3 free agents the LA Angels should avoid at all costs

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The Los Angeles Angels have a very important offseason coming up. With Shohei Ohtani on the final year of his deal and the Angels being unwilling to trade him before Opening Day, the Angels need to make the most out of this offseason to build a team good enough to compete for the playoffs and entice him to stay long-term.

The Angels have some big holes to fill and should be focusing on these players.

While this free agent class is pretty solid, there are some players out there who don't really fit the Angels roster well at all, and those players should be avoided at all costs.

The LA Angels need to avoid Mike Clevinger

Mike Clevinger was one of the rising stars in the American League. He was one of many Cleveland starters who looked destined for stardom. Unfortunately, things have taken a downhill turn in the last couple of years.

Clevinger had 105 appearances (92 starts) in his first five seasons and had a 3.19 ERA while striking out 10.0 batters per nine.

Clevinger underwent Tommy John Surgery after the 2020 season and things have been rocky since.

He missed the 2021 campaign and when he returned this season, he just didn't look like the same guy before the injury.

His velocity was down and his strikeouts were way down. He had a 4.33 ERA and a 4.97 FIP. He looked overmatched in the postseason.

Clevinger has been linked to the Angels and it's just not a fit I'm high on.

It's very possible Clevinger bounces back in his second year back from Tommy John but should the Angels be the team to give him that chance? I'd much rather sign someone else than hope Clevinger is anything close to what he once was.

The LA Angels need to avoid Willson Contreras

Willson Contreras is a great catcher. He's one of the best offensive catchers in baseball. The Angels do not have a need for a catcher, yet they have been linked to Contreras on a couple of occasions.

The Angels have Max Stassi signed for another two years at $7 million dollars annually with a team option for the 2025 season valued at $7.5 million dollars.

Stassi was dreadful at the plate last season and should not be handed the starting job. Even with that being said, the Angels don't need a catcher.

They acquired Logan O'Hoppe from the Phillies at the deadline for Brandon Marsh. O'Hoppe is the number one prospect in the Angels system and is the 64th-ranked prospect according to mlb.com.

O'Hoppe appeared in five games for the Angels to end the season and will hopefully be the starter on Opening Day. Even if O'Hoppe isn't deemed to be ready to be the starting catcher on Opening Day, why sign a catcher for three or four years when O'Hoppe is your future at the position? The Angels acquired him for a reason, so there is no need to look into a catcher.

If the Angels decide he isn't ready and opt to sign a veteran to a one-year deal that's fine with me. But with Stassi locked up and O'Hoppe ready or at least close to ready, signing Contreras makes absolutely no sense in my eyes.

The LA Angels need to avoid Kevin Kiermaier

The Tampa Bay Rays declined Kevin Kiermaier's $13 million dollar option so he became a free agent. With that in mind, the Angels should not try to sign him.

When healthy, Kevin Kiermaier is a fine player. He's a slightly below-average hitter and a really good defender. There are two reasons why the Angels should not sign him. One of them is he just can't be relied upon to stay on the field consistently.

He played in just 63 games in 2022. He's missed at least 33 games in every season since 2015 excluding the shortened 2020 season in which he still missed 11 of 60.

Kiermaier has won three Gold Gloves and in the one season he played in 151 games, 2015, he even finished 17th in the AL MVP balloting despite having a 99 OPS+ because of his absurd defense.

The Angels defense would improve drastically with a Kiermaier signing. The problem is, Mike Trout is the center fielder and likely won't be moving off of that spot for anybody.

Kiermaier's value as a corner outfielder lessens drastically, which is the second reason he doesn't make sense for the Angels. If he wanted to be a fourth outfielder maybe it'd make sense but I still don't see the vision.

Kiermaier slashed .228/.281/.369 with seven home runs and 22 RBI this past season. He was slightly better offensively than the likes of Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak. For an Angels team that finished 25th in baseball in runs scored, they need more offensive firepower than what Kiermaier would provide.

Next. 3 players CTTP believes the Angels should target. dark

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3 free agents the Angels should avoid at all costs

The LA Angels need to avoid Mike Clevinger

The LA Angels need to avoid Willson Contreras

The LA Angels need to avoid Kevin Kiermaier

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