This offseason has been pretty wild, with some huge contracts handed out, including three huge contracts to the same player. Through it all, the Angels have had what most people consider a solid winter, adding supporting pieces to their starring cast in the form of Tyler Anderson, Brandon Drury, Hunter Renfroe, Gio Urshela, Carlos Estevez, and others.
Well, you can’t count James “Jomboy” O’Brien among those who consider it a solid winter, as he named the Halos his biggest loser of the offseason on his Talkin’ Jake show recently.
“They have one more year of Shohei Ohtani. A generational, decade talent, one more year guaranteed,” Jomboy said, “And they should be going all-in to support him. And you have Mike Trout…And they should be going all-in and proving to Shohei, ‘Hey dude, not only do we want you back, we want to win with you right now, we’re going to go all-in.’ They got a bunch of reclamation projects that they hope stick, who did have great years, and they hope stay.”
Jomboy cited Drury and Anderson as the reclamation projects that he was very happy for, but doesn’t think they’re for sure going to pick up where they left off last season.
“But they’re not sure things. You’re banking on someone else, like, finished a project, and then they’re handing it to you and they say, ‘Okay, you just keep this running.’ The Angels can’t just keep things running! And I think they were the easy losers. You have Shohei Ohtani for one year guaranteed. You need to at least show him that you’re going to go all-in. And look how much money was spent. And instead it was like, ‘Are we going to sell the team? Are we not going to sell the team? No, we love baseball!’ Okay, well then, go support your players. So I think the Angels were the easiest losers of the offseason.”
What Jomboy might be missing is that the Angels have plenty of experience with the stars, the “sure things.” They’ve had Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani for years. They signed Anthony Rendon, who was as close to a sure thing as there was at the time. And it hasn’t worked out because they didn’t have the supporting cast. So it’s hard to criticize them too heavily for bringing in the supporting cast now.
Could the Halos have maybe done more this offseason with more certainty in their ownership situation? Sure. But they’ve absolutely improved their team this offseason, so to call them the “easiest losers of the offseason” is Hot Take Central at its worst.
.