MLB Rumors: Angels could bolster OF with Chris Davis, Alex Gordon
The Los Angeles Angels have some big moves to make this winter, and they could look at some heavy hitters to help fill some holes.
The Los Angeles Angels barely missed out on a postseason berth in 2015, falling a game short of capturing the second wild card in the American League. A lot of that failure fell on the offense, a unit that ranked 27th in baseball with a .246 batting average and 20th with 661 runs scored in 2015.
They have no intention of repeating those shortcomings again in 2016.
According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Angels could look at making a significant upgrade to its line-up for next season and could have their sights set on one of either Alex Gordon or Chris Davis to take over in left field.
Outside of having Mike Trout patrolling center, the Angels were unsettled in the outfield in 2015, and perhaps no more so than in left field. Los Angeles used eight different players in left and it showed when the team ranked dead last in Major League Baseball last season with a combined .216/.275/.317 batting line from the position. Additionally, the issues with Josh Hamilton also handcuffed the line-up significantly on the left side of the plate, where the Angels hit a dreadful .236/.289/.356 and mustered just 42 home runs as a unit.
Both Gordon and Davis would represent significant upgrades for the Angels, but both bring with them a much different skill set and potential problems.
Davis, who will be 30-years-old when the 2016 season begins, is the left-handed masher that the Angels badly crave. In 2015, he slashed .262/.361/.562 with a league-leading 47 home runs and 117 RBI. Much of that production occurred during the season’s second half when Davis went off, hitting .293/.409/.669 with 28 home runs and 65 RBI after the All-Star Break.
However, there could be two potential detriments to a Davis deal.
Firstly, Davis is primarily a first baseman and would be miscast in the outfield. However, with Albert Pujols entrenched there, left field is truly the only option to put him.
Secondly, Davis and his agent – you may have heard of Scott Boras – are looking to max out a deal for the biggest power hitter on the market this winter. Somewhere north of six years and $100 million will get it done. Normally, that would be pocket change for Arte Moreno. However, he was so eager to rid himself of Josh Hamilton that the Angels are paying most of his remaining salary to play for a division rival. While that saved the Angels $20 million over the final two-plus years of the deal, it still leaves them on the hook for about $43 million for a player no longer on their roster. Swallowing Davis’ contract on top of that may be a bit unwise.
On the other side of the coin we have Alex Gordon.
Gordon, who is two years older than Davis, may make more sense for the Angels. While not the power hitter that Davis is, having topped 20 home runs just twice during his career, Gordon is a more complete bat that gets on base and strikes out nearly half of the time that Davis does. Gordon is a career .269/.348/.435 hitter who has averaged 19 home runs, 75 RBI, and 37 doubles over 162 games.
Defensively, Gordon is a no-brainer. He’s a four-time Gold Glove winner in left field and is third in all of baseball since 2011 with 94 defensive runs saved.
However, there is a hitch to Gordon as well. Gordon holds a $12.5 million player option with the Royals and there has been no indication that he’s ready to waive that option. Even if he does, it may only be to sign a long-term deal to stay in Kansas City, where he has a good relationship with the team and has been one of their crowning achievements in player development.
While both players make a ton of sense for the Angels, neither is an ideal fit. However, given their struggles in the outfield last season, Los Angeles won’t have the luxury of finding an ideal fit and may have to settle by forking over big money to get themselves out of the hole.