The Washington Nationals and Houston Astros just completed an unbelievable seven-game World Series. Both clubs were led to that championship by the top-tier starting pitching. It’s clear that pitching wins championships and this will certainly be the focus for Billy Eppler and company going into this off-season.
The Halos starting rotation has been dealt blow after blow by injuries and even tragedy in recent years. Last year’s off-season signings of Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill were admitted failures and the Angels clearly intend to make up for that in this off-season. Both Harvey and Cahill were signed to one-year contracts for a reason. The Angels’ forethought of this impending 2019-2020 off-season. Acquiring a “top-of-the-rotation” starting pitcher will be priority number one for the Halos this winter.
Assuming his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery is successful, the current Angels rotation will be improved with the return of Shohei Ohtani. The Japanese superstar will join Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning as the top three pitchers in their current starting rotation. The rest of the rotation options would be a competition of holdovers from last season that include Dillon Peters, Patrick Sandoval, Jamie Barria, and Jose Suarez. That’s an inexperienced group with the need for veteran leadership and experienced staff ace.
The depth of this year’s free-agent class of starting pitchers is much deeper than last year’s group. Something Billy Eppler was aware of last season when they were reportedly finalist on signing Nathan Eovaldi, Patrick Corbin, and J.A. Happ last off-season. Comparing that group of free-agents to this year and you can see why it may have been well worth the wait if the Angels are successful signing one or more of this year’s top free agents.
Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg are both Southern California natives and clearly, the Angels top two options going into the Hot Stove season. There are various reports from Astros teammates and media that Cole would prefer the Angels but with Scott Boras that will require a record contract and negotiations are likely to extend into next spring. Strasburg could potentially be acquired for less but his post-season has increased his value significantly with his phenomenal post-season performance. Strasburg’s negotiations could also extend deep into the off-season as his suitors and final contract could depend greatly on Gerrit Cole’s eventual destination.
The remaining free agents offer many other talented arms that would clearly boost the Angels rotation as well. Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel, Jake Odorizzi, Cole Hamels, Rick Porcello, Kyle Gibson, and Korean import Kim Kwang-Hyun. The Angels were reported to be scouting Kwang-Hyun during his starts this past summer in the Korean Baseball Organization. Adding two or more of these starting pitchers to the Angels rotation would give the club a playoff-caliber staff going into next season.
The Angels have Jo Adell, Brandon Marsh, Jahmai Jones, Aaron Hernandez, and Isaac Mattson all coming off impressive Arizona Fall League seasons. Although the Angels are unlikely to deal future starting outfielder Adell, the other prospects could be dangled out there to acquire starting pitchers shopped on other rosters this winter. One thing is for certain, this will not be a quiet winter for the Angels as they want to get Mike Trout and company back into the post-season in 2020.
In the next Angels Report, we’ll discuss the Angels relief pitching going into the off-season.
Angels This Week
While the Angels have not made anything official, Joe Maddon’s coaching staff continues to develop through various media reports. Last week we reported the addition of Mickey Callaway as pitching coach and John Mallee as hitting coach. This past week’s reports suggested Mallee joining the club now as an assistant hitting coach and Jeremy Reed maintaining his role as primary hitting coach. Additional rumored reports suggest Mike Gallego transitioning from third base coach to Angels bench coach. Joe Maddon reportedly will be bringing Cubs third-base coach Brian Butterfield to the Angels in that same role. It’s also been reported popular Cubs Strength and Conditioning coach Tim Buss will be joining Maddon’s Angels staff as well.
The Angels made a series of roster moves last week as the World Series concluded. They re-assigned five players from the MLB roster to Salt Lake and all elected to become free agents. First baseman Justin Bour, who’s been rumored to explore an opportunity, in Japan is now a free agent. Kaleb Cowart, who spent last year transitioning to two-way player between Arizona complex and Salt Lake, is now free to find a new employer. Pitchers Miguel Del Pozzo, Luis Garcia, and Nick “Nitro” Tropeano also are free agents. Tropeano was the last remaining piece of the Hank Conger trade in Anaheim and so now their connection to the legendary Angels prospect is history.
Trevor Cahill elected free agency the day after the World Series concluded and joins the other five previously mentioned 2019 Angels on the current free-agent market. Cahill, Matt Harvey, and Cody Allen were the Angels three failed one-year contract signings from last off-season. The Angels now have between $40-$70 million to spend in free agents this off-season.
Angels “Down on the Farm” Report
Julian Leon began his professional career in the Los Angeles Dodgers system as a 16-year-old catcher signed from Hermosillo, Mexico in 2012. After spending four seasons in the Dodgers lower minor league levels, the Angels acquired the young catcher in 2017 and Leon has spent the past three seasons as a valuable back-up catcher in Inland Empire and Mobile. This past season in Mobile, the 23-year-old Leon caught 56 games at Double-A and threw out 43% of potential base stealers in the Southern League. Defense has been his strength as a minor league player with a .237 career batting average.
This Fall, Leon has returned to Hermosillo for the fourth straight year to play for his hometown Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Mexican Winter League. This season it’s not Leon’s production at the plate that’s getting more attention than his outstanding defense. Through Leon’s first 15 games for Hermosillo, he’s hitting .271 with a .563 slugging percentage with six extra-base hits, including four home runs with nine runs batted in.
The Angels’ catching-starved farm system can use a good all-around catcher and Leon’s Mexican Winter League performance will continue to be monitored closely by Angels management. He will likely enter spring training as a non-roster invitee and is sure to get a good look behind the plate with the Angels next February and March.
Jo Adell started off his Team USA Premier 12 tournament with a bang Saturday afternoon hitting a bomb to the left-field that almost reached the scoreboard in Guadalajara, Mexico. Adell’s homer helped propel Team USA to a 9-0 win over Team Netherlands as they attempt to qualify the United States for the 2020 Olympic Games.
Adell, along with Angels Jahmai Jones, was also named to MLB Pipeline’s second-team All-AFL roster last week. However, it was fellow Angels outfield prospect Brandon Marsh that deservedly earned first-team honors to the all-AFL roster for his stand out Arizona Fall League season.
