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3 free agents we're thankful the Angels didn't sign this offseason

By Zachary Rotman |
St. Louis Cardinals v San Francisco Giants
St. Louis Cardinals v San Francisco Giants / Thearon W. Henderson/GettyImages
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The Los Angeles Angels had a massive offseason, bringing in a ton of players to help build a team that looks competitive early this season. The Angels made a plethora of free agent signings and even a couple of trades to try and get back to the postseason for the first time since 2014. Some of these signings haven't been great, but it's hard to see where the Angels would be without guys like Carlos Estevez and Matt Moore.

While Perry Minasian was aggressive this offseason bringing in new faces to cover positions of need, there were other players Angels fans wanted him to bring in.

It turns out, the Angels were right to let these three players land with other clubs.

1) LA Angels rumors: A Trea Turner signing would've been a bad idea for multiple reasons

Shortstop was one of, if not the biggest hole the Angels had heading into this offseason. The Halos got virtually no offensive production at the position out of guys like Andrew Velazquez and David Fletcher last season, and desperately needed change to improve this season.

The Halos brought in Gio Urshela to play some shortstop along with guys like Fletcher and Luis Rengifo at times. It turns out Fletcher still can't hit, and Rengifo is not cut out to play shortstop. The Angels also had a hole at first base, so they elected to promote Zach Neto to fill the gap at shortstop. That has worked out so far.

Neto's numbers aren't great, but he's playing excellent defense at shortstop and puts together professional at-bat after professional at-bat. Signing Trea Turner would've robbed us from seeing him.

Signing Trea Turner would've also cost quite a bit of money. He inked an 11-year deal with the Phillies worth $300 million. He passed on a $342 million deal from the Padres, so the Angels likely would've had to offer even more to land him. Arte Moreno revealed that he wanted him, but Perry was wise to say no.

Not only would Turner for 11 years not age great, Moreno signing him would've meant there'd be virtually no money for the rest of the team. The bullpen would've gone untouched. The depth in the lineup would've been non-existent.

Turner hasn't even been great to start year one of his deal. He's slashing .262/.301/.414 with four home runs, nine RBI, and four stolen bases. His 96 OPS+ suggests Turner has been below league average offensively while he's never been a great defender.

I don't expect this to continue, but Turner being on pace to have his worst season in his big league career in year one of a $300 million deal would've sent Angels fans into a frenzy, and the team wouldn't have been improved at all. Thankfully Minasian stopped Moreno from making this mistake.

2) LA Angels rumors: Willson Contreras isn't even catching anymore for the Cardinals

Willson Contreras was the top free agent catcher on the board and was a guy the Angels were reportedly very interested in. Why? I have absolutely no idea. The Angels just traded for Logan O'Hoppe that trade deadline and he appeared to be the catcher of the future.

The Angels were reportedly a finalist for Contreras' services but the former Cub wound up staying in the NL Central and signed in St. Louis to be Yadier Molina's replacement. It's safe to say that has not gone well at all.

Contreras is swinging the bat pretty well as a Cardinal, but has only two home runs. Chad Wallach has two home runs and he didn't even begin the season with the Angels.

Even worse, the Cardinals are already giving up on Contreras behind the plate. As the team continues to spiral out of control with a 10-24 record, the Cardinals are opting to use Contreras in the outfield and as their DH most of the time. He'll catch on occasion, but Andrew Knizner is their regular catcher now.

The Cardinals spent all of that money for a guy who'd be removed as their starting catcher just 34 games into the season. He's not connecting at all with a Cardinals pitching staff that has an ERA of 4.70.

The Angels had Logan O'Hoppe who was tearing the cover off the ball and looked great behind the dish as well before his injury. They have Edgar Quero waiting in the wings. Even the Thaiss and Wallach tandem has worked out well. They've put up similar offensive numbers while looking much better behind the dish, clearly.

I don't know what the Angels offer was or how close they were to landing him, but I do know signing him would've limited their ability to add other pieces, and if he wouldn't last at catcher, he'd have virtually no place to play. The Angels outfield is set, as is their DH spot. This could easily go down as one of the worst signings in Cardinals history.

3) LA Angels rumors: Not even Corey Kluber would fix the back of this rotation

The Angels were reportedly interested in Corey Kluber to anchor the back end of the rotation. While everyone knew Kluber was at the end of the line, he's still a former Cy Young winner who some fans thought had something left in the tank.

Kluber had a healthy season in 2022 and while his 4.34 ERA is a tick higher than people would've liked, his 164 innings would've come in handy, especially for an Angels staff that is giving zero length now. The problem is, Kluber has been considerably worse than he was in 2022 while playing for the Red Sox.

The walks (1.2 BB/9 to 3.1 BB/9) are way up. The strikeouts (7.6 K/9 to 7.3 K/9) are down. The home runs (1.1 HR/9 to 2.4 HR/9) are way up. As a result, Corey Kluber has a 6.29 ERA in his first seven starts and 34.1 innings pitched. He's completed six innings just once, and looks completely cooked on the mound.

The Angels have their own issues at the back of their rotation with Jose Suarez not offering a ton of hope there, but I'd rather watch him than Kluber at this rate.

Kluber signed a one-year deal with Boston worth $10 million. It would've been nice for the Angels to sign another starter, but the two-time Cy Young award winner would've been a big mistake.

Next. 3 players the Angels organization failed or mishandled. dark

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