LA Angels: 3 players the Halos should try to keep this offseason

The LA Angels need to make many roster changes this year, but there are also some parts of this roster that need to be kept together.

This team had good players, but dealt with too many injuries to be able to compete. The Angels have the chance to keep any of the players that they had from last year, and there are a few in particular who need to be kept.

The Halos need to prioritize keeping them as soon as free agency starts.

No. 3 player the LA Angels should try to keep this offseason: Steve Cishek

Steve Cishek had some inconsistencies last year, but he’s still a solid pitcher that we can absolutely use in this pen.

We need bullpen help, so let’s not part ways with a useful arm that we already have.

He threw 74 games for us this year, and posted a 3.42 ERA. Yes, he walked too many guys, but he wasn’t giving up a ton of runs.

Cishek isn’t a dominant bullpen pitcher, and hasn’t been since 2018.

But he’s still a quality pitcher who has lots of experience pitching and pitching well in this league.

We spent just $1 million on Cishek this season, and he didn’t have a good enough year to deserve much more coming into next season.

Re-signing him is very attainable, and needs to get done. He was one of our better relief pitchers, and he’s proven to be solid over a long career and body of work.

No. 1 player the LA Angels should try to keep this offseason: Raisel Iglesias

Raisel Iglesias is one of the best closers in baseball, and the LA Angels have no reason not to be aggressive and re-sign him.

Iglesias is tied for the fifth-most saves in baseball with 34. He sported a 2.57 ERA last season, and got even better as the season went on.

He was automatic, and established his fastball to be one of the best in baseball.

Iglesias can blow it by a lot of hitters, and it’s why his 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings was the highest rate in history. The former starting pitcher has played for seven years and gone just two of them while having an ERA of 3 or higher.

His WHIP for the last two seasons is 0.925, and he walked just 1.5 batters per nine innings this year.

He is a future All-Star in this league, and is entering next year with a lot of momentum. He’ll have a high price tag, as there’s no way he’s going to play for just over nine million again next season. That being said, he’s the heart and soul of this bullpen.

There’s no excuses to not bring him back for 2022. There’s no reason to not bring back any of these three. This roster does already have some talent on it, and we need to keep it that way.