The 2022 MLB Winter Meetings began in San Diego, Calif. on Sunday with a quiet first day, but the second day presented a lot more action with two significant signings.
The New York Mets opened the day by reportedly agreeing to terms with the reigning American League Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander. Then, All-Star shortstop Trea Turner reportedly agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Phillies on a mega-contract.
The Los Angeles Angels have not made any noise during the meetings yet, but there are still two more days for that to change, and general manager Perry Minasian is using the time to continue looking for ways to upgrade the roster, he said via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“We’ll continue to look to improve,” Minasian said. “There are definitely areas where I still think we could use a boost, whether that’s in the rotation, the bullpen or the infield. I feel like there are opportunities out there and we’ll explore all of them.”
Minasian has already done much of the heavy lifting by signing All-Star pitcher Tyler Anderson and trading for outfielder Hunter Renfroe and infielder Gio Urshela. The core of the 2023 roster is in place, but as he points out, there is still work to be done.
The Angels would benefit from adding another starting pitcher, finding a starting shortstop upgrade and adding multiple high-leverage options to their bullpen, which may arguably be the biggest need on their roster.
Although the moves may not come during the Winter Meetings, which end on Dec. 7, oftentimes much of the groundwork for later deals are made during this time.
Perry Minasian acknowledged Angels’ lack of offense in 2022
Prior to May 24, the Angels possessed the second-best offense in the American League with a team wRC+ of 111, just one point behind the New York Yankees. Taylor Ward had his breakout, Shohei Ohtani was hitting, Mike Trout was who he is, and all was right.
But May 25 marked the second half of the season for the Angels, and Minasian watched his offense plunge to second-worst in all of baseball for the remainder of the year. They sported a wRC+ of 86, one point lower than the Oakland Athletics team that lost 102 games.
The performance was collectively abysmal outside of individual highlights from Trout, Ohtani, and the occasional random heroics from an unknown source, a season that Minasian is understandably using for his motivation to bolster his club for a better run.