By Jonah Drew

Record: 68-94

The Halos will be lead by a new skipper in 2024, they poached veteran Ron Washington from the Braves. I do like this hire, Washington has been around the block and knows how to implement a winning culture. It would simply be naive not to mention the loss of all losses. One can not fathom the impact of losing a player like Shohei Ohtani and what it does to not only a clubhouse, but a fanbase. Employing Shohei Ohtani brings a completely new demographic to a fanbase, a group of baseball fans that love the game more than anyone, Japanese baseball fans. Japan is as big of a baseball country as any, many may not know that Baseball is statistically the most popular sport. That said, the show must go on and luckily, the Angels still have another all time great in Mike Trout. I have seen the Mike Trout is “Washed” agenda go way too far, the guy hit 40 Homeruns in 119 Games in 2022. He may not be the Trout of old but health permitting, he is still one of the better players in ball. There is something of a young core being built here, Zach Neto looks like the future at the Shortstop spot, Logan O’Hoppe raked when healthy last year, and Nolan Schanuel is one of the most polished young hitters you are going to find. As polished as he is, I still do not really love Nolan Schanuel. In order to draw as many walks as he potentially could, there has to be some threat of impact and he simply does not have it, slugging just .330 in 2023. Brandon Drury was also a very solid acquisition ahead of 2023, despite injury, Drury posted a 114 OPS+ and a quiet 26 homers. I am also here for the Mickey Moniak comeback story, the former #1 overall pick, Moniak was given up on by the Phillies before finding a home in LA, where he had an .802 OPS. Luis Rengifo is also a very real infielder, being an above average hitter each of the last 2 years. Taylor Ward is one of the more underappreciated players in baseball and looks to be a key cog of this lineup in 2024. Without Ohtani, this rotation is kind of bare. I do like a couple of young south paws on this staff though, Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers. Known No-Hitter thrower Reid Detmers is a former first round pick with some good swing and miss stuff. Chase Silseth is looks to be the 5 and he is actually a name to watch if you are looking for good, under the radar pitchers. I was obsessed with Robert Stephenson in free agency and the Angels went out and paid him 33 Million across 3 years. This was slightly more than I thought he’d get but I still think it will be well worth it for Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Stephenson will start the season on the I. L. but when he comes back, I do not expect it to take him too long to be this team’s closer. Carlos Estevez was still very solid closer in 2023, saving 31 Games with an ERA in the High 3s and peripherals to back it up. Middle Relief guys like Matt Moore and Jose Soriano are both relatively reliable and will likely be serviceable in 2024. All of this sounds positive, and it is, but it is hard for me to justify a team winning 73 Games in 2023, losing the most talented player ever, and not getting significantly worse.

MVP: Mike Trout

Can we try not to forget who Mike Trout is, I have seen the likes of Michael Harris ranked over this dude. With respect to Harris, we are talking about 2 completely different stratospheres. Mike Trout may not be mid to early 2010s Mike Trout, but he is still among the best Centerfielders in baseball. In 2022, Mike Trout played just 119 Games, in those 119 Games Trout hit 40 Homeruns and accumulated a 6.3 bWAR. 2023 was an extremely injury riddled season for Trout, he broke his hamate bone, this is a lingering injury that can make it hard for players to even swing a bat. In an injury riddled, supposed down year, Trout put up a 131 OPS+ and was nearly a 3 win player in essentially half a season. I employ you to look at Trout’s Baseball Savant page and tell me with a straight face that he is washed. He still hits the ball as hard as just about anybody with an average exit velocity of 91.9 and a hard hit rate of 51.9%. He also rarely expands his zone, posting a 92nd percentile chase rate. If Trout can stay healthy, he is still absolutely elite and can be a 6+ win player.

Cy Young: Chase Silseth

Silseth is not an ace on any serious team by any means, but that does not make him a bad pitcher by any stretch of the imagination. I have a feeling if you poled the entirety of MLB fans, just a slim percentage of them would say they are aware of Chase Silseth’s existence, and that is a shame. Silseth threw just 52.1 Innings at 3.96 ERA in 2023 and he is still just 23 Years Old. 2 of the main objectives of the modern pitcher are as follows: strike batters out and generate ground balls. Silseth does both of these things at a well above average rate. His 48.9% GB% is good enough for the 80th percentile. His K% of 25.3% is good enough for the 64th percentile. He does this with a very wide variety of pitches, throwing 5 pitches with his 2 best being his Slider and Split Finger. The disparity in spin rate between these 2 offerings is staggering, his Slider boasts an average spin rate of 2766 RPM but his Split Finger has an average spin rate of just 1132 RPM. Both of these spin rates are equally nasty.

Breakout: Logan O’Hoppe

Logan O’Hoppe was selected in the 23rd Round out of NY High School, St. John the Baptist by Philadephia in 2018. He was deemed an “Org Guy”- someone who’s development is not prioritized and is moved up and down the minor leagues depending on needs at different levels. O’Hoppe beat this allegations by absolutely mashing minor league pitching everywhere he went. He was eventually sent to the Angels in exchange for Outfielder Brandon Marsh at the 2022 Deadline. O’Hoppe missed a lot of 2023 with a torn labrum but he was productive in limited action. Logan hit balls 95+ MPH at an optimal Launch Angle at a better rate than just about anybody at 15.6%. His xwOBA of .346 also tells us he is one of the better offensive catchers in the game. Full transparency, O’Hoppe graded out as just about the worst defensive backstop in 2023 with the worst pop time in baseball. Despite his defensive woes, O’Hoppe is still a very productive player and only expect him to improve at just 24 Years Old.

ROTY: Nolan Schanuel

Nolan Schanuel was one of the safe and polished players in the 2023 Draft out of Florida Atlantic. He is naturally very patient and willing to take his walks, hence the elite 15.2 BB% in 2023. Schanuel was fast tracked to the big leagues like almost nobody else has been in recent memory. This seemed to me and most other outsiders as a message to Shohei Ohtani that they were committed to winning right now, as we now know, this message was either not received or neglected. To go along with his top of the line K/BB ratios, Nolan posted a sweet spot rate of 40%, one of the best in baseball. The one thing holding him back is the fact that he is incapable of hitting the ball hard. This is reflected by his bottom of the barrel average exit velocity of 85.4 MPH. Even a slight increase in impact would lead to a massive spike in power production since he already has the ability to lift the ball with consistency. A power tick up would let him add to his already elite K/BB ratios. Although it may be hard to see the vision of a first baseman with no pop, I believe it will be worth it to stick it out due to the immense potential if he can just have a slight power tick up.

Sources

Baseball Reference

Baseball Savant

Fangraphs

MLB Trade Rumors

MLB.com