MLB Rumors: Angels Now Have Eyes On 2 Elite Free Agents

The Los Angeles Angels have had a rough offseason, to say the least. Anytime you lose the best baseball player of the last century it's going to sting. In Shohei Ohtani's move up the I-5 to the LA Dodgers, the Angels lost their best hitter and their best pitcher. 

But MLB Insider Jon Heyman says they now have some big irons in the fire this winter, hoping to land two huge free agents in Cody Bellinger and/or Blake Snell. 

On the Bleacher Report live stream, Jon Heyman said the Angels really like both Blake Snell and Cody Bellinger.

Said that it obviously comes down to what Arte Moreno decides. (We all knew that)

— The Angels (and DeBum) Blow (@TheAngelsBlow) January 17, 2024

In stating the obvious, Heyman noted that in the end it will all come down to what owner Arte Moreno wants to do, and in the past, he's always favored handing hitters the massive overpaid contract rather than pitchers (i.e. Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon).

Both Bellinger and Snell are represented by Scott Boras, so it will take one of those grossly exaggerated offers of $200 million or so to land either one. Thus far, the Angels (and any other teams) have not been inclined to go there. Bellinger had a bounce-back season in Chicago with the Cubs, having his first good season in four years, while Snell won his second Cy Young Award, though separated by four merely decent, and injury-compromised seasons in between.

The only other pitching moves this offseason by the Angels have been to sign starting pitcher Zach Plesac, who has had three straight woeful seasons after looking like a keeper with the Cleveland Guardians in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and relievers Adam Cimber and Luis Garcia (who's back for a second tour of duty). 

On the offensive side, it's been even slimmer pickings, as the Angels added DH Willie Calhoun on a minor league deal and brought in first baseman Evan White, who hasn't been in the big leagues since 2021, and when he was for parts of a couple of seasons, assembled a .165 batting average and an OPS+ of 52. But hey, he is a former first-round pick (17th overall in the 2017 MLB Draft). 

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