Los Angeles Angels will never make playoffs with the current plan
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Angels were viewed as a potential wild card team heading into the 2019 MLB season but have not gotten off to a great start in the first month.
The Los Angeles Angels had the biggest win the franchise could have possibly had prior to the season when it was announced that Mike Trout agreed to a 12-year contract extension that would virtually make him an Angel for life.
It is a good thing that Angel fans got that win before the season because since then the team has not enjoyed very many wins. With just about a month in the books, the Angels are currently last in the American League West with a 12-17 record.
A 12-17 record might not sound all that bad considering the fact that they are only five games under .500. However, if the Angels want to prove themselves to actually be a playoff contender, they have to perform against playoff-caliber teams.
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The only playoff-caliber team that the Angels have had success against thus far this season is the Milwaukee Brewers, who have not looked as sharp as they did last season. The Halos were the noticeably worse team against the Athletics, Cubs, Yankees and even the Mariners.
If you are going to be a playoff team then you have to at least hold your own against playoff-caliber teams and the Angels have not done so. By just watching the Angels in these games you can tell that they do not have what it takes to make a deep run.
And as long as the front office continues their current strategy then they will never be a playoff team. While the team is missing both Shohei Ohtani and Justin Upton, the lack of depth on the team has been exposed.
The best teams in the league have depth and the Angels have proven throughout the years that just one injury can derail things. If it is Mike Trout that is one thing but a true playoff team would still be able to win games without Justin Upton.
Not to mention that the pitching staff has been poor thus far. The bullpen, which looked solid at the beginning of the year, has already crumbled and has elected a closer by committee. Tyler Skaggs is showing some potential in a rotation that has otherwise been bad.
It is the odd strategy of signing guys that have already peaked that has led to this. Just look at the list of guys who already had peaked that are struggling thus far this season.
Zack Cozart, Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, Cody Allen and Justin Bour are all examples of this. The Angels have done an awful job of building respectable farm and instead has been reliant on these one-off signings that have not paid off.
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The Los Angeles Angels postseason drought will continue to grow for as long as these poor practices are used.