Angels 2020 Season Preview
Ready to check out our 2020 Los Angeles Angels predictions? The Angels increased payroll again in the offseason by bringing in yet another Batman to Superman Mike Trout. Will the results be any different than they have been?
MLB Angels Predictions & Handicapping Insight
Anthony Rendon looked like the best player in the world in leading the Washington Nationals to the World Series Title but perhaps it was just because Trout had faded from our collective memory.
Now, both guys hit in the same lineup, along with Shohei Ohtani, who will begin the season healthy as a hitter and will return to the rotation sometime in May to make one start a week.
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But the Angels are still a flawed team. The question is whether the stars will elevate the rest of the roster or be dragged down.
2020 MLB Team Previews – Los Angeles Angels
- Los Angeles Angels 2020 American League West Odds: +600
- Angels 2020 American League Odds: +1200
- Angels 2020 World Series Odds: +2500
Key Additions:
- Anthony Rendon
- Julio Teheran
- Dylan Bundy
Anthony Rendon comes in on a 7-year $245 million deal. The other two guys come much cheaper than that.
Dylan Bundy comes over from Baltimore, where he was considered a prospect with one of the highest floors in the game for many years. He didn’t go without some nice month-long stretches but suffered some arm problems toward the end of last season and isn’t completely healthy at the moment, either.
Julio Teheran is just 29 years old but he logged over 1300 innings in nine seasons for the Atlanta Braves. He was having a nice season last year before getting hit hard in September. He still finished with an ERA under 4.00, which is more than what the Angels are hoping for out of him this season.
Key Losses:
- Kole Calhoun
The long-time Angel had his finest season in 2019 but he’s off to the National League to play in a fairly talented Arizona outfield.
2020 Los Angeles Angels Predictions: Projected Lineup:
- Tommy LaStella 2B
- Mike Trout OF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Shohei Ohtani DH
- Albert Pujols 1B
- Justin Upton OF
- Brian Goodwin OF
- Andrelton Simmons SS
- Jason Castro C
Albert Pujols is no more than a league-average hitter at best at this stage in his career, which may even be a generous assessment at this point. He will continue to hit in the middle of the lineup, at least at the outset, though Manager Joe Maddon will get him plenty of rest and could even drop him down if he becomes a double-play machine. He’ll make $29 million this season and $30 million next.
2020 Los Angeles Angels Predictions: Projected Rotation:
- Julio Teheran
- Andrew Heaney
- Dylan Bundy
- Matt Andriese
- Patrick Sandoval
Maddon insists the Angels’ pitching is better than people think. Even if it is, it doesn’t make the Angels an automatic contender because the consensus is this staff stinks.
Heaney has just never been able to throw a full season and Teheran pitched his way out of any meaningful postseason innings for Atlanta last season.
Matt Andriese, who is another acquisition, had his finest moments with Tampa Bay, which history suggests he will never replicate with another club.
2020 Los Angeles Angels Predictions: Projected Closer:
- Hansel Robles
Robles has a live arm and could impress this season. LA’s bullpen is the stronger part of its pitching staff and it will likely have to be really good to support this starting rotation.
2020 Los Angeles Angels Predictions: 88 wins and 2nd in the AL West (Bet Now at any of our reviewed MLB Sportsbooks!)
Baseball fans can agree: we’re sick of Mike Trout sitting at home when the season’s most exciting games are being played.
But it’s just the same old, same old with how the Angels go about building a competent roster around him. If Rendon carries over his 2019 into 2020, you would think the Angels have to be good enough to at least compete for a Wild Card spot.
Thing is, the AL West is tough. Oakland looks like a sure thing and Houston, with its potential to take a dip in a unique spot, is still loaded with talent and the big favorite to win the division.
The pitching is an unknown. I don’t see any arms that are going to take this team over the top but if some guys can surprise out of the bullpen, like Ty Buttrey or Keynan Middleton, the Angels can get into the playoffs but it feels more like a ceiling than what we should expect.
I’ll make the Angels an 88-win team in 2020, assuming all 162 games are played, with real crash-and-burn potential. It isn’t as if Trout or Ohtani are particularly injury-resistant.
What do you think of our 2020 Los Angeles Angels predictions? Comments are welcome below.
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