As the 2019 season nears and the White Sox get ready to take on the rest of the American League, we're taking a team-by-team look at all 14 of their opponents.
Poor Mike Trout.
I mean, he's not poor. He'll make more than $34 million this season. And it's not like history will forget him. He's potentially the best baseball player ever. But poor Mike Trout because he has to play at least two more seasons for the Angels, who despite always seeming willing to spend on free agents and employing maybe the best baseball player ever are almost never playing after September.
Trout's been dominating the game for seven full seasons now, and all he's done during those seven full seasons is slash .310/.420/.579 and hit 235 home runs. He's won two MVPs and finished second in voting four other times. He's led baseball in OPS in each of the last two seasons, led the American League in on-base percentage in each of the last three seasons and came two long balls away from matching a career high in that category in 2018. Trout was unbelievable last season, and the Angels still finished with a sub-.500 record and missed the playoffs. Trout's been unbelievable for the last seven seasons, and the Angels have made the playoffs just once, getting swept in a three-game series in 2014.
So, yes, that's correct: The guy who might be the best baseball player ever has an 0-3 postseason record over the first seven-and-change seasons of his career. So there shouldn't be any wonder as to why there's speculation that he'll bolt for his hometown Philadelphia Phillies in two seasons.
The 2019 Angels don't look to change things. Unless they really surprise, they'll squander an eighth full season of maybe the best baseball player ever. Trout will probably still put up his now entirely expected superhuman numbers, but it won't matter. He can't take every at-bat. He can't play every position. And, most importantly, he can't pitch. Well, he might be able to pitch — I mean, it's Mike Trout, he can probably do anything when it comes to baseball — but he won't pitch.
Who will pitch? Remember Matt Harvey? He's the Angels' new ace, which would have been big news back in 2015. But it's not 2015, and in the three seasons since, Harvey had a 5.39 ERA, gave up 56 homers and walked 109 guys in 68 appearances, 63 of which were starts. Things went relatively fine for him in his 24 starts after leaving the New York Mets and going to the Cincinnati Reds last season: a 4.50 ERA in 128 innings. Is that enough to get Angels fans excited about their new No. 1 starting pitcher? Probably not. In fact, they should be more excited about their new No. 3 starting pitcher. Trevor Cahill had a markedly better 3.76 ERA with the Oakland Athletics last season.
MLB
But the most important pitching addition for the Halos this offseason was Cody Allen, the former Cleveland Indians closer who's now the new closer in Anaheim or Los Angeles or Long Beach or wherever. Allen had a sensational 2.67 career ERA heading into last season before the worst campaign of his career. He finished 2018 with a 4.70 ERA and 27 saves, his lowest total since 2014. So he's on a one-year "prove it" deal with the Angels.
Many of the usual suspects are joining Trout in the Angels' lineup this season: Albert Pujols, who's had a very un-Pujols-like last two seasons with a combined .243/.287/.397 slash line and only 42 home runs; Justin Upton, who rather quietly hit 30 home runs in 2018 but drove in only 55 runs that weren't himself; Kole Calhoun, who barely hit .200 last season; Zack Cozart, who's currently injured and whose first season as an Angel was only 58 games long and featured a sub-.300 on-base percentage; and Andrelton Simmons, who is really good and doesn't deserve a sarcastic stat. They added Justin Bour, who has quite a bit of pop and reaches base at a nice clip. They also added Jonathan Lucroy, who did very little in the way of offensive production for the A's last season.
Any of that screaming "postseason" to you? Didn't think so. Even Shohei Ohtani, who was more must-see TV than Trout was when he was healthy last season, is on the mend from Tommy John surgery. Bummer.
So as Trout's current contract inches toward completion over the next couple seasons, the headline won't be what the perhaps best baseball player ever can do to win a ring — heck, or even one playoff game — before his time in Southern California comes to an end, it will be how great it will be once he can get out.
What a sad state of affairs for the franchise that gave us the Rally Monkey.
2018 record: 80-82, fourth place in AL West
Offseason additions: Cody Allen, Matt Harvey, Justin Bour, Trevor Cahill, Jonathan Lucroy, Tommy La Stella, Kevan Smith, Dan Jennings
Offseason departures: Garrett Richards, Blake Parker, Matt Shoemaker, Chris Young, Eric Young Jr.
X-factor: Let's go with Simmons, who always seems to fly under the radar despite his four Gold Gloves, including one in each of the last two seasons. He's an obvious defensive whiz. But last season was his best yet with the bat, as he posted career highs in batting average (.292), on-base percentage (.337) and RBIs (75). And he struck out only 44 times in his 600 plate appearances. Dude's been a three-time top-15 finisher in MVP voting. He's real good.
1. Kole Calhoun, RF
2. Mike Trout, CF
3. Justin Upton, LF
4. Justin Bour, 1B
5. Albert Pujols, DH
6. Andrelton Simmons, SS
7. Taylor Ward, 3B
8. Jonathan Lucroy, C
9. David Fletcher, 2B
1. Matt Harvey
2. Andrew Heaney
3. Trevor Cahill
4. Tyler Skaggs
5. Jaime Barria
Prediction: Third place in AL West, no playoffs
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