OC Register: Where the Angels roster stands as we pass the scheduled start of spring training

[AngelsWin.com]

Now that the Super Bowl is over, many sports fans are turning their eyes to the emptiness that is supposed to be spring training.

As you may have heard, pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report this week to camps in Arizona and Florida, but the owners continue to lock out the players until they agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Because rosters have been frozen for more than two months, there’s been no news with the Angels roster in that time. Still, because it’s been so long, some of you may have forgotten just where they stand, and what they will have left to do once the lockout ends.

Here’s a reminder.

STARTING ROTATION

Yes, the Angels still could use some help in the rotation. You probably didn’t forget that because it’s pretty much all anyone talks about when it comes to the Angels.

As it stands right now, their rotation includes Shohei Ohtani, Noah Syndergaard, Michael Lorenzen, Patrick Sandoval and José Suarez. They’re planning to use some version of a six-man rotation, so there is room for at least one more.

Griffin Canning, Jaime Barria and Reid Detmers are the top choices. Barria is out of options, so you can expect him to be in the bullpen if he’s not in the rotation.

The Angels also need to account for the fact that Lorenzen has not been a starter in a few years, Syndergaard is coming off Tommy John surgery and Sandoval is coming off a back injury. Given all that, more depth would help.

The top free agent starter left is Carlos Rodon, and there are a handful of trade possibilities like Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt.

BULLPEN

The Angels re-signed closer Raisel Iglesias just before the lockout and they signed Aaron Loup earlier in the winter. They still have Mike Mayers, who has been a dependable reliever for the Angels two years in a row.

The rest of the jobs are up in the air.

Austin Warren and Andrew Wantz each pitched well enough at times in their rookie seasons in 2021 to provide some hope. José Quijada, who had been up and down prior to 2021, had a nice September.

The Angels also signed Kyle Barraclough to a minor-league deal last month. Barraclough had a 2.87 ERA for the Marlins from 2015-17, but hasn’t done much since.

Ty Buttrey also said he wants to come back after abruptly retiring just before the 2021 season. Buttrey had been one of the Angels’ better relievers in 2019 and 2020, so he could be a useful piece if the team brings him back.

CATCHING

Max Stassi has one year left before free agency, and he figures to get the bulk of the playing time behind the plate.

Kurt Suzuki became a free agent, though, so the Angels will need to find another backup.

Matt Thaiss moved back to his college position last season, so he could be the backup catcher. Otherwise, the internal options are pretty thin. There are still a handful of veterans available on the free agent market, like Robinson Chirinos, Luke Maile and local product Austin Romine.

INFIELD

The Angels have Jared Walsh at first and Anthony Rendon returning from hip surgery at third. David Fletcher will play one of the middle infield positions.

Assuming the Angels prefer Fletcher at second, that leaves a hole at shortstop. The internal candidates include Luis Rengifo, Tyler Wade, Andrew Velazquez and Jack Mayfield.

Obviously, there are a couple significant free agent shortstops available: Carlos Correa and Trevor Story. The Angels probably will keep whatever money they have left for pitching, though.

The trade market could have some options, too. The Rangers will likely listen to offers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa because they signed Corey Seager and Marcus Semien to fill out their middle infield.

Related Articles

• 4 former Angels testify they received drugs from Eric Kay, who’s accused of providing them to Tyler Skaggs
• Former colleague says Eric Kay saw Tyler Skaggs do drugs the night before his death
• MLB talks lack progress, spring training likely delayed
• MLB’s Rob Manfred: missing games would be a ‘disastrous outcome’
• Prosecutors: Former Angels employee lied after Tyler Skaggs’ death

OUTFIELD

Mike Trout is expected to be back to 100 percent after missing almost all of last season with a strained calf, so he’ll be in center field.

Otherwise, Justin Upton, Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell will fight it out for the other two spots. The Angels could probably find playing time for all three of them, because each has questions about performance and health.

It’s also possible that the Angels would trade Adell or Marsh to acquire a pitcher.

Taylor Ward has also shown some signs of improvement, offensively and defensively, so he could get a few more opportunities, particularly if Adell or Marsh are traded.

DESIGNATED HITTER

Ohtani demonstrated last season that he doesn’t need all those days off around his pitching assignments, so he figures to be the DH just about every day. When he gets days off, Upton would seemingly be the next one on the list to see time at DH. The Angels also could put Trout at DH a little more often to ease the stress on his body.

View the full article

[Dtwncbad]

Can anybody please explain exactly why we are supposed to have faith that Lorenzen is any better than just a body to throw out there?

[jsnpritchett]

25 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Can anybody please explain exactly why we are supposed to have faith that Lorenzen is any better than just a body to throw out there?

www.fansided.com/2022/01/23/jared-lorenzen-signing-explained

"According to a source within the Angels front office, the team believes analytics show upside beyond the actual on-field production Lorenzen has generated over his career. The source said, "[Lorenzen's] numbers might not look great on paper, but his spin rates and grounder-to-flyball ratio show us that he still has front of the rotation potential.""

