LA Angels: Three Worst, Three Best Offseason Acquisitions After Three Weeks

The LA Angels were one of the most active teams throughout the entire offseason, bringing in six new players via trade or free agency.

While the results have been mixed for the first-time LA Angels, some new faces performing extremely well while others struggling mightily, it seems to be an overall solid group of free agents. Today, however, we’ll be ranking the three worst and three best new guys in town.

Honorable Mentions:

Brad Ausmus, Manager

While it is too early to tell whether Brad Ausmus is good or bad (I’m leaning good), his arrival has undoubtedly brought changes to the Angels. First off, after years of Mike Scioscia plugging underperforming players into the lineup, Ausmus has shown that production is what will keep players in the lineup. This has shown with players like Peter Bourjos being pushed out in favor of David Fletcher. Once the team is more healthy, it could even push Kole Calhoun out of the starting lineup if he doesn’t get his bat on track.

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Ausmus has also done a good job so far this year with the bullpen. While they have had to pitch a lot of innings as a unit, he has done a good job of spreading those innings out amongst his relievers to keep them fresh. The roles he has for the group have also been well-chosen, for example using Ty Buttrey as the “fireman” and using his in the highest leverage situation regardless of inning.

Doug White, Pitching Coach

Apart of the new regime, the magic of Doug White has already shown in Anaheim. In Spring Training, the team began using Rapsodo technology in their bullpens to advance their analytical department. Tyler Skaggs said he learned more in a few weeks using the new technology than he had in the past few years.

On top of that, White has taken his pitchers to the next level. Another great example for this is Buttrey. A somewhat unproven prospect after last season, White has taken the raw velocity and movement Buttrey possessed and turned him into one of the best relievers in the American League.