Los Angeles Angels: 3 relievers to target this offseason

One of the Angels’ biggest problems this past season was with their pitching staff and as we head into winter, there are multiple ways they can improve it. The more obvious route would be to improve the starting rotation given that the team could not rely on many starters outside of Dylan Bundy in 2020, but the bullpen could be a more cost-effective solution to this problem.

The starting pitching free agency market is poised to be a fairly dull one and the trade market seems to be on the verge of following suit. However, in recent days, multiple back-end relievers have been declined their team options and have entered the free agency pool. This obviously bodes well for the Angels this winter as they look for any way possible to supplement their roster.

Former Indians closer Brad Hand, former Reliever of the Year Liam Hendriks, and former Astros reliever Roberto Osuna have all seen their options get declined for one reason or another. The Angels could realistically look to land one of them at the minimum.

When you have an offensive core with as much firepower as the Angels possess, addressing areas of weakness is a must — and it all starts here with the pitching staff.

The Angels ranked 17th in bullpen ERA across the sport in 2020, per Fangraphs. While that isn’t necessarily a pedestrian mark, there has historically been a trend in baseball that pits the best bullpens in baseball amongst the playoff contenders and the medicore bullpens sitting at home in October.

Let’s take a look at four realistic options for the Angels for the 2021 season and beyond. While this list could certainly be a lot longer than five arms, getting just one could be a huge boon for a staff that is begging for help.

Kirby Yates

Kirby Yates crashed onto the scene with the Padres in 2018, emerging as one of the league’s best bullpen arms. Yates posted a 2.14 ERA in 2018 and a ridiculous 1.19 ERA in 2019. His free agency stock will likely be bogged down by a season-ending elbow procedure that kept him out of the Padres’ 2020 playoff run, but he will be worth every penny he receives this winter. The Angels should rightfully be first in line to attempt to acquire his services.

The Angels have largely been rolling out a closer by committee for the better part of the last five season with Cam Bedrosian, Kenyan Middleton, Hansel Robles, and Ty Buttrey all receiving looks. While Hansel Robles has been fantastic in recent seasons for the Angels, Yates has been arguably the best reliever in baseball the past three seasons combined and would be a welcome presence in the ninth inning. Having the luxury of pushing Hansel Robles’s electrifying arm to the eighth inning would shorten games for a starting pitching staff that was nothing short of awful in 2020.

Yates will likely have plenty of suitors this offseason, but there is absolutely no reason Arte Moreno and the front office should pass on the pure upside of Yates. He will likely command a one-year deal given his recent injury, perhaps in the ballpark of $10 million, the same contract Blake Treinen received from the Dodgers this past season under similar circumstances.

Liam Hendriks

While matching Kirby Yates’ production over the past few seasons is hard to do, A’s closer Liam Hendriks has done just that. Angels fans know all too well just how good Hendriks is in the ninth inning. The right-hander posted a 1.80 ERA in 2019 and 1.78 ERA in 2020, amassing 39 saves in the process. He’s about as good as it gets amongst MLB closers these days and having him as a free agent is huge. Again, these are the type of guys the Angels need to go all-in for. The days of going after marginal upgrades and relying on the unreliable need to end. Hendriks would fully jumpstart a bullpen makeover that is long overdue.

The A’s are a small market team that simply could not shoulder the financial load of Hendriks’ contract which is genuinely pretty sad. However, given that the Angels are the division rivals of the A’s, they are in prime position to double benefit from a potential Hendriks addition.

Liam Hendriks surrendered an elite level 98th percentile xwOBA (expected weighted on base average) in 2020 which places him amongst the game’s elite. The reason for that is, well, Hendriks is firmly amongst the game’s elite.

Unlike Yates, Hendriks has no real injury history to speak of and will likely command a huge pay day. A four-year deal in the neighborhood of $72 million would not be the least bit surprising. The Angels would just have to bite the bullet.