Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels are reportedly among the teams interested in free-agent third baseman Anthony Rendon. 

According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Angels have expressed interest in the top position player on the market, though it's unclear whether it's mutual. Rendon is already a known target of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies, along with the incumbent Washington Nationals.

The 29-year-old is coming off the best individual season of his career, hitting .319/.412/.598 with 34 home runs and 126 runs batted in. He made his first All-Star team and finished third in the NL MVP balloting, his third time in the top 10.

The Angels are no stranger to backing up the Brink's truck for elite sluggers. Albert Pujols remains under contract for two more seasons with the 10-year, $240 million deal they lavished on him in 2012. The team also inked star Mike Trout to a 12-year, $430 million contract in March—the single largest deal in MLB history by $100 million.

Rendon won't come close to eclipsing Trout's monster deal, but the Angels may have to cut another check worth a quarter of a billion dollars to land him. The Nationals showed a willingness to pay top dollar to retain their stars by agreeing to a reported $245 million contract with Stephen Strasburg earlier this week. The Phillies handed Bryce Harper $330 million last offseason, and the Dodgers have the deepest pockets in MLB this side of the New York Yankees.

With four major-market players vying for his services, Rendon should be able to set his price. The Washington Post reported in September that the Nationals offered him a seven-year, $210 million contract, which would be the lowest possible barometer for his final number. 

New Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon is no stranger to his team signing a marquee pitching free agent, and he expects the same this offseason.

"We need something like that," Maddon said Monday at Major League Baseball's winter meetings when discussing a potential Gerrit Cole addition, per Jayson Stark of The Athletic. "And I anticipate something like that."

Stark noted the Chicago Cubs signed Jon Lester last time the winter meetings were in San Diego in December 2014. Maddon was the manager of the North Siders at the time, and Lester played a major role in turning them into World Series champions in 2016.

Cole's market is coming into shape after the Washington Nationals re-signed Stephen Strasburg to a seven-year deal worth $245 million, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Passan suggested such a deal "could have a profound effect" on Cole's market, which could be in the $300 million range.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported Cole will go to the team that offers him the best deal and not make his decision based on geography. In theory, that is not welcome news for the Angels considering the former Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates hurler is a California native who could sign with the New York Yankees.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggested the Yankees, Angeles and Los Angeles Dodgers are the teams "on the clock" with a potential Cole decision coming at the winter meetings.

Cole is one of the best pitchers to hit the market in recent history. He is just 29 years old and a three-time All-Star who led the American League with a 2.50 ERA last season to go with a sparkling 0.89 WHIP and 326 strikeouts in 212.1 innings. He was even better in the playoffs and helped lead the Astros to the World Series with a 1.72 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 47 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.

The Angels already have an all-time great anchoring the lineup in Mike Trout to go with other talented offensive pieces such as Shohei Ohtani, Justin Upton and Albert Pujols.

Adding an ace like Cole to solidify the staff would help them compete in Maddon's first season at the helm.

The Baltimore Orioles traded starting pitcher Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, the club announced. 

Right-handed pitcher Isaac Mattson, who finished 2019 at Triple-A, will be headed to Baltimore in the deal. The Orioles will also receive right-hander Zach Peek, right-hander Kyle Bradish and right-hander Kyle Brnovich. 

Bundy, 27, went 7-14 with a 4.79 ERA last season. He struck out 162 batters in 161.2 innings while walking 58.

The right-hander entered the Orioles organization with major hype after being drafted fourth overall in 2011 out of high school. He had a cup of coffee in the bigs as a 19-year-old in 2012 but didn't join the rotation until 2016, a year when he spent time in the bullpen as well.

Bundy fared well in 2016 and 2017, going 23-15 with a 4.16 ERA and 256 punchouts in 279.1 innings. However, Bundy experienced a significant career downswing for a struggling 2018 Orioles team, allowing an MLB-high 41 home runs en route to an 8-16 mark and 5.45 ERA.

To his credit, Bundy was far better in 2019, but the long ball was still an issue, with 29 of the right-hander's offerings finding the seats.

Still, FanGraphs noted a few encouraging signs. For one, Bundy's ground-ball rate rose from 34.0 percent to 41.5 percent from 2018 to 2019. His hard-hit rate dropped from 34.6 percent to 31.2 percent as well.

