Los Angeles Angels: Players that must play better to make postseason

3. Kole Calhoun

When the Los Angeles Angels last made the MLB Postseason in 2014 Kole Calhoun was one of the better bats on the team. Calhoun hit .272 that year with 17 home runs, 58 RBIs and 90 runs scored. Calhoun was the perfect Robin to Mike Trout’s Batman and would even go on to win a Gold Glove the following year.

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In 501 games played from 2013 to 2016, Calhoun proved to be consistent with a .267 batting average and 22 home runs per 162 games played. While Calhoun was never an all-star in that time, he was the kind of secondary bat you needed to be successful across 162 games.

That has all changed the last two seasons, in which Calhoun has gotten worse progressively worse. His average dropped down to .244 in 2017 and then .208 in 2018. His power stayed consistent with 19 home runs in each of the two years.

Now, Calhoun is entering a potential contract year and will be 32 next offseason, making it his last chance to get a decent-sized payday. The Angels have a club option on Calhoun after the year that would pay him $14 million, which is far more than his production is worth.

The Angels have every reason to explore a deal to trade away Calhoun to free up salary cap space. The only problem is there are not many more potential fits for the Angels left in free agency worth freeing up money for.

And if the other moves of the offseason are any indication, the team is not going to sign guys to multi-year deals unless they lock Trout down past 2020.

With that in mind, it seems near impossible that the Angels trade Calhoun away. Now, Calhoun must step up and start producing numbers similar to the last time the Halos made the postseason in 2014.