MLB team reports:
Have Angels, Reds, Giants taken necessary steps to make a leap?
Five issues facing the Angels:
Is Trout-Rendon the ticket?
It’s worth pondering the payoff on their $245 million investment in third baseman Anthony Rendon. Paired with Mike Trout, Rendon gives the Angels two of the top six players in baseball the past three years, based on Wins Above Replacement. At 29, he is at his peak both offensively and defensively, leading the NL with 44 doubles and 126 RBI, posting a career-best 153 adjusted OPS and finishing third in NL MVP voting.
Trout, Rendon, Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons and skilled receiver Jason Castro will make the Angels a potentially elite defensive team and an indomitable 2-3 or 3-4 combo in the lineup. There are worse ways to try and outkick an imperfect pitching staff.
Shohei Ohtani’s health
Ohtani, 25, will be 18 months removed from Tommy John surgery come opening day, with a rebuilt elbow and the chance to impact almost every game. He’ll likely pitch once a week, much as he began his rookie 2018 season, and the Angels will certainly keep an eye on his inning count; it wouldn’t be surprising to see him limited to about 20 starts overall.
But figure on fewer overall limits, with manager Joe Maddon suggesting at the winter meetings that the Angels might eschew the DH on days Ohtani pitches.
Can Bundy and Teheran help?
Dylan Bundy (an estimated $5.7 million) and Julio Teheran ($8 million) will earn less than the $20 million guaranteed Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill in 2019. Better yet, both are near locks to pitch better than Harvey and Cahill.
Teheran is the more predictive pickup, pitching between 1742⁄3 and 200 innings over his final five seasons in Atlanta. The larger question is whether running into more bats in the American League will send his ERA to untenable levels.
Bundy has never posted a 200-inning season but at least has made 28 to 31 starts the past three seasons (posting a 4.83 ERA).
When to promote Adell:
It’s a bit staggering to consider how dynamic and potentially dazzling the Angels could look in the field and at the plate once Adell arrives. Eventually, Adell could provide the Angels a 30-homer, 30-steal, Gold Glove complement to Trout in the outfield.
Yet his talent is such that Adell could force the issue with a healthy, hot start to 2020. And if Adell forces the Angels to determine the future is now, that could make for a fabulous present.
New manager, walk-year GM:
Maddon is a longtime favorite of owner Arte Moreno, who ponied up a threeyear, $12 million deal to lure the hot commodity back to Anaheim, where he spent three decades in the organization. General manager Billy Eppler had his 2020 contract option picked up last summer – but is unsigned beyond then.
That makes for a unique power dynamic – a manager essentially hired by the owner and with a longer commitment than the GM.