3 ways to make the Winter Meetings a success for the Angels

The Los Angeles Angels have done a good job so far at improving their team that just won 73 games in 2022. They signed Tyler Anderson and traded for Gio Urshela and Hunter Renfroe. All three of those moves filled glaring holes the Angels had on their roster.

Los Angeles cannot be done. There are other moves that need to be made for the Angels to keep pace in the AL West.

The Winter Meetings are here, and the Angels need to remain active. Here are three things the Angels need to do in order to make the Winter Meetings a success.

1) LA Angels path to success at the Winter Meetings: Sign one of the star shortstops

The Angels need to sign one of the big four-star shortstops. Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, and Dansby Swanson are all available. I'd be happy with any of the four.

Angels shortstops slashed .232/.271/.327 with 13 home runs and 62 RBI the entire season. They had a 68 WRC+ which was good for 29th in baseball, just one point ahead of Diamondbacks shortstops.

David Fletcher and Andrew Velazquez played the majority of the shortstop for the Halos. They're really good defensively, but it's clear they need more there offensively.

Right now, Fletcher would be the Opening Day shortstop. I like his defense, especially at second base, but he hasn't hit enough to warrant an everyday role. He struggled to stay healthy in 2022 but in the 61 games he did play he had just a 77 OPS+. The season prior Fletcher did stay healthy and had a 70 OPS+ with just two home runs in 157 games.

I like Fletcher and think he'd be a fine utility infielder with his defense but he doesn't hit enough. Andrew Velazquez and Livan Soto are the options right now to be the backup. Velazquez can't hit at all, he's worse than Fletcher offensively. Soto looked good in his limited at-bats but didn't do much in the minors and only had 55 at-bats.

The Angels don't have a starting shortstop on their roster right now and have a chance to land an all-star. I get that Arte Moreno is selling the team, but he can pass the tax bill on to the next owner. This is a move that needs to get done for the Angels to be a sure-fire contender in the AL West.