5 biggest Angels success stories of the 2023 season

4) Brandon Drury was one of the best free agency signings from this past offseason

The Angels had more of a bad offseason than a good one. They made some good signings, bringing in guys like Carlos Estevez and Matt Moore on solid deals, but the bad ones stick out more. The Tyler Anderson deal looks awful. The Hunter Renfroe deal aged poorly. A big reason the Angels are where they are right now is they didn't do enough this past offseason.

One move the Angels can be happy about was the Brandon Drury signing. Nobody knew what to expect from the veteran who broke out in one of the best hitting environments in baseball in 2022. He won a Silver Slugger last season and played at an all-star level. While he won't win a Silver Slugger this season, he played at an all-star level for much of the season for the Angels and was one of their few clutch hitters.

Drury enters the final day slashing .258/.301/.480 with 24 home runs and 80 RBI. He's one of few Angels who actually elevates his play in big spots as he's hitting .281 with an ..861 OPS with runners in scoring position. The team stunk in those spots, but Drury rose to the occasion.

He ranks third in AL second basemen behind just Marcus Semien and Gleyber Torres in home runs and WRC+. If he didn't miss over a month with injury, chances are he'd be leading AL second basemen in home runs at the very least. Drury is on board for another season at just $8.5 million making him a very affordable middle infielder for the Angels or a very enticing trade piece if they want to rebuild.

He's a player who actually wanted to be here, swung a great bat for most of the season, and was a sound defender at second base as well. There aren't many negative things to say about the season Drury just had for the Angels.