LA Angels Kole Calhoun is key for a successful 2020 run

Chemistry Wins Championships

There is no real way around it; Kole Calhoun is as vital as leaders get, he is the Derek Fisher to Mike Trouts Kobe Bryant, yet on the other hand Justin Upton does very little on the field and doesn’t provide the same high energy spark of enthusiasm that Calhoun has. When putting a team together one of the first things to do is create a team that gels together. Without chemistry you don’t have a team, you just have a group of players.

Calhoun is one of those leaders that brings a team together, he’s not like Justin Upton who has played on four different teams and is only where they money is taking him. The Angels are Calhouns family and it shows in the way he treats and leads his fellow Angels on and off the field.

I don’t want to make Justin Upton out to be a negative influence, but his positives are hard to come by. It’s very obvious that he can’t hit when it matters and he doesn’t make up for his lower level of play with any noticeable additions to the team chemistry. Upton is just another player, he isn’t a family man (referencing the Angels) like Calhoun; Upton just goes where he needs to go and does his job (and not very good on top of everything).

A strong 2020 run is a run that includes Kole Calhoun deep in the mix. Anything lesser will be a massive downgrade to the team, even if you replace Calhoun with Adell you’re still dealing with Uptons lacking presence. Kole Calhoun is as vital as leaders come, and you just can’t snag something like that on the market. That kind of leadership is usually

home-grown

unless you’re signing or traded for a lights out veteran who still has high quality value, and that doesn’t come cheap at all.

Kole Calhoun is where it’s at for the Angels whether you’re a fan of his or not; he’s shown improving offensive numbers from last year and energizes the team in such a way that you can’t simply just go “buy” that leadership. The Angels are buyers regardless of what anyone says, and Eppler himself knows this, and putting yourself in a position where you have to buy something as valuable to a championship run as leadership then you’re only taking steps backwards.

Just as I stated before, a strong 2020 run includes the leadership of Kole Calhoun.