A change of scenery could do Bundy good. Pitching half the time in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the league, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, isn't an easy task. Thirty-eight of the 70 home runs Bundy has allowed since the beginning of 2018 have come in Baltimore.

Bundy is eligible to become a free agent in 2022. 

Gerrit Cole is set for a major payday as the top-rated free-agent pitcher on the market this offseason, and that reportedly does not intimidate the Los Angeles Angels. 

SNY's Andy Martino speculated Tuesday that the Angels "are ready to go bonkers for him and spend whatever it takes" as part of a larger report on where the New York Yankees stand within the Cole sweepstakes:

https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1199370386791698435

https://twitter.com/martinonyc/status/1199372749380182023

Cole is hitting free agency after a record-setting 2019 campaign with the Houston Astros. The 29-year-old led the American League with a 2.50 ERA while leading all of MLB with 326 strikeouts and 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings. 

ESPN's Jesse Rogers polled 15 MLB executives and insiders as to whether Cole will secure a $300 million contract, with nine saying he will get "close but under" and six saying "no chance." More from Rogers: 

"Cole had one of the best free-agent seasons in recent memory, perhaps among the best of all time, as one executive put it. Will he be as good on another team not named the Astros?

"The fact that no one polled thought he would get $300 million is less about him having only two out-of-this world seasons under his belt and more about the nature of giving a pitcher that kind of deal. Besides, he doesn't need to reach the $300 million figure to set a record for a pitcher. That belongs to David Price at $217 million.

"Everyone polled believes he'll still blow that number away, and most predicted it'll happen in a deal with the Angels."

Cole's perceived preference for the Angels comes from the fact he grew up in Newport Beach, California, and attended Orange Lutheran High School. As for Cole's link to New York, the Yankees drafted him in the first round of the 2008 MLB June amateur draft out of Orange Lutheran. He declined to sign with the Yankees and instead pitched collegiately at UCLA, another link to his West Coast roots.

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Cole first overall in 2011. He debuted for the club in 2013 and played in Pittsburgh until signing with Houston ahead of the 2018 season. Overall, Cole has gone 94-52 with a 3.22 ERA and 1,336 strikeouts across 192 starts. 

Cole's set career-best marks last season in wins (20), ERA (2.50), strikeouts (326), WHIP (0.90) and more. That has given him plenty of momentum entering a free-agency pitching market that includes the likes of reigning World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg and three-time World Series champion Madison Bumgarner. 

Los Angeles Angels superstar outfielder Mike Trout said Thursday he's eagerly awaiting word on potential offseason additions to the team's roster after four straight seasons of missing the playoffs. 

Trout, a three-time American League MVP, said during an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM the front office hasn't asked him to help make a pitch to any free agents, but he's more than willing to play that role if called upon:

Mike Trout: I'm waiting by my phone to hear that we made a big acquisition.

"I want to get to the playoffs."

Hear the full conversation with @MikeTrout TODAY at 12:35 ET/9:35 PT on @MLBNetworkRadio@Mike_Ferrin | @Jim_Duquette | @Angels | #Angels pic.twitter.com/FGAzT4gKIL

— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) November 21, 2019

The 28-year-old New Jersey native is on pace to put himself in the conversation as the greatest baseball player in history by the time his career ends. The Angels have qualified for the postseason just once since he made his debut in 2011, though.

Trout needs help in L.A. He's coming off another monster season where he ranked first among all MLB players in WAR (8.6), second in OPS (1.083) and fifth in home runs (45).

Yet a lackluster supporting cast led the Angels to finish 72-90. They ranked 15th in runs scored (769) and 25th in ERA (5.12)

Not only is that bad news for the Angels, but it also hurts baseball that its best player is rarely seen on the sport's biggest stages. The only time Los Angeles did make the playoffs in his career, it was swept by the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 ALDS.

The roster does feature some secondary weapons in the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Justin Upton. Andrelton Simmons is a defensive wizard, and Albert Pujols still has a little pop in his bat despite no longer being the force he was in the prime.

L.A.'s lineup lacks depth, however, and its rotation is without an ace. Hansel Robles emerged as a reliable closer in 2019, but the remainder of the bullpen is a question mark.

It's likely going to take a blockbuster winter for the Angels to transform from a sub-.500 team into a World Series contender for 2020.

Having Trout is a major advantage. Perhaps the Angels front office should take him up on his offer to become a free-agent pitchman to bolster their offseason efforts.

