10 best Angels free agent targets to pursue this offseason

The Los Angeles Angels enter the 2023 offseason in a difficult position. The team just finished with a 73-89 record after trying to go all in at the trade deadline in an effort to convince Shohei Ohtani to remain an Angel long-term. No extension was reached, and nothing even publicly came out about one being discussed a single time.

With no extension, Ohtani officially hit free agency for the first time since the Angels signed him, able to walk away for nothing more than a measly draft pick. The Angels hope to retain Ohtani, but even with Shohei they failed to put together a winning season. In fact, the Angels have not finished a season with a winning record since 2015. They have not made the playoffs since 2014.

Ohtani is the top priority, but more work is to be done. Perry Minasian must do whatever he can to try and either make this team competitive, or have them set up nicely for a rebuild. These ten free agents are among the best in the class and are ones Minasian should be pursuing this offseason.

10) Jordan Hicks

The Angels bullpen needs a lot of help. They were among the league's worst in terms of ERA and blown saves in 2023, and could finish in the same boat next season if major improvements aren't made. Jordan Hicks would be a major improvement, but it'd be one with some risk as well.

Hicks is coming off his best season, posting a 3.29 ERA in 65 appearances and 65.2 innings of work for the Cardinals and Blue Jays. He walks many, but held the opposition to a .231 average against and just four home runs. Walks don't hurt nearly as badly when opponents can't cash them in.

The right-hander is among the hardest throwers in the league, averaging 100.1 mph with his sinker and 100.3 mph with his four-seam fastball. Hicks also generates a ton of ground balls, doing so at a 61.6% rate this past season. His flyball rate was at a sparkling 12%. With the Ron Washington hire, the Angels will hopefully have improved infield defense which would make the Hicks addiiton one that could work out great.

The problem with this right-hander in particular is there are some durability concerns. He was healthy this past season, but combined to make 74 total appearances from 2019-2022. He was nine shy of that this past season alone.

Hicks late in games would be a great pickup if he can stay healthy. It'd be risky considering he's going to warrant a lucrative multi-year deal, but could be very worthwhile.

8) Josh Hader

Josh Hader is one of the best relievers in baseball. I'd argue he's the best left-handed reliever in baseball. He posted a 1.28 ERA in 61 appearances for the Padres this season, making his fifth all-star team in the last eight years. If the Angels were to sign him, he'd step right in and make a weakness a possible strength with guys like Carlos Estevez, Jose Soriano, Ben Joyce, and Sam Bachman setting up.

There are a couple of problems that would come with signing Hader. First, the contract. Hader is going to get close to, if not more than the $102 million over five years Edwin Diaz got from the Mets in 2022. If Hader were to get more money than Diaz he'd have the richest contract for a reliever in MLB history. Paying a position that comes with that much volatility is a risk, even if it's Hader. We've seen him have his moments where he suddenly isn't usable.

Another problem would be the Angels having to forfeit draft capital to bring him aboard thanks to the Qualifying Offer San Diego gave to him. This is an Angels team that really can't afford to continue giving up high draft picks, but would have to in order to sign Hader.

While those are two massive areas of concern, there's no doubt that a Hader addition would be an exciting one. The Angels haven't had a lockdown closer in a long time, and they'd likely get that if they brought him in.

7) Cody Bellinger

Outside of Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger is the best position player available. At his best, he's a guy capable of winning an MVP award each and every year. Unfortunately, how he performs at his worst is why he's just seventh on this list.

Bellinger burst onto the scene in 2017 with the Dodgers and won the NL Rookie of the Year award. Two years later he was the NL MVP after posting a 1.035 OPS with 47 home runs and 115 RBI. He had entrenched himself in the argument for best player in all of baseball before some struggles after the MVP year.

From 2020-2022, Bellinger slashed .203/.272/.376 averaging 14 home runs and 45 RBI per season. He remained an elite defender, but Bellinger's bat was so bad to the point where the Dodgers non-tendered him just three years after he won his MVP.

Bellinger signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Cubs last offseason which wound up paying dividends. He had an .881 OPS and was one of the biggest reasons Chicago remained in the postseason race as long as they did.

If the Angels get that version of Bellinger, he's worth even more than the massive deal he's going to get this offseason. If they got the 2020-2022 version, it'd be an absolute disaster. The risk lowers his status on the list, but the reward is why he's on it to begin with.

6) Sonny Gray

Sonny Gray enters free agency at the perfect time. He was a Cy Young finalist this past season for Minnesota, and was a huge reason they were able to win the AL Central. Throughout the course of his career he's been extremely consistent with few exceptions, and would be a dramatic improvement over any starter the Angels have right now.

Gray has supplanted himself among the very best in a deep free agency class for starting pitchers. There are a couple of reasons he might rank lower than some of the other high-end starters.

First, Gray just turned 34 years old. He's set to earn a three or four-year deal in free agency. It's not impossible for him to remain the frontline starter he is right now for the duration of the contract he signs, but that's tough to bet on when he's 37 or 38 years old.

Second, he has the qualifying offer attached to his name. The Angels would have to give up a draft pick to sign Gray, something they wouldn't have to do for every elite starting pitcher in this class. For a team with a very weak farm system, doing this wouldn't be ideal. It's not a dealbreaker, but it lowers Gray's value a tad.

