4 free agents the LA Angels should not bother getting into a bidding war over

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The Los Angeles Angels have a lot of work to do as they try and set their roster up to compete in 2024 and beyond. They have some nice core pieces like Mike Trout and several promising young players, but their best player, Shohei Ohtani, could be out the door any day now.

Ohtani is a free agent following his second MVP win in the last three years. The Angels never completed a winning season with him in their uniform, raising the question how they'd possibly win without him.

Chances are, if they miss on Ohtani they're going to do whatever they can to bring in another free agent or even two to help them be somewhat competitive in 2024 (even if it's not the right thing to do). These players should be targeted by the Angels, but Perry Minasian shouldn't be doing whatever he can to land them like he should with Ohtani. Bid, but have a number in mind to stop at and stick to it.

1) Blake Snell

Blake Snell enters this free agent market as arguably the best pitcher available that can actually pitch in 2024 (sorry, Shohei). Snell is coming off his second Cy Young season of his career, and one of the more dominant stretches in recent history.

Snell's overall numbers were obviously fantastic, but in his final 23 starts of the season the southpaw posted a 1.20 ERA. He allowed a total of 18 earned runs in 135 innings. Just hard to even fathom how hard that is to do. He did it thanks to allowing virtually no hits (72 in 135 innings, to be exact).

As good as Snell was, he still only pitched 180 innings. That obviously would've led this year's Angels team, but was tied for 24th in the majors. That's Snell at his absolute best, giving 32 starts and still barely finishing in the top 25 in innings. This is because Snell can lose command at any moment's notice and walk the ballpark. He led the league in walks this past season. Obviously walks don't hurt when you don't give up hits, but opponents had a .256 BAbip against him. That figures to go way up, which in turn will lead to a whole lot more runs.

Snell is obviously a great pitcher, but his value is at its absolute highest right now and he's 31 years old. With the amount of teams that need a frontline starter, Snell will be a hot commodity, especially with Aaron Nola off the market. The Angels should bid, but be careful. Don't be giving too many years or too high of an AAV for a pitcher as erratic as Snell.

2) Cody Bellinger

If the Angels get the 2019 version of Cody Bellinger, the deal they'd sign him on would be an absolute steal. If they got the 2023 version of Cody Bellinger, the deal they'd sign him on would be an absolute steal. If they got the 2020-2022 version, well, that'd be a massive issue. That makes it hard to engage in a real bidding war for Bellinger.

Bellinger at his best is an MVP-caliber player. He won it in 2019 and played like it for much of 2023. At his worst, he's not even close to a league-average hitter. That kind of volatility is a problem, and one the Angels might be better off avoiding.

From 2020-2022, Bellinger had just a .646 OPS and a 76 OPS+. He was so bad to the point where the Dodgers opted to non-tender him ahead of the 2023 season. Bellinger did rediscover his swing in 2023 and put up a monster year, but he also did so in a contract year. Believing in that resurgence when the previous three years were so dreadful could come back to bite the Angels, especially when they'd have to give him such a monstrous contract.

Outside of Shohei Ohtani, Bellinger is very clearly the most valuable position player on the market. This will only raise his value, especially once Shohei is off the market. Teams that missed out on Ohtani might need a bat and might want to make a big splash. The Angels would know what they'd get in the field, and when right he can come somewhat close to Ohtani offensively, but it's such a risk. The Angels should offer something, but proceed with caution.

3) Josh Hader

Josh Hader is very clearly one of, if not the best reliever in all of baseball. I think it's definitely fair to proclaim him the best left-handed reliever in the game right now. He's that dominant.

This past season with the Padres, he posted a 1.28 ERA in 61 appearances and 56.1 innings pitched, converting 33 saves in the process. He was one posititve on a very disappointing San Diego team. He's a five-time all-star and one of the more dominant closers we've seen in recent memory. All of this is true, but there are some concerns that'd come with signing him.

Relievers in general are extremely volatile. We've even seen that with Hader who had a prolonged stretch of being unusable in 2022. He did not allow a single earned run in his first 19 appearances of the season, spanning over two months. He then blew a save and finished the year out with an 8.07 ERA in 37 appearances. Most of those came after a midseason trade that sent him to San Diego where he was dreadful for much of the time.

Many consider Edwin Diaz the best closer in the game. He's been dominant for most of his career, but had a 5.59 ERA in 2019 and allowed 15 home runs in 58 innings pitched. Even the best ones can lose their feel at any given moment which is frightening.

Hader could easily surpass the record deal Diaz signed with the Mets by earning more than the five years and $102 million that Diaz got last offseason. The Angels committing that kind of money to a closer would be pretty crazy when the rest of their team needs a lot of work. The Angels should want Hader, as he's a dominant reliever when right. They should not want him badly enough to swim in the waters of a nine-figure contract, or anything remotely close.

4) J.D. Martinez

This offseason is incredibly weak when it comes to position player talent available. It really feels like there's Shohei and then there's everybody else.

J.D. Martinez has an argument for being the second-best hitter in this class. Not player, but pure hitter. That speaks to how good he is, but also again speaks to how weak the class is overall.

Things like his age (36) and the fact that Martinez is just a DH at this point of his career will obviously lower the contract he receives, however, that's not to say he won't get grossly overpaid. Once Ohtani comes off the market, Martinez instantly becomes an extremely attractive target for the teams that missed out on Shohei, including the Angels.

The Angels can give J.D. close to whatever he wants on a one-year deal (if Arte Moreno will go into the luxury tax) as there's very little risk in that. However, Martinez is likely to want at least two years, and that's where things get a bit more complicated.

Martinez's age and recent injury history combined with the fact that the Angels should look for some DH at-bats for guys like Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon don't exactly scream that they should be going all out to land a guy like J.D. He might age very poorly, and of course, clogs up the DH spot just about every day when healthy. Inquire, of course, but don't get too invested in the bidding for a 36-year-old DH.

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