3 LA Angels free agents they let walk having a good year, 1 failing miserably

1 of 4

Everyone knows about the free agents the Los Angeles Angels have this offseason. Shohei Ohtani is obviously the headliner, but even guys like Matt Moore, Chris Devenski, Gio Urshela, and Hunter Renfroe should have plenty of demand.

This past offseason, the list wasn't nearly as star-studded. It was small, and didn't include many important names. The biggest one was Michael Lorenzen who signed on with the Tigers.

Some of these free agents the Angels let walk would've been helpful on this team in retrospect as they've had good seasons, but one other one had a rough go of things in his new home.

1) Former LA Angels pitcher Michael Lorenzen has had a good year with the Detroit Tigers

Michael Lorenzen was the one free agent that I felt the Angels could bring back. I wasn't in love with the idea, but as a fifth or sixth starter I didn't hate it either. He had a decent year with the Angels when healthy, and felt like a fine option to pluck in the back of a rotation.

Lorenzen was searching for a team that was going to use him consistently as a starting pitcher, and that team wound up being the Detroit Tigers. GM Scott Harris must be pleased with that decision based on Lorenzen's first half output.

The 31-year-old made the all-star team for the first time in his career, posting a 4.03 ERA in 15 starts and 87 innings pitched. He wasn't exactly all-star worthy, but with every team needing a representative, he represented the Tigers.

As underwhelming as this might be to say, Lorenzen would be probably the team's second or third-best starter. He'd have the second lowest ERA among pitchers who have consistently been starting pitchers on the Angels this season, and he'd rank second in innings pitched. Both only trailing Shohei Ohtani.

It's nice to see Lorenzen succeed in a role he's always wanted, but it would've been even nicer to see that here, especially knowing that Lorenzen really wanted to come back.

2) Former LA Angels infielder Matt Duffy has had a good year with the Kansas City Royals

Not only was Matt Duffy an Opening Day starter for the Angels last season, but he hit cleanup that day. Injuries played a role in that happening, but he was supposed to play a big role for last year's Angels team and just didn't.

In 77 games, he slashed .250/.308/.311 with two home runs and 16 RBI. He's a guy who entered the season as a .283 hitter with a .721 OPS and a 98 OPS+. A really solid singles hitter without much power, but as we saw with Gio Urshela, those hitters can be impactful.

Duffy's OPS was over 100 points lower as an Angel and his OPS+ was 19 points lower. He went from basically an average hitter to an unplayable hitter. And this guy hit cleanup on Opening Day.

He signed a one-year deal with the Royals and has been the hitter he's always been in his career. He's hitting .283 with an OPS+ of 94. He's played three different infield positions well for a Royals team having a miserable year.

Duffy wouldn't have been needed when Urshela was healthy, but it would've been nice to have him waiting in the wings to fill that role with Urshela now hurt if this was going to be how he'd produce.

3) Former LA Angels infielder Mike Ford has had a good year with the Seattle Mariners

Mike Ford was one of a slew of Angels who had short stints with the team last season that were unimpactful. In the 28 games he played, he slashed .231/.293/.374 with three home runs and five RBI. The Angels let him go in a minor league deal to the Mariners, which I was more than fine with, but based on how he's performed, that might be another one Perry Minasian wants back.

Ford was having a great year in the minors and thanks to an opt-out clause in his contract, he had to either be promoted or released by June 1. The Mariners chose to promote him, and haven't looked back since.

The 31-year-old is slashing .277/.330/.614 with eight home runs and 17 RBI in 30 games this season. In eight fewer MLB at-bats than he had last season with the Angels, Ford has two more hits, five more home runs, and 12 more RBI. Just the Angels luck I guess.

After a slow start, he's swung an especially hot bat in the month of July, posting a 1.259 OPS with eight RBI in just nine games. He's been doing this mostly as a DH which the Angels do have occupied, but first base has been a weak spot on this team for much of the season.

Again, the likelihood he would've been this good on the Angels is slim, but that doesn't make it easier watching a player who was not good last season on the Angels suddenly be raging hot for a division rival while the Angels are in a tailspin.

4) Former LA Angels pitcher Mike Mayers failed miserably with the Kansas City Royals

Mike Mayers had an up-and-down tenure with the Angels. He had some good years, particularly in 2020 and 2021 as a reliever. He had some bad years, particularly in 2022 both starting and relieving.

He wound up signing a minor league deal to join the Royals, and didn't even get a chance to contribute until mid-May. On a team as bad as the Royals are, you'd think Mayers would've gotten a chance earlier.

He had three straight good outings to begin his MLB season including a dominant outing in St. Louis in which he no-hit the Cardinals for six innings before finally giving up a couple of hits. Things then fell apart in June, and he found himself DFA'd and outrighted.

In his three June appearances, Mayers allowed 17 runs (16 earned) in 13.1 innings pitched. This included a start against the Angels in which he allowed six runs on eight hits with three home runs in five innings of work. That start elevated his season ERA to 6.15, a mark even worse than last season for the right-hander.

It's only six appearances so this might be a bit unfair, but for an Angels team that definitely could use some more pitching depth, Mayers is not that. It's possible Kansas City brings him back up, but he's no longer even on the 40-man roster.

manual

Home / LA Angels News