The Los Angeles Angels have made themselves players in the free agent and trade market early on this offseason with a few acquisitions and chatter around Major League Baseball. General manager Perry Minasian expressed his optimism and direction for bolstering the depth of the roster and in the latest report, the Angels appear to have inquired about free-agent outfielder, Mitch Haniger.
With Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, and newly-acquired Hunter Renfroe making up what appears to be the Opening Day outfield, Minasian may currently only be in the market for organizational depth, or a quality fourth bat if Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak wind up on the trade block.
Prior to acquiring Renfroe, the Angels reportedly showed interest in Haniger, alongside their city rivals, the L.A. Dodgers.
Sources: #Dodgers and #Angels showing interest in free agent OF Mitch Haniger. The #Rangers, as first reported by @Ken_Rosenthal, also are among the most active suitors for Haniger.
Of note, Haniger has a career .846 OPS at Angel Stadium. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 21, 2022
Haniger’s projected market value via Spotrac has his listed at around a $15 million average annual value, and considering in 2021 he slugged 39 home runs, and with power being at a premium in a corner outfield spot, he’s probably worthy of a deal in the 2-to-3 year range at around that AAV. His 2022 season was marred by injury which is why the 31-year-old appeared in just 57 games with the Seattle Mariners.
The Angels would probably like to sign him to a shorter deal if they are truly interested, probably in the two-year $32 million range with a possible club option for a third year.
But with Renfroe on his way to Anaheim and projecting to make around $11.8 million through arbitration in 2023, landing Haniger becomes significantly less likely. Of course, crazier things have happened during hot stove season.
Perry Minasian expresses the need for ‘depth’ after adding Gio Urshela to Angels
Angels made a move in acquiring veteran infielder Gio Urshela from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for a minor leaguer.
Urshela spent the breakout part of his career with the New York Yankees but spent 2022 with the Twins. In the past four seasons, he’s compiled a 118 wRC+, with a .290 batting average in 435 games while displaying a fair amount of position versatility.
Minasian noted that the Angels were going to be in on several options that could provide depth to their infield, but with third base locked up with Anthony Rendon, that leaves them three slots when some extra guys would pay incredible dividends.
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