Angels give aging World Series hero rotation spot in first free agent signing

The Angels continued their busy offseason by adding Kyle Hendricks on a 1 year, $2.5 million contract, ending his 11-year big league career with the Chicago Cubs. "The Professor" was the last remaining member of their 2016 World Series team. In addition to helping the Cubs win their first World Series in 108 years, the Dartmouth man won an ERA title in '16 and has two top-10 Cy Young finishes.

It is a sad day for Cubs fans. It is a relatively inauspicious day for Angels fans, however.

Some are pointing to the likelihood that the Angels will deal Tyler Anderson now, given how both are in their mid-30s and have poor velocity and stuff. Anderson is on the books for $13 million and his contract expires after next season. Will the Angels seriously lean into zagging on league trends by relying heavily on pitchers who dink-and-dunk their way through innings?

Others are surmising that the Angels only had four starting pitching options, so they acquired their fifth starter and will stand pat with Hendricks, Anderson, José Soriano, Jack Kochanowicz, and Reid Detmers. Patrick Sandoval will likely not pitch in 2025, and Soriano, Kochanowicz, and Detmers need to prove they can hold up over the course of an entire season, so Hendricks should be able to eat innings for a team that desperately needs reliability in their rotation.

His 2024 season was the worst of his career, as he posted his worst ERA, ERA+, H/9, BB/9, K:BB, and most losses ever. His average velocity on his four seamer and sinker were below 88mph. Hendricks was temporarily moved to the bullpen last season due to his ineffectiveness. He is turning 35-years-old. While Hendricks is a few million dollars cheaper than his predecessor in the rotation, Hendricks will need a strong bounce-back campaign to even out-perform Griffin Canning's 2024 season. Hendricks, in theory, still has strong pitch-ability and can hit spots. The results speak for themselves, though.

Rather than taking a patient approach in free agency, Hendricks signed right away. Hendricks grew up in Newport Beach and is returning home to try and extend/ revive his career. In fact, the Angels drafted him in the 39th round of the 2008 MLB Draft out of Capistrano Valley HS (he opted to attend Dartmouth, and was drafted again three years later).

The veteran could perhaps mentor the young pitchers in the Angels system, and provide more off-field value than on-field. Hendricks' pitching style has long mirrored that of the aging version of Zack Greinke, in the sense that he throws his changeup more often than his other pitches and beats hitters with his smarts and deception over pure stuff. He throws his floating curveball as often as his four seamer. He does a great job of preventing hard contact and missing barrels, but when he makes a mistake it usually gets sent a long way.

So far, the Angels have signed Hendricks, and traded for Jorge Soler, Scott Kingery, and Ryan Noda in their attempt to contend in 2025. The Angels will need to clear a spot on their 40-man roster as a corresponding move.

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