OC Register: Angels recap and offseason preview

[AngelsWin.com]

2018 RECORD: 80-82, 4th place in AL West

WHAT WENT WRONG? A little bit of everything. The Angels were in the middle of the pack in most categories, which explains how they ended up finishing right around the middle of the pack in the league. The underlying problem, as it has been lately, was injuries. They lost two starting pitchers in the first week, Matt Shoemaker and JC Ramírez. Shoemaker didn’t come back until September and Ramírez never did. In one two-week span in June, Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani and Zack Cozart all went on the disabled list. Also, in that period, Tyler Skaggs suffered an injury that would grow more serious through the summer and ruin his second half. The Angels started the season with nine starters they believed could pitch in the major leagues, and by the end of the season, eight of them had gotten hurt.

WHAT WENT RIGHT? Mike Trout had his best season, and Ohtani was a better than expected hitter, despite missing much of the year as a pitcher. Besides that, the injuries opened the door for several players to have unexpected success. Rookie Jaime Barría was the most notable. The only starter who didn’t get hurt, Barría started 26 games and ended up leading the rotation with a 3.41 ERA. Felix Peña proved capable in 17 starts after a move from the bullpen. Rookie relievers Ty Buttrey and Justin Anderson had impressive moments, as did Hansel Robles. David Fletcher got a chance to be the everyday second baseman for most of the last two months. Taylor Ward got a shot at playing third base every day. Although his defense and offense left plenty of room for improvement, he finished with three homers in the final week, including a walk-off homer to end the season.

2019 ROSTER OUTLOOK

SIGNED: OF Mike Trout ($34M), 1B Albert Pujols ($28M), OF Justin Upton ($18M), SS Andrelton Simmons ($13M), IF Zack Cozart ($12.7M), OF Kole Calhoun ($10.5M)

OPTIONS: None

ARBITRATION ELIGIBLE: RHP Matt Shoemaker ($4.125M in 2018), RHP JC Ramírez ($1.9M), LHP Tyler Skaggs ($1.875M), RHP Blake Parker ($1.8M), RHP Cam Bedrosian ($1.1M), RHP Odrisamer Despaigne ($1.09M), LHP José Álvarez ($1.05), RHP Hansel Robles ($900K), LHP Andrew Heaney ($800K), IF Jefry Marte ($559K)

FREE AGENTS: RHP Garrett Richards, RHP Junichi Tazawa, RHP Jim Johnson, RHP Blake Wood, OF Eric Young Jr.

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