5) Jordan Montgomery

Over the last couple of seasons, Jordan Montgomery has pitched his way up from a decent mid-rotation arm to a legitimate frontline starter. Ever since he was traded from the Yankees at the 2022 trade deadline, Montgomery has pitched like an ace for both the Cardinals and Rangers.

This past season, Montgomery posted a 3.20 ERA in 32 starts and 188.2 innings pitched for St. Louis and Texas. He wound up pitching even better in the postseason as evidenced by his 2.90 ERA which included 2.1 scoreless innings in Game 7 of the ALCS in Houston. Montgomery is a bonafide ace and would make this Angels team much better.

At 30 years old Montgomery is going to get a longer deal than Gray even if he's slightly worse. While that can be worrisome, his contract would likely expire at a younger age than Gray's will and could also have a lower AAV.

Due to the fact that he was traded at the 2023 trade deadline, Montgomery was not eligible for the Qualifying Offer which means the Angels would not have to give up a draft pick to sign him. This makes a difference for a team that has wasted draft picks in each of the last two offseasons by signing Tyler Anderson and Noah Syndergaard.

4) Matt Moore

The Angels bullpen needs a boost, and the team should look no further than one of their former stalworts late in games, Matt Moore. The Halos brought Moore in for the 2023 season to be their primary left-handed reliever and he lived up to the billing and then some.

In 41 appearances for the Halos, the southpaw posted a 2.66 ERA in 44 innings of work. He proved to be a pitcher capable of getting both righties and lefties out and could also record more than three outs if there was a need for that. He did a phenominal job serving as the eighth inning man for the Angels, not blowing a single save until his final two outings with the club.

This Angels bullpen lacks proven late-game arms, and also lacks any sort of left-hander. With Aaron Loup a free agent and Jose Quijada hurt for most if not the entire season, the Angels desperately need a lefty they can turn to against the likes of Corey Seager, Yordan Alvarez, and Kyle Tucker.

This isn't to say Moore is as good as a guy like Josh Hader, but the contract he's going to get is far more appealing than the one Hader will receive. This should make Moore their top option in terms of relievers.

3) Aaron Nola

Aaron Nola is a free agent for the first time after spending the first nine years of his career wearing a Philadelphia Phillies uniform. Nola stuck around in Philadelphia through the good times and bad, and will now get paid like the workhorse he's been throughout most of his career.

After dealing with a couple of injuries at the beginning of his career, Nola has been one of, if not the most durable starting pitchers in all of baseball since 2018. He's made at least 32 starts in every full season since 2018 with at least 180 innings of work (excluding 2020). For reference, one Angels starter since 2018 has reached 180 innings, and that was Andrew Heaney back in 2018.

Nola has finished in the top-seven of the NL Cy Young balloting three times in the last six years including finishing in fourth place in 2022. He had a down year in 2023 posting a 4.46 ERA for Philadelphia, but he still pitched 193.2 innings and had a more respectable 4.03 FIP. Despite the down year, he stepped up in the postseason, posting a 2.35 ERA in his four starts.

He'd give the Angels the reliability of at the very least taking the ball every fifth day and giving the Angels a chance to win. At his best, he can win a Cy Young. He's that good. At just 30 years old Nola should be able to give the Angels many frontline rotation years before he regresses.

2) Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Normally when free agents become available they're around or over the age of 30. Even looking at this list, only Bellinger, Hader, and Hicks are below the age of 30, and Hader turns 30 in April. What makes Yoshinobu Yamamoto special is he's just 25 years old.

Yamamoto's youth not only means that he's going to be good for a while for whatever team he signs with, but it also means he's not going to be under contract when he's seriously regressing. That's the downside to signing almost every major free agent, but the Angels wouldn't have to deal with that if they convinced him to come.

Even with Yamamoto not pitching in MLB yet, he's still one of, if not the best pitchers available. He's the highest-touted Japanese prospect since Shohei Ohtani came to the Angels, and should make an immediate impact as a frontline starter for whatever team he ends up signing with.

Yamamoto won back-to-back Sawamura awards as NPB’s best pitcher in 2021 and 2022. He arguably improved on that performance, posting a 1.21 ERA through 164 innings this year with 169 strikeouts compared to just 28 walks. Perhaps what was most impressive from the right-hander was he only gave up five home runs all year.

We saw how well Kodai Senga pitched for the Mets this season, and Yamamoto comes in younger and better. He showed it in the WBC and has been the best pitcher in Japan in the last three years. It will be fascinating to see where he signs, and would be awesome for the Angels to at least show some interest.

1) Shohei Ohtani

You knew he'd be number one on this list. Ohtani is the top target of many teams around baseball, and for good reason. He's the best player on the planet and arguably the best player we've ever seen.

The chances of Ohtani remaining in Anaheim are slim. There's no doubting that. The team has failed to field a winning team around him, and it'll only get harder when he's making $40-50 million annually. Despite that obvious obstacle, if the Angels only won 73 games this season with him it's hard to picture how well they'd do without him.

Ohtani not being able to pitch in 2024 obviously hurts, but losing his bat would hurt just as much. Ohtani will win the MVP award for this season because of his bat. He put together what I'd consider the best offensive season in Angels franchise history.

Ohtani without question will receive a contract that will make him the highest-paid player in MLB history, the only question is by how much. Will he reach $500 million even with the injury? That's still very much in play.