 

[Dtwncbad]

8 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

www.fansided.com/2022/01/23/jared-lorenzen-signing-explained

"According to a source within the Angels front office, the team believes analytics show upside beyond the actual on-field production Lorenzen has generated over his career. The source said, "[Lorenzen's] numbers might not look great on paper, but his spin rates and grounder-to-flyball ratio show us that he still has front of the rotation potential.""

 

Thanks.  I would like to have some reason to be optimistic.

[HanfordGuy]

34 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

www.fansided.com/2022/01/23/jared-lorenzen-signing-explained

"According to a source within the Angels front office, the team believes analytics show upside beyond the actual on-field production Lorenzen has generated over his career. The source said, "[Lorenzen's] numbers might not look great on paper, but his spin rates and grounder-to-flyball ratio show us that he still has front of the rotation potential.""

 

Was this before or after the crack down on foreign sticky substances?

[mmc]

I don't like this team.  I don't like this roster.  I would rather the team completely blow up and have a tank season than watch the team we currently have assembled because that would at least be a team that has a direction and is trying to accomplish something.  All this team can accomplish is continuing what stands as the longest active streak of losing seasons among every team in the league.

[jsnpritchett]

32 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

Thanks.  I would like to have some reason to be optimistic.

It's an anonymous source...

5 minutes ago, HanfordGuy said:

Was this before or after the crack down on foreign sticky substances?

...in an article that I completely made up.

[T.G.]

8 minutes ago, mmc said:

I don't like this team.  I don't like this roster.  I would rather the team completely blow up and have a tank season than watch the team we currently have assembled because that would at least be a team that has a direction and is trying to accomplish something.  All this team can accomplish is continuing what stands as the longest active streak of losing seasons among every team in the league.

I take it your trip to Canada didn't go well?

[Dtwncbad]

23 minutes ago, jsnpritchett said:

It's an anonymous source...

...in an article that I completely made up.

Pretty easy right?  So you had something to gain to do that.  Now imagine your career depends on it.

Thanks for perfectly illustrating that it is easy to use an unnamed source if you have an agenda.

[jsnpritchett]

Just now, Dtwncbad said:

Pretty easy right?  So you had something to gain to do that.  Now imagine your career depends on it.

Thanks for perfectly illustrating that it is easy to use an unnamed source if you have an agenda.

lol

[failos]

18 hours ago, AngelsWin.com said:

They still have Mike Mayers, who has been a dependable reliever for the Angels two years in a row.

[fan_since79]

Having a healthy Trout and Rendon back is right there a vast improvement from last year.

Now about the pitching...some work needs to be done there, as always.

 

[Vlad27Trout27]

I still think we need to add another Bp arm. 

Hopefully every stats healthy thru the season. 

[Hubs]

1 hour ago, Vlad27Trout27 said:

I still think we need to add another Bp arm. 

Hopefully every stats healthy thru the season. 

I actually think they should bring back Cishek. I know he got a lot of hate on here, but he was pretty good overall, and would've been better if he was used in less stressful situations. He was good in 2018 and 2019 and also good in 2020.

He won't be expensive and if he doesn't perform, you can let him go.

The pen of Iglesias, Loup, Mayers, Wantz, Warren, Cishek, Buttrey, Quijada and Barria is easily better than last year. There are other possibilities of course, but 8 of those is pretty darn good.

[BTH]

23 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

It's an anonymous source...

...in an article that I completely made up.

What's the point of writing up and posting a fake article?

[jsnpritchett]

Just now, Trendon said:

What's the point of writing up and posting a fake article?

It was a riff on something from another thread in which dtwncbad and I were talking about something similar.

[Lazorko Saves]

4 hours ago, Hubs said:

Cishek [...] he was pretty good overall, and would've been better if he was used in less stressful situations.

I like this inescapable logic.

The next sentence logically is, "He would have been really great if he weren't used at all."

[Lou]

1 minute ago, Lazorko Saves said:

I like this inescapable logic.

The next sentence logically is, "He would have been really great if he weren't used at all."

In that case, I'm a HOFer. 

[Jason]

3 hours ago, Lou said:

In that case, I'm a HOFer. 

You are in the pozole Olympics 

[Vlad27Trout27]

9 hours ago, Hubs said:

I actually think they should bring back Cishek. I know he got a lot of hate on here, but he was pretty good overall, and would've been better if he was used in less stressful situations. He was good in 2018 and 2019 and also good in 2020.

He won't be expensive and if he doesn't perform, you can let him go.

The pen of Iglesias, Loup, Mayers, Wantz, Warren, Cishek, Buttrey, Quijada and Barria is easily better than last year. There are other possibilities of course, but 8 of those is pretty darn good.

one Muhugh

than one of Cishek and Watson (should be cheap.