LA Angels: The Angels need to tread carefully in off-season

Although the LA Angels season finished at the end of September the Washington Nationals winning Game 7 of the World Series, this means that the off-season frenzy can commence.

There have been many rumors with the LA Angels possibly looking to go all in terms of money spending and trade acquisitions if the right deal comes up. While anything should go in free agency so long as the Angels are willing to spend the big bucks, the Angels should take caution and really think about what they want to do in terms of acquiring players via trade. As it stands, the Angels have the 8th best farm system according to milb.com

(https://www.milb.com/milb/news/farm-system-rankings-position-players-10-1/c-303791168) and rank only 27th in a more updated article from Bleacher Report (https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2847603-updated-mlb-farm-system-rankings-after-2019-trade-deadline#slide4).

While the word frenzy might not mean what it used to in terms of action from what we’ve seen in recent off-seasons, trade talks and free agent signings can officially start.

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While the farm system does have increasing potential and a few bright spots in terms of players like Jo Adell, Brandon Marsh, Jordyn Adams, and Will Wilson just to name a few. The Angels could look to make a run for the postseason with the right moves, and how they will get there could be anyone’s guess.

One direction they could go is shipping off some of their minor league talent, which is something they shouldn’t consider at all if they want to maintain stability for years to come.

The Angels could still see a potential log jam in the outfield even with the departure of Kole Calhoun. As it currently stands the Angels are looking at an outfield consisting of Justin Upton, Mike Trout, and Brian Goodwin, with Jo Adell waiting in the wings for his much anticipated debut.

However, the Angels still have Brandon Marsh and Jordyn Adams in their system, with Marsh looking to be the next call up between the two. There has been speculation on whether Marsh should be the odd man out and the whether the Angels could make a deal to flip him and get current big league talent to help them compete in 2020.

However, I don’t personally agree that the Angels should do that as Marsh and Adell have great chemistry together and could form something truly special with the mentoring of Mike Trout in center field. They still have Justin Upton under contract through 2022, so it could be tricky trying to get Marsh playing time at the major league level, but the idea of letting Marsh go and never seeing what could form to be a fantastic, young outfield never form could be even worse.

Another spot to watch for in terms of trades is the infield, more closely at shortstop and second base as right now Andrelton Simmons is only under contract through next season and David Fletcher is under contract through 2025.

The Angels have three prospects that may come up in the coming years which include newly drafted shortstop Will Wilson, shortstop/second basemen Jeremiah Jackson, and second basemen Jahmai Jones. While I think it’s unlikely that neither Simmons nor Fletcher will be traded as the Angels pose to compete, extending Simmons is something the Angels shouldn’t be too concerned with considering the young talent coming up at that position.

Fletcher on the other hand makes a different case, as he has the potential to play at multiple positions and is locked up for a few more years which adds to the case to keep him and possibly have him mentor some the younger players at shortstop and second base. The Angels could potentially package up some of the young shortstop/second base talents and make a play at extending Simmons long term while adding more pitching depth at the same time.

While Angels fans should be excited to see what the team has in store for them during the off-season, they shouldn’t have to look too far in search of future talent. The farm system could easily be in the process of currently building off of what key players are in there, or take a dive as the Angels may look to compete and look for big league talent that is ready to help the club win now.

Angels fans shouldn’t be reminded that it wasn’t too long ago when the team was ranked towards the bottom in terms of the farm system, and they shouldn’t want a repeat of that should the Angels decide to go big in the off-season in terms of trades.