Los Angeles Angels: Five biggest things on the Angels’ Christmas list
By Jason Reed
2. The new signings to pan out in 2019
The one downfall of having Mike Trout is that the Angels need to somehow add pieces every single season that will put the team in a position to contend. There is really no time to do a soft rebuild and thus, the Angels have been known for taking waivers on guys that have some upside but a lot of downside as well.
This is a trend that the Angels have had over the last few seasons and obviously has not worked. The team has continued it into this season by signing Justin Bour, Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill to one-year deals that combined for at least $22.5 million.
The Bour signing was not bad as it was just a $2.5 million deal and he has upside as a platoon first baseman alongside Albert Pujols. However, the Angels paid Harvey $11 million and Cahill $9 million guaranteed for one year of services.
These are two pitchers that arguably peaked a few years ago, although Cahill did have an ok season last year. Either way, the Angels paid $20 million for two arms that have not shown any signs of being worth that much the last three seasons and have been injury prone as well.
The Angels already have enough issues with injuries as is and the team went ahead and added two starting pitchers that have spent most of the last three years not actively playing.