If the Kansas City Royals taught the world anything in going to the World Series in 2014 and winning the Commissioner’s Trophy in 2015, it’s that defense matters. Like, a lot.
Apparently, the Los Angeles Angels were paying very close attention.
Under the guidance of new general manager Billy Eppler, the Angels have already made two defensive-upgrading moves. A blockbuster trade with the Atlanta Braves swapped out Erick Aybar for Andrelton Simmons, modern baseball’s answer to Ozzie Smith. The Angels have also signed Geovany Soto to replace the departed Chris Iannetta behind the plate, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, which is another a good switch.
Now, the Angels are reportedly considering a run at another defensive upgrade. According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, star right fielder Jason Heyward is in their sights:
There are plenty of good right fielders in baseball today, but none of them play defense like Heyward. He’s a perfect blend of instincts, speed, arm strength and arm accuracy, and these things have served him very well since he broke into the majors in 2010.
Of course, Heyward is more than just his glove. He’s also a well-above-average offensive player, as he owns a .784 career OPS and has averaged 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases per year. And at 26, he’s very, very young by typical free-agent standards.
Hence why it should not be taken for granted that the Angels will actually sign him. Indications are that he’ll need close to $200 million to sign, per Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. For an Angels team that’s already weighed down by Albert Pujols’ 10-year, $240 million contract, that’s not an appetizing number.
But what the heck. We can say maybe. Heyward’s youth does offer some assurance that he won’t be another Pujols, after all. Besides that, bringing his glove aboard would definitely fit with what the Angels are doing.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the Angels are putting an emphasis on defense. Beyond the whole Royals copycat thing, Eppler hinted this was coming.
At Eppler’s introductory press conference, he revealed he had spoken to Angels manager Mike Scioscia about “a team that fits the ballpark it plays in,” per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. DiGiovanna took that to mean a roster focused more on pitching and defense than on offense, and that sure seems like the correct reading.
One thing the Angels have in common with the Royals is that they play in a ballpark that requires a strong defense. Per figures Cork Gaines of Business Insider compiled, Angel Stadium of Anaheim has an easily above-average amount of fair territory for its fielders to cover.
After that, you can throw in how Angels pitchers have been middle-of-the-road strikeout artists in recent seasons. The covering of said fair territory has indeed been necessary.
Fortunately for Eppler, he didn’t inherent a roster that was defensively inept. Defense was a big reason the Angels won 85 games in 2015, which put them just a game short of the Houston Astros for the American League‘s second wild card.
Ultimate Zone Rating rated the Angels as a top-10 defensive team in 2015. Defensive efficiency, found at Baseball Prospectus, put the Angels in the top five.
So, Eppler didn’t need to carry out a massive overhaul to make the Angels defense even better. He only needed to upgrade where he could. To that end, he’s already done well.
First, the two notable absences from the Angels’ 2015 roster are addition by subtraction as far as defense is concerned. One is third baseman and current free agent David Freese, whom the metrics rate as a subpar fielder. The other is Aybar, another subpar fielder, who was dealt to Atlanta in the Simmons trade.
Now, I could sit here and tell you all about the Mozart-crossed-with-Einstein level of genius that is Simmons’ defense. But meh, you can take it from his two Gold Gloves and his three straight Fielding Bible awards. Or the metrics. Or, even better, from MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez:
While Simmons is an obvious upgrade at shortstop, don’t overlook what Soto can bring behind the plate. Keith Law of ESPN.com regards him as a good framer of strikes, and Soto is also solid at blocking pitches and throwing out runners. Iannetta could handle the framing, but not so much the blocking and throwing.
With Freese and Aybar out and Simmons and Soto in, the Angels have clearly improved what was already a pretty good defense. But if the Angels aren’t yet satisfied, Heyward could very well be their guy.
And if they bring him aboard, an Angels defense that’s already really good would become downright heavenly.
Like with Simmons’ defense, there’s really no overstating just how good Heyward’s defense is. Since 2010, he leads all qualified fielders in both Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved. Again, that’s not all right fielders. That’s all fielders, period. If that doesn’t do a good enough job of stating his case, there are always his two Gold Gloves and three Fielding Bible awards.
As such, it’s not surprising to hear Morosi report that signing Heyward would cause the Angels to move Kole Calhoun from right field to left field. That would create an outfield of Calhoun in left, Mike Trout in center and Heyward in right. In a nutshell, here’s how that outfield breaks down:
- Calhoun: A 2015 Gold Glover whom the metrics also approve of.
- Trout: A 2012 Fielding Bible award winner whom the metrics arguably underrate.
- Heyward: He’s Jason Heyward.
So, yeah. Looks pretty good. And because all three of these guys are in their prime, there wouldn’t be any real threat of a defensive drop-off on any of their parts.
They’d definitely get their chances to show off. As noted earlier, this outfield would be playing in a huge home ballpark and behind a pitching staff that doesn’t strike many batters out. To boot, Angels pitchers also have a habit of getting batted balls in the air. Since 2013, no pitching staff has racked up ground balls at a lower rate than the Angels.
Mind you, we’re pretending more than assuming here. The Angels may want Heyward, but there’s a pretty big difference between wanting a guy and paying a guy. There’s no guarantee that the Angels’ interest will lead to a contract offer.
But Angels fans darn well should be excited by the idea.
This offseason has already seen the Angels take a good defensive team and cut off some dead weight (Freese and Aybar) while adding one solid defender (Soto) and one elite defender (Simmons). If Heyward is next, the Angels’ outfield would consist of the right guys in the right place at the right time. What was already a very good defense would become arguably the best defense in MLB.
In 2015, a very good defense helped get the Angels to within a win of a playoff spot. If they really do make their defense that much better, you could only assume that better things would be in store.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.
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