly more competitive than they were in 2016 with the moves the front office made this offseason.  They lengthened their lineup by bringing in actual major leaguers such as Luis Valbuena, Danny Espinosa, and Ben Revere and the team should see an increase in on-base percentage.  Their pitching rotation is questionable with Garrett Richards being the only starter who has exhibited elite-level stuff and then four other guys who have shown promise in the past but are probably best suited as threes and fours in a rotation. Their bullpen is much the same, with a lot of unknown commodities who may struggle to lock down games after the starters are pulled.  It seems impossible to me that people look at this Angels roster in comparison with the rest of the division and league and project them to be a playoff team.  They're not as talented as Houston, can't match the Rangers' pitching rotation, and don't have as many offensive weapons as Seattle.  That being said, they do have Trout, so theoretically anything is possible.  I think the front office should have done more this offseason including pursuing Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Baustista.  The Angels play in one of the biggest markets in baseball and should have plenty of money to spend.  Not pursuing talented free agents to make their team more competitive is simply indefensible.

Predictions

• Fangraphs actually projects the Angels, Rangers, and Mariners to all have the same record which I find insane.  I think the three teams will be close in the standings but the Angels will finish fourth in the division.  I think that there are enough weaknesses in the Angels rotation and bullpen to keep them from finishing above .500 but will be a better team than in 2016.  I predict that they will go 80-82.

*All stats and information came from baseball-reference.com, mlb.com, espn.com, spotrac.com, fangraphs.com, baseballprospectus.com, baseballamerica.com, and rosterresource.com