The Los Angeles Angels have strangely been one of Major League Baseball's most active teams this offseason. They've already signed four free agents and made a key trade.
They traded for Jorge Soler and signed Scott Kingery, Kevin Newman, Kyle Hendricks and Travis D'Arnaud. However, they may not be done just yet.
Perhaps they could end up doing what the Kansas City Royals did last offseason, making frugal moves to end up a surprise contender.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report predicts that they will end up signing left-hander Sean Manaea to a four-year, $72 million deal.
"At a $15-16 million AAV price point, Manaea, could make sense for a contender like Baltimore or Detroit. But going all-in on a guy in his mid 30s who just had the best season of his career feels like an Angels thing to do," Miller wrote.
"And they've already been pretty aggressively in denial this winter, adding all of Jorge Soler, Kyle Hendricks, Travis D'Arnaud, Kevin Newman and Scott Kingery.
Since losing Shohei Ohtani, the Angels have not had much in the way of pitching, and they could certainly use some help at the top of their rotation. Manaea could be somebody that can help them.
The 32-year-old pitched the 2024 season with the New York Mets and helped guide them all the way to the National League Championship Series, going 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts, also pitching 181 2/3 innings and striking out 184 batters while posting a 3.0 Wins Above Replacement.
Assuming Hendricks can bounce back to his old form, having Manaea could certainly help the Halos make some incremental improvements for 2025.
After hitting the free agent market three times in as many offseasons, now might be the time for Manaea to receive the long-term deal he has seemingly earned. The Angels have been aggressive this winter and it will be interesting to see if they decide to make a play for him.
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