Not much went right for the Angels in 2024. Star outfielder Mike Trout missed most of the season with two separate injuries to his right meniscus. Their pitchers posted the second-highest earned-run average in the American League, at 4.57. Their lineup finished near the bottom of the AL in most major offensive categories. The result: a 99-loss season, the worst in franchise history.
Where to begin?
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General manager Perry Minasian has already been busier making moves than any of his peers. The Angels have already acquired DH/outfielder Jorge Soler and infielder Scott Kingery in separate trades. They claimed Ryan Noda off waivers, signed pitcher Kyle Hendricks, and inked veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud.
Their next acquisition might come from overseas.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported Monday that the Angels have interest in right-handed pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano, a free agent following 12 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top league in Japan.
Sugano, 35, is a two-time winner of the Sawamura Award, the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award. He was posted by the Yomiuri Giants after the 2020 season but wound up re-signing on a four-year, $40 million contract.
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In 12 NPB seasons, all with the Giants, Sugano is 136-75 with a 2.45 ERA. At the World Baseball Classic in 2017, Sugano tied with current New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga for the tournament lead in strikeouts with 16. In 2024, he had a 15-3 record and a 1.67 ERA for Yomiuri, with 111 strikeouts in 156.2 innings.
Angels owner Arte Moreno recently told the Los Angeles Times that his team’s payroll will increase in 2025. Their pitching staff is lacking depth, even more so in the rotation than the bullpen.
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Griffin Canning was traded to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Soler, leaving Tyler Anderson, Jose Soriano, Reid Detmers, Jack Kochanowicz and Hendricks to helm the starting rotation. Top prospect Caden Dana, who turns 21 in December, got a brief look at the end of last season as well and could return to the rotation in 2025 with an impressive spring training.
Kochanowicz and Detmers showed flashes of success last season, but are not shoo-ins for the Angels’ 2025 rotation. Sugano could offer veteran depth on a short-term contract; Moreno hasn’t issued a contract of more than three years to a free agent pitcher since C.J. Wilson in 2011.
Signing Sugano wouldn’t preclude a higher-profile free agent signing later down the road, and would fit the Angels’ recent pattern of building roster depth via proven talent.
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