The Los Angeles Angels lastly made a series of baseball moves within the final month or so, however there are nonetheless questions on how they’re all going to battle collectively. Some of this can be a muddle, and Jeremy Elwood of Halo Hangout broke down the workforce’s strikes into three questions that make clear the problems to some extent.
The Opening Day roster. This remains to be the massive one. For all of the strikes the Angels have made, there are nonetheless solely three positions which are locked in—Logan O’Hoppe behind the plate, Zach Neto at shortstop and Nolan Schanuel at first base.
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Jo Adell will play within the outfield someplace, however the Angels are hoping it’s one of many nook outfield positions. The Angels have a significant want for Adell’s energy, however he’s a minus defender in middle who could be not less than enough and maybe barely higher in left or proper.
Mike Trout will likely be within the lineup someplace, too, most likely at DH. GM Perry Minasian has been speaking about Trout probably enjoying some in middle, however only a few individuals assume this can be a good concept given Trout’s damage historical past.
Who performs the place, and who’s within the rotation? This query listing is lengthy and various. Who begins at second, Christian Moore or new commerce acquisition Vaughn Grissom? Does whoever loses the battle for that job transfer over to 3rd? Where do Oswald Perez and Denzel Guzman match into the image, and who will get the utility job and backup jobs?
In the outfield, the candidates to affix Adell embody Jorge Soler, Matthew Lugo, Bryce Teodosio or rookie prospect Nelson Rada? Who performs the place, and what occurs to those that don’t make the minimize?
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The rotation appears barely much less unsettled, however there’s nonetheless rather a lot that’s tbd. Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Soriano look like locks to go along with new acquisition Grayson Rodriguez, however there are additionally questions on whether or not reliever Reid Detmers could make a profitable transition to starter, and what occurs if Rodriguez can’t keep wholesome? And the place do potential starters Alek Manoah and Caden Dana slot in?
Is there a giant transfer coming, together with some stability?
These two questions go collectively to some extent. The Angels spent the autumn with the Tyler Skaggs trial hanging over the franchise, together with the contract standing of former third baseman Anthony Rendon. Now that each of these questions have been answered, does that open issues up for a bigger transfer? And how a lot do the settlement numbers for each of these conditions restrict the Angels to make some type of transfer?