LA Angels: 4 biggest questions of the offseason answered by HH staff

The LA Angels have an incredibly influential offseason coming up here.

The Halos were expected by many to win the American Least West division this year, and then didn’t even finish .500.

With the offseason being very important for this team, we at Halo Hangout gathered together and answered the four toughest questions of the offseason for this franchise.

No. 4 biggest question of the offseason: What should the LA Angels do about the shortstop situation this offseason?

David Rice, Contributor:

“I think for shortstop we get a guy for two years at most while our young shortstops continue to develop.”

Jacob Cisneros, Contributor:

“I sort of agree with David about shortstop, however, I do think the Angels should go and get the cheapest of the shortstop class and I believe that would be Marcus Semien if my projections are right. That would give the Angels more competitive offense and time for the minor league shortstops to develop, no more than 3-4 year deal.”

Zach Levine, Contributor:

“With starting pitching taking priority over shortstop, combined with the unlikeliness of us going over the luxury tax, the top guys like Correa and Story are out of the question. Luckily, the next best (and roughly $20-25 million/year) options are All-Star caliber guys like Javier Baez and Marcus Semien, both of whom would provide excellent value on both offense and defense. Take your pick, but at the end of the day either one would slot in and instantly give us one of the top middle infields in baseball.”

Craig Tyson Adams, Contributor:

“I’d get a slick fielding dynamo like Kevin Newman from the Pirates. The Royals have Bobby Witt Jr. at AAA so I’d try to pry him or Nicky Lopez away from them. Forget about offense. Get some defense cheap and spend on pitching”

Bradley Senecal, Contributor:

“When it comes to the future shortstop it is very important for Perry Minasian to be patient in the market. With the need to get a leader in the pitching rotation, signing a heavy in demand player at peak value will be counterproductive for the rest of the offseason. If a player such as Javier Baez or Trevor Story end up sitting on the market for a longer time than expected, and end up taking a shorter term (2-4 years) at a reasonable price tag they would be great options.

However if the free agent market proves to be too high in price, look for a trade option such as Nick Ahmed making sense to fill the whole. After the defensive debacle of Jose Iglesias, the team priority should be somebody who can exceed with the glove while any offense will be gravy in the lineup.”

Evan Desai, Editor:

“I totally get that the Angels need to spend money on pitching, but they also need a shortstop. There are options out there. Marcus Semien has really turned into a great player, and needs to be on their radar. Javier Baez and Corey Seager remain interesting as well.

The Angels need to attack this need through free agency because they do have money. They have enough to both improve pitching and sign one of these three.”