Fansided

4 Angels players under contract for 2024 the fans are ready to move on from

At least move one of the four, Perry.

By Zachary Rotman |
Arizona Diamondbacks v Los Angeles Angels
Arizona Diamondbacks v Los Angeles Angels / Ronald Martinez/GettyImages
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Los Angeles Angels fans are fed up and prepared for the worst as Shohei Ohtani reaches free agency this offseason. The chances of him remaining an Angel feel awfully low, and that's a bad sign for a team that hasn't even come close to finishing with a winning record despite him playing at an MVP level in each of the last three seasons.

Part of the reason the fan base is so fed up with the losing is there doesn't appear to be a clear path forward for another little while. Ohtani likely leaving isn't the only reason for that. The Angels are stuck with some horrific contracts on Arte Moreno's books, and we all know Moreno won't go into the tax and won't rebuild.

There are four players in particular under contract for the 2024 season, some through arbitration, that fans wish the team would find a way to move on from. The Angels are likely stuck with two of the four, unfortunately.

1) LA Angels fans have been ready to move on from Anthony Rendon for years

When the Angels signed Anthony Rendon to the massive deal they got him on, they expected he'd be one of, if not the best third basemen in the game. He was just the best position player on a Nationals team that had won the World Series before signing, and had four seasons of top-10 NL MVP finishes.

Rendon played well in 2020 but that was the shortened year. In the three full years since, Rendon has played in just 148 out of a possible 486 games. That's a little over 30%. Just baffling.

Not only does Rendon not stay on the field, but when he's played in the last three seasons he's been awful. He's slashed .235/.338/.364 with 13 home runs and 84 RBI. He has a 94 OPS+ in those seasons making him a below-average hitter. Yes, well over $30 million annually for a below-average hitter to appear in no more than 58 games.

Rendon has his off-field history as well that just makes everything worse. Nothing about this contract feels good, but there's no way out. The only hope was including him in a Shohei Ohtani trade, but that's off the table. Hopefully they get something out of him in 2024. Hopes are at an all-time low.

2) LA Angels fans are already sick of Tyler Anderson

Tyler Anderson was supposed to provide stability to a rotation that took a huge leap forward in 2022. The Angels finished sixth in rotation ERA in all of baseball and Anderson was an all-star in his own right with the Dodgers. While the team didn't expect a repeat of Anderson's best year, they certainly expected better than what they got.

The southpaw was simply one of the worst pitchers in baseball when he took the mound. His 5.43 ERA finished as the fifth-highest among pitchers with at least 140 innings pitched. That is, not good.

The worst part is that it's hard to see him being much better in 2024. His 5.03 xERA suggests he was a bit unlucky, but a 5.03 ERA isn't going to do the Angels much good either. He's entering his age-34 season and has another two years on his contract. Anderson can certainly be good again, but who's going to predict that as he gets older?

The Angels attempted to get rid of Anderson through waivers along with several others but no teams bit as expected. Unless they want to attach a prospect to him, which should not be done, this is another player the Angels are unfortunately stuck with. Hopefully he can serve as a good mentor for the young arms and pitch a bit better in his own right. Again, hopes are low.

3) LA Angels fans dreaded Jose Suarez starts when healthy

Jose Suarez opened the season with a guaranteed spot in the Angels rotation because he had a strong finish to his season. This made sense thinking that the 25-year-old had made a jump, but that couldn't be further from the truth, unfortunately.

Through six starts this season, Suarez had a 9.62 ERA in 24.1 innings of work. He received boos from the home crowd multiple times, especially after he allowed seven runs in the first three innings to a historically bad Athletics team. He came back from the IL in September and pitched better in relief, but looks like a pitcher without a role.

The Angels don't have much wiggle room with Suarez. He's a pitcher who has shown some flashes in the past, but he's out of options and has done absolutely nothing to even compete for a rotation job in 2024.

The Angels could use him in relief like they did down the stretch, but when you have no flexibility of sending him up and down bullpens are hard to manage. He should have a bit of value considering his youth and flashes shown in the past, hopefully they do consider exploring deals for him.

4) Jimmy Herget has become a tough watch out of the LA Angels bullpen

One of the bright spots in a bad bullpen during the 2022 season was the emergence of Jimmy Herget. The Angels brought the funky right-hander in on a minor league deal in 2021 and he wound up finishing the season as the team's closer the following year.

Herget's excellent season earned him a spot on the team's Opening Day roster in 2023. Herget making the Opening Day roster was great for a guy who really earned it, but he didn't even last a full month before being sent down. Part of the reason the Angels sent him down was they had very little flexibility in their bullpen, but he also had allowed six runs in his first 8.2 innings pitched this season.

The Angels would continue sending him up and down and he wouldn't last more than four appearances in a MLB stint until September when he was up the whole month. September was a month where he had the chance to prove he belonged in the conversation for the 2024 bullpen. He did not do that.

Herget did throw ten scoreless innings to begin the month and finished it with a 3.00 ERA in 12 appearances, but struggled with inherited runners as he did all season long. 65% of runners Herget inherited this season scored. Far too high. Now that he's entering his first year of arbitration, it's possible the team opts to non-tender him.

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