The Los Angeles Angels moved quickly in hiring their new manager in Ron Washington, annointing him with the task of navigating a team that could skew one way or another, dependin on how free agency shakes out.
Washington brings both enthusiasm and experience to the Angels, which currently lacks a lot of because of the youth on their roster. But the 2023 season forced a lot of their young players into game action, which bodes well going forward.
The signing of Adam Kolarek wasn’t a large deal, and with their estimated space to the collective bargaining tax at around $73.5 million per Cot’s projections, the Angels have some room to spend. General manager Perry Minasian insisted they intend to be competitive, and will keep their focus on building a complete team, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“We want to win games,” Minasian said. “The goal hasn’t changed. For me personally, the manager, it’s a huge hire and [we will] not take it lightly. And same with the coaching staff. They’re the ones with these players every day. We’re going to be really aggressive this offseason, and we’re going to make this team better.”
The expectation level for the Angels in 2024 is extremely low, and if the Angels don’t re-sign Shohei Ohtani, they’ll be even lower. The team is built on a lot of young players, with Mike Trout, Brandon Drury, Anthony Rendon, and Taylor Ward among the veteran players.
Minasian and the front office haven’t yet stray too-far in the rebuild mode, but Ohtani’s decision could change quite a bit of their plans.
Angels still pursuing Shohei Ohtani
Aside from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and other big market teams pursuing Ohtani, the Angels are still very much in the hunt for the two-way star.
The Cubs are said to be preparing a very ‘lucrative offer’, but that all can be said for every contract that is expected to be offered.
Angels owner Arte Moreno would still like to remain competetive, and there’s zero reason why he would go cheap in not continuing his pursuit of the best big-name free agent to ever hit the open market. The organization still has Trout, but the one-two punch of Trout and Ohtani is among baseball’s best when both healthy and on the field.
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