1 Angels weakness fans should be more concerned with
Angels fans should be concerned more with this team weakness.
The Los Angeles Angels have done an exceptional job addressing one of, if not their biggest weakness entering the offseason, their bullpen. The Angels once again had one of the worst bullpens in the majors this past season, and needed to do a whole lot to fix that.
The offseason started in disappointing fashion with the Angels signing Luis Garcia, Adam Cimber, and Adam Kolarek to cheap one-year deals, but those guys look like nothing more than depth pieces now, as the Angels brought in two of the best relievers available in Matt Moore and Robert Stephenson as they suddenly have turned their bullpen into arguably their biggest strength.
When thinking about team weaknesses, the rotation is an obvious one that fans are now concerned about. Shohei Ohtani is gone, and outside of an underwhelming Zach Plesac addition, the Angels have done nothing to address their starting pitching. The lineup is another one, again, thanks to Ohtani's departure and the team doing virtually nothing to address it.
A weakness Angels fans are not talking about nearly enough is their bench. It looks incredibly weak, and the depth behind it is even more concerning.
Angels fans should be more concerned with their bench and lack of position player depth
The backup catcher spot looks solid with Matt Thaiss backing up Logan O'Hoppe and even guys like Chad Wallach and Francisco Mejia joining the fold on minor league pacts. The rest of the bench, however, is incredibly suspect.
The fourth outfielder spot will almost certainly be manned by Jo Adell who is out of minor league options. If the Angels don't trade him, he's going to make the team as the team won't want to lose him to waivers. While eventually the Angels have to give Adell a chance, he's done nothing with the four previous chances he's had. He continues to strike out at alarming rates, and while his defense has improved, it's far from extraordinary.
Michael Stefanic looks likely to make the team if the Angels don't make another move with Luis Rengifo moving into an everyday role and David Fletcher being traded to the Braves. While Stefanic has earned chances thanks to his terrific minor league numbers, he has just a .624 MLB OPS and isn't known to be much of a defender. Stefanic getting the first crack doesn't feel all that great.
The last bench spot will be held by anyone's best guess. Perhaps it'll be one of the minor league signees like Jake Marisnick, Willie Calhoun, Hunter Dozier, or Miguel Sano. Maybe it'll be a youngster like Kyren Paris. Whoever it is, it's not good enough if it comes from within.
The Angels should be adding multiple position players on MLB deals to make an impact on the MLB team while also continuing to fortify their minor league depth. They've been burnt repeatedly by a lack of position player depth, and it looks as bleak as ever right now barring additional moves.