Angels News: LAA has a new centerfielder, trade bust released

Earlier in the season, the Angels took a swing on Lamonte Wade Jr. despite his beyond disappointing season to that point. Unsurprisingly, Wade Jr. continued to disappoint once he arrived in Anaheim. With the Gustavo Campero experiment hitting dire straits in the outfield (and on the base paths), the Angels finally addressed these problems by promoting prospect Bryce Teodosio. 

Is the centerfielder of the future now in Anaheim?

Teodosio gets called up at a crucial point for this Halos team. With the gentle buying done at the trade deadline and back to back losses following it, frustration is mounting quickly among fans and, surely, the organization. Whether it’s fair or not, the fate of the Angels’ season is hinging on these next few games - and Teodosio is an integral part of that now. 

Teodosio will supply everything Wade Jr. does not. He is an exceptional fielder, and will be taking over in center field. This allows Jo Adell - an average center fielder defensively - to focus on the corner outfield where he’ll likely be a plus defender. Defense has been a huge flaw on this roster, and Teodosio will be a welcome change for Halo fans. He is also excellent on the base paths. A consistent threat to steal bases, he can be counted on to avoid mistakes like the one Campero made Friday night. 

The hitting is the real question with Teodosio. It has never been his calling card in his career, but he has been red hot this season. He is slashing .330/.385/.511 in his 25 games played this season, and his power-speed combo has been impressive with five doubles, four triples, and a home run in those games. With 10 stolen bases on top of that, Teodosio is playing the best base ball of his professional career right now. 

And even if the Teodosio experiment does not work this season, it represents a positive shift in the mindset of the Angels front office. Instead of chasing washed up veterans like Wade Jr. and Kevin Newman, giving a young guy who is playing well a shot in the big leagues is what this organization should be doing. While Kyren Paris and Matthew Lugo did not work out long term this season, their initial hot streaks catapulted the Angels throughout. Paris was one of the best players in baseball for a few weeks. Lugo helped get the Angels on an eight game winning streak in May. While Teodosio may not be the centerfielder forever, giving a hot bat the chance to make it happen in the big leagues is the perfect strategy to deploy right now for the Halos. 

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