3 reasons why the LA Angels will miss the playoffs in 2023

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There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the 2023 Los Angeles Angels and their quest at making it back to the postseason for the first time since 2014. The roster is deeper than it has been in a long time and you can't forget how great Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout are.

While there're reasons to be optimistic, it's also fair to be a little more pessimistic. After all, this team has been bad for almost a decade straight now and there're still a lot of questions that must be answered.

We'd expect improvement but here are three reasons why the Angels will fall short of their goal of reaching the postseason.

1) The AL West is a bloodbath making the Angels path to the postseason very challenging

The Angels are playing in what might be the most competitive division in baseball. There're some divisions with two or three great teams, but also have two or three teams putting no effort in winning games. A division like the NL East has the Mets, Phillies, and Braves trying to win and having very good teams to do so, but the Marlins and Nationals are both terrible.

The AL West has four teams trying to make the postseason in 2023. All four teams have gotten better or are already great and that makes it difficult for an Angels team that won 73 games this past season to win enough to get in.

The Astros are defending champions and despite losing Justin Verlander they have one of the better starting rotations in the game and added Jose Abreu to what was a very good lineup. As much as we'd like them to go away, they're the team to beat.

The Mariners just made the postseason and added Teoscar Hernandez to a lineup that needed more thump. They will be good once again in 2023.

The Rangers added the best pitcher on the planet when healthy, Jacob deGrom, to a subpar rotation. With the Andrew Heaney, Jake Odorizzi, and Nathan Eovaldi additions to the rotation as well, the Rangers now suddenly have the potential to have one of the better rotations in the game if they can stay healthy while also having quality depth in case of injury. With their young players likely improving and Corey Seager and Marcus Semien anchoring the lineup, they'll be much better.

The Angels can slot in anywhere from second to fourth in this division depending on how they play and how healthy they are. It's reasonable to have them missing the playoffs just because of the division they play in, which is a hard pill to swallow.

2) Despite the added depth, the Angels still have massive durability concerns

The Angels did what they should've done and added a tremendous amount of depth to a team that needed it. The reason the Angels collapsed in 2022 was because once key players went down with injury, the Angels had to turn to hitters who shouldn't really be on MLB teams to play regularly.

The Angels should not have that issue this season. They've added Gio Urshela and Brandon Drury to an infield that was already crowded. They appear to be looking for a catcher despite having MLB-ready catchers on the roster already. They're going to be using Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak in the minors as potential depth options as well.

The problem is, while this improves the Angels floor, their ceiling is limited if these players get hurt again. Can Mike Trout play a full season? His 119 games played this past season were his most since the 2019 season. Can his back hold up? Lots of questions there.

Anthony Rendon hasn't played in more than 58 games as an Angel. Can he finally show Angels fans why the team signed him? Can guys who were hurt this past season like David Fletcher and Jared Walsh revert back to their old selves and stay on the field?

If not, the Angels have players to back them up but they're simply not as good. Going from Mike Trout to just about anyone in the majors is a massive downgrade. When right, Anthony Rendon is an elite player. Going from him to Gio Urshela isn't as bad as Andrew Velazquez of last season, but it's still a decrease in production.

The Angels have to hope their players can stay on the field so they don't have to rely on the bench players to keep them afloat. It'll only work for so long.

3) The Angels have not done enough with their pitching additions.

The Angels made a surprising move by signing Tyler Anderson before any other free agent had signed. Anderson immediately comes in and makes what already was a good rotation, even better. He's coming off of an outstanding year with the Dodgers and should fit in very nicely with this Angels staff.

The Angels have five of their six starters solidified with Anderson, Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval, Reid Detmers, and Jose Suarez penciled in. The issue I have is there is still no sixth starter.

Can the Angels sign a veteran like Michael Wacha or Zack Greinke? Maybe. If they do, I'd consider this rotation complete and ready to go. If not, and they choose to rely on someone like Chase Silseth, Griffin Canning, or Tucker Davidson, I'd have more questions. Adding another reliable arm to round out the rotation, whether it's from free agency or in a trade, should be a top priority for Perry Minasian.

The bullpen raises cause for concern as well. The Carlos Estevez addition was a good one and he should slot in nicely in the back end of the bullpen. Other than Estevez, the Angels haven't signed a single reliever to a MLB deal. There're still some quality arms out there like Michael Fulmer and Andrew Chafin so if the Angels do bring in another arm, this will be something to ignore as well.

As it stands right now, I believe the Angels have a pretty average bullpen. They're putting a lot of stock on Jimmy Herget repeating the season he just had and guys like Aaron Loup and Ryan Tepera rebounding. While those aren't awful bets, I'd prefer if they added another big-time arm to put in the back end of the bullpen.

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