Which Angels are doomed to not return in 2021?

Angels that won’t return in 2021: Hansel Robles, RP

One of the only true things that the Angels felt they had at the beginning of the 2020 season was a closer. Hansel Robles was coming off of two consecutive above-average seasons and had nailed down the role.

Robles was a Cinderella story for the Angels. Selected off waivers from the Mets, the right-hander changed overnight and flourished for the Halos. Over the course of the 2018-2019 seasons, Robles gave the Angels 109 innings of quality pitching, holding a 2.64 ERA, a 9.17 K/9, and a 2.56 BB/9.

But for how quickly he rose to prominence for the Angels, Robles fell from grace even quicker.

A sudden drop in velocity from 97.1 MPH in 2019 to 95.4 MPH in 2020 and a return to big walk rates gave hitters all they needed to get the jump on the right-hander this season. Hitters have torched Robles to the tune of .300/.394/.533 with18 hits and 18 runs allowed over 14.2 innings of work.

As a result, Robles has appeared in just four games this month, going 11 days between games from September 9th through September 20th.

After doubling his salary from 2019 to 2020 through the arbitration process, Robles in set to sit through the process again this winter. However, the Angels may not choose to take the chance of paying him more after such a down season.