Mike Trout has secured yet another American League MVP award. Now it's on the Los Angeles Angels to ensure his next one is more than just a consolation prize.

It is indeed safe to assume there's another MVP in Trout's future. The 28-year-old center fielder has finished no lower than fourth in the voting every year since 2012. And despite the Angels' 90-loss 2019, he captured his third MVP Thursday night:

𝗠𝗩𝗣 𝘅𝟯

For the third time in his career, @MikeTrout is your BBWAA AL Most Valuable Player! pic.twitter.com/gOllaWdcj3

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) November 14, 2019

Trout's latest triumph put him in exclusive company as one of only 11 players in Major League Baseball history to win at least three MVPs. Barry Bonds (seven) is the only player who's won more than three.

"It's been incredible," Trout said on MLB Network, per MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger. "My career so far, it's gone by so fast, been unbelievable. All the hard work. Can't do it without my teammates, my coaches, all the guys who helped on my path, my wife, my family. It means a lot to me."

Houston Astros third baseman/shortstop Alex Bregman deserves a shoutout for giving Trout a real challenge for the award. According to Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus, the wins above replacement gap between the two players was so small so as to basically be moot.

But ultimately, the better player won.

Though Trout's season-ending foot injury opened the door for Bregman to play in 22 more games, Trout hit four more home runs (45 to 41) and led the American League with a .438 on-base percentage, .645 slugging percentage and 1.083 OPS.

Throw in Trout's clutch hitting with runners in scoring position (1.159 OPS) and high-leverage situations (.987 OPS) and his adequate defense in center field, and you get, well, an MVP.

The Angels can't ask any more of Trout. His 72.5 career WAR are already more than any other player has ever accumulated through his age-27 season, and he finds new ways of getting better every year. To wit, he became a rare power threat in 2019.

For his part, Trout is surely happy with the record-setting $430 million contract extension the Angels signed him to earlier this year. But since 2014 remains the only season he's had the luxury of playing in the playoffs, he must be growing impatient for the wins to come more regularly.

To this end, the Angels have much work to do on the hot stove.

L.A. at least started its offseason on a strong note when it hired Joe Maddon as its new manager in October.

He first gained notoriety as the Angels' bench coach under Mike Scioscia from 2000 to 2005. He then went on to win three Manager of the Year awards, two league pennants and one World Series championship as a skipper with the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs from 2006 to 2019.

And yet there is the inconvenient reality that Maddon is taking over a 90-loss roster, not to mention stepping into an AL West that's been ruled by the Houston Astros in each of the last three seasons. If the Angels want things to get better, they must get their new skipper the talent he needs.

Specifically, they must patch up a starting rotation that posted an MLB-low 0.8 WAR in 2019. They could also use a catcher and a new right fielder. Upgrades for second base and third base would also be a good idea. Some for the bullpen would help too.

Or, put another way: There isn't a whole lot on the Angels roster to get excited about besides Trout and 2018 AL Rookie of the Year Shohei Ohtani, who should return to juggling hitting and pitching duties in 2020.

On the plus side, the free-agent market is headlined by aces Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg and star third baseman Anthony Rendon, each of whom should be of interest to the Angels. The same goes for other luminaries such as Madison Bumgarner, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dallas Keuchel, Zack Wheeler, Nicholas Castellanos and Marcell Ozuna.

On still another plus side, team owner Arte Moreno has indicated he's ready to spend some money.

"Payroll will go up next year," Moreno said in October, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. "I'm not going to say how much."

However, there isn't too great of a gap between the Angels' $147.9 million payroll projection for 2020 and their Opening Day peak of $166.6 million, which came in 2018. They may have to spend beyond their comfort zone to fill all their needs in free agency. To that end, Moreno is sure to have limits.

General manager Billy Eppler might make up a few differences by pursuing low-cost stars on the trade market, but he'll have his work cut out for him. There aren't many spare parts on the club's major league roster. And with the exception of uber-outfielder Jo Adell—who's presumably untouchable—there isn't a whole lot in the club's 28th-ranked farm system.

In all likelihood, it will take some combination of lavish spending on Moreno's part and creative maneuvering on Eppler's for the Angels to accumulate enough talent to reestablish themselves as a contender. This is not impossible, but it certainly won't be easy.

Meanwhile, all Trout can do is clear a space for his latest MVP and then wait and see.

                   

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus.

