LA Angels: 3 players who won’t be back next season

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Kurt Suzuki, LA Angels. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports /

The LA Angels are going to have a busy offseason, and unfortunately will likely not be able to bring everyone back.

The Angels currently have ten free agents who will be on the market. They’ve got quite a bit of money with multi-billionaire at the helm in Arte Moreno, but will likely look in some other directions over some of the players we currently have on this team.

There are three players in particular that are unlikely to be back next season for their own separate reasons.

No. 3 player who won’t be back with the LA Angels next season: Kurt Suzuki

Kurt Suzuki likely isn’t all too needed for the LA Angels next year.

He served as a backup catcher, as well as Shohei Ohtani’s personal catcher. However, Max Stassi is one of the best catchers in the AL when healthy, and catches Ohtani just fine.

Suzuki also wasn’t all that productive for the Angels, hitting .224/.294/.342 (.636 OPS) with just six home runs and 16 RBI in 72 games.

He wasn’t as good as hoped in the field, finishing first in errors on the team with 10 (other than Jose Iglesias who is no longer on this team).

He also finished last in defensive runs saved on this team (again, excluding Iglesias) with -12.

He just didn’t perform this year, and he’s 38 years old.

Suzuki used to be one of the better catchers in this league, but had a bad year with the Angels. Don’t expect him back.

Dexter Fowler, LA Angels. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 2 player who won’t be back with the LA Angels next season: Dexter Fowler

Dexter Fowler was one of the first LA Angels to get hurt this season.

Fowler was arguably one of the biggest acquisitions of the offseason for the Halos, and our outfield was supposed to be loaded with depth that injuries didn’t allow us to have.

I don’t dislike Fowler. He’s been an All-Star, a World Champion, and a former player who was in the conversation as one of the best center fielders in baseball.

That being said, we already have enough outfielders if we keep Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell up. We’ll have Mike Trout, Marsh, Adell, and Justin Upton. I don’t know if it’s best to re-sign Fowler when we can also go with Taylor Ward and Juan Lagares as our backup outfielders for dirt cheap.

Fowler is also 35, which is much older than Ward and Lagares. Besides, he wasn’t exactly a world-beater in the short time he was out there. He hit to a line of .250/.286/.250 with no home runs and just one RBI and stolen base in his seven games.

Again, that’s a very small sample size, but we have who would be cheaper options.

Dylan Bundy, LA Angels. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 1 player who won’t be back with the LA Angels next season: Dylan Bundy

Dylan Bundy had such a strong 2020 for the LA Angels, and such a rough 2021.

In 2020, Bundy posted a 3.29 ERA to go along with a 6-3 record and a 1.036 WHIP. He walked just 2.3 batters per nine innings, and struck out 9.9. Boy, was 2021 a different story.

Bundy posted a 6.06 ERA this year in 23 games (19 starts) to go along with an abysmal 2-9 record and a 1.357 WHIP. He walked 3.4 batters per nine innings and struck out 8.3.

It was a deep regression for Bundy, and it had to be very frustrating for him due to the progress he had been making since he struggled a lot in 2018.

Bundy cost over $8 million this past year, and he’s really not worth much at all anymore. Even in a trade market this past year that wasn’t deep at all, the Angels still couldn’t even find a team to trade for Bundy.

He’s just not a good pitcher right now, and it’s best for both parties to go their separate ways. The Angels need to give themselves a new, fresh arm in his spot, and Bundy needs a change of scenery.

Next. 3 players to fill a need in starting pitching

This Angels team has the chance to be special next year. Unfortunately, there won’t be room for everyone.

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