5 Things the LA Angels need to do to return to the World Series

Sitting watching the 2017 playoffs has been very frustrating for me as it has most of the decade because the LA Angels haven’t found the right combination to qualify for the post-season once again. I could sit & complain but it does no good

So I started thinking that if I had the ear of the LA Angels general manager what would be five things I could suggest for him to do to make things better and build a championship caliber team.

I’m not going to be one of those people who wants to go out and spend, spend, spend or make ridiculous trade proposal that an opposing GM would get fired if they accepted them.  Instead I would look from within whenever possible, but not be afraid to make a move that make sense or sign a free agent that would fill a void.

The Angels have plenty of talent to compete if it is used the right way could yield a pennant. With that said I came up with a list of five things that if they are done should make the Angels a World Series contender.

When the Angels made the deal to acquire left fielder Justin Upton from Detroit I was excited since the Angels had not made a deadline deal of that magnitude since they acquired Mark Teixera from the Braves in July of 2008.  Just like in 2008 it didn’t get the Angels much this season because there were too many other issues to deal with.

However, the impact of Upton was felt in the offense as he had a strong September stretch run.  If the Angels would have had Upton all season and also a healthy Mike Trout in the line-up on the daily maybe Dave Hansen would still have his job as hitting coach.

Upton is a young and talented player who is coming into his prime years and you couple that with Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun and you have one of the best outfields in baseball.  It seems that Upton wants to stay on the West Coast if the money is right so I would do everything possible to make sure that it is.

The Angels had a decent lead-off hitter in Yunel Escobar during 2016 and the first part of 2017, but he was not a prototypical lead-off hitter who could get on base and steal bases and cause general havoc on the base paths.  Cameron Maybin was this type of player and for the close to two weeks he was inserted in the lead off spot while Escobar and Trout were both injured he provided a major spark.

This is something the Angels have been truly missing for awhile now and it is something that both World Series teams have in Chris Taylor(.354 OBP) for the Dodgers and George Springer (.364 OBP) for the Astros. The Yankees have Brett Gardner (.350 OBP) and this is one of the things the Cubs were lacking after Dexter Fowler (.393 OBP in 2016) left via-free agency to the Cardinals after winning the World Series in 2016.

The Angels could go out and try to acquire someone who fits the bill or use one of their in-house options such as Ramon Flores who had .409 OBP and stole 13 bases for the Salt Lake City Bees.  They could also consider putting Kole Calhoun there or acquiring a player who fits the bill.

The LA Angels have been suffering over the last two seasons from a plethora of injuries to their starting rotation.  The Angels have had eight starters who have gone down with season-ending injuries over the past two seasons with a couple of them suffering multiple injuries.  Last season the Angels lost Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney, and Nick Tropeano to a torn UCL in their elbows.

Later in the season the Angels lost Matt Shoemaker to fractured skull, and C.J. Wilson was also lost for the season and ended up never pitching again.  In 2017 the Angels again lost Garrett Richards and Tyler Skaggs for most of the season, then later lost Shoemaker and Alex Meyer for the season as well as J.C. Ramirez.

The Angels are hoping that Skaggs, Heaney, are all going to be fully recovered when the 2018 season begins as well as Tropeano and Shoemaker.  In addition rookie Parker Bridwell can in and pitched outstanding which helped solidify the Angels staff down the stretch.

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So hopefully if everyone can stay healthy in 2018 the Angels could have a very strong starting rotation and one of these six pitchers could pitch out the bullpen as a long-man.  If this were to happen along with getting a solid effort from the bullpen and the Angels are contenders right away.  Some people have said they believe the Angels should sign an ace or maybe a solid #2 starter to help anchor the staff, but I don’t believe they need to do this unless they can find someone who would be cost-effective.

One thing the Angels always seemed to have during the 2000-2009 decade when the Angels made the playoffs six times in the decade they had a definitive leader who was well respected by everyone on the team.  Guys like Darin Erstad and Tim Salmon then later guys like Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter.  In the past eight seasons the Angels have not had that kind of leadership with the exception of maybe Jered Weaver.

Next: Angels win 2002 World Season.

Nothing against Mike Trout or Albert Pujols but they are not the type of guys who will get into you if your not pulling your weight.  This type of accountability is something I think the Angels need to put them over the top.  This is an intangible that the Angels could use to finally get them over the top.

If Billy Eppler listens to these suggestions and puts them into action (with the starting rotation health which he has no control over) we could see the Angels in the post-season once again.

It could happen.