4 Angels players who are dragging the team down this year

The Angels currently find themselves in last place in the American League West, and desperately need a series win against the Athletics this week in order to spring themselves back into some semblance of playoff contention. The team has experienced a massive amount of turnover, mostly in the bullpen, given their poor league ranks in nearly every run production and run prevention statistical categories. Perry Minasian is on the record as to saying that he wants to put together the best roster possible, no matter one's background, contract, etc., and he needs to make difficult decisions moving forward with the players who are not pulling their weight on this below-.500 team.

The Angels are aiming to make the playoffs. They have a few should-be key contributors who need to turn their games around soon, or else Minasian will show them the door/Ron Washington will send them to the bench more often than he already is.

4 Angels players who are dragging the team down this year

Luis Rengifo

Man, what a bummer Rengifo's been this season. His most notable moment was getting benched for not knowing how many outs there were, which feels right given how laughably bad he has been in the field. Rengifo can technically play both third and second base, but has shown zero range or value in the infield whatsoever. It's a contract year for Rengifo, which normally brings the best out of a player, but his expiring deal is closer to getting cut than dealt as of now.

What's worse is that Rengifo used to be fun to watch at the plate, but not anymore. It's been a massive struggle for him this season. His vaunted bat-to-ball skills have been much diminished, and he is not playing like the table-setter this lineup needs. Rengifo is not controlling the strike zone -- he is not drawing walks and chasing far too much. He's hitting .218 for the season and just .179 in May.

The Angels might pivot to playing the far-better defensive infielders they have on the roster in Tim Anderson and/or Kevin Newman if Rengifo's bat keeps stalling. They could get Christian Moore, Scott Kingery or even Carter Kieboom ready if he needs to be expelled from the team altogether.