Following the Houston Astros' flop in Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday, ace right-hander Gerrit Cole seemed like he wanted to be anywhere other than the home clubhouse.

Lucky for him, he officially became a free agent on Thursday. Cole can go wherever he wants now, and it's not too soon to begin speculating about him signing with one team in particular: the Los Angeles Angels.

Though the Astros might still re-sign Cole, he clearly doesn't feel like he owes them anything. According to Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle, the 29-year-old didn't even want to present himself as a member of the organization after Game 7:

Gerrit Cole, an impending free agent, was resistant to talk after Game 7.

“I’m not an employee of the team,” he said to an Astros spokesperson. “I guess as a representative of myself...” Then he spoke.

— Hunter Atkins (@HunterAtkins35) October 31, 2019

When Cole finally did greet the press, he was notably repping his agency with a Boras Corporation hat and already referring to his time in Houston in the past tense:

Gerrit Cole on his time with the #Astros:

"It was just a pleasure to play in the city of Houston" pic.twitter.com/b1YcwhXKVy

— Daniel Gotera (@DTGotera) October 31, 2019

Cole's postgame demeanor won't go over well with anyone who expects professional athletes to be mindless automatons whose sole purpose is to be subservient to whoever is signing their checks.

Yet it's worth something that Cole took the time to tweet out a heartfelt thank you to the city of Houston, the Astros organization and Astros fans on Thursday. Even if he hadn't done so, his initial curtness could have been rationalized on the basis that he was only minutes removed from a heartbreaking loss. And it was one in which he might have helped if only Astros manager AJ Hinch had called his number.

There's also the reality that loyalty is a two-way street. To this end, Cole might have noticed when Astros owner Jim Crane basically shrugged at the idea of re-signing him in September.

"We'll see where we end up after the year. We may make a run at it. We're not sure yet," Crane said, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. "We're going to wait and see what else unfolds and who else is going to stay on the team."

Crane's comments seem to indicate the Astros will only bring Cole back on their terms. But unless he makes a baffling decision to sell himself short, that's almost certainly not happening.

Cole was a reclamation project when the Astros acquired him from the Pittsburgh Pirates in January 2018. Though he was a former No. 1 pick known for his mid-to-high-90s fastball, he was perhaps equally known for being alarmingly hittable for such a live-armed pitcher.

But with Houston, Cole upped his velocity while also ditching his sinker and becoming a master of spin rate. The results: a 2.88 ERA and 276 strikeouts over 200.1 innings in 2018, followed by a 2.50 ERA and 326 strikeouts over 212.1 innings in 2019. 

Cole is likely to pick up a Cy Young Award when the winners for the American League and National League are announced on Nov. 13. The voters for the award will not have considered his run through the 2019 postseason, but prospective free-agent bidders surely will. All he did in five starts was rack up a 1.72 ERA with 47 strikeouts over 36.2 innings.

As of now, David Price's seven-year, $217 million contract with the Boston Red Sox is the largest deal ever signed by a pitcher. Cole should beat that, and he might even move the bar as high as $250 million.

Mind you, there's more to Cole's market than just his extraordinary ability. The winter market will open up in the shadow of a season that was the highest-scoring since 2006 and the most home run-infused in history. Many teams will need pitching.

Which brings us, finally, back to the Angels.

Out of all the reasons the Angels went 72-90 in 2019, none looms larger than what befell their starting rotation. They lost their best starter when left-hander Tyler Skaggs died in July—the legal implications of which don't look good for the organization—and their rotation ultimately finished with an MLB-low 0.8 wins above replacement, according to Baseball Reference.

That gives the Angels an obvious incentive to go after Cole. Perhaps a no less important incentive, meanwhile, is the ticking clock hanging over Mike Trout's head. 

The 28-year-old center fielder has been far and away the best player in MLB since 2012, and the Angels have already done the right thing by locking him up with a $430 million contract. Yet he's played in all of three postseason games as an Angel, and the potential for more might end when his prime ends.

With the big three-oh in his near future, that day may not be that far off.

The Angels have already scored big this offseason with their hiring of Joe Maddon, who led the Tampa Bay Rays to an American League pennant in 2008 and the Chicago Cubs to a World Series championship in 2016, as their new manager. There would seem to be enough space in their books for Cole to be their next big score.

Beyond having both the best player and arguably the best pitcher in baseball upon signing Cole, the Angels would also have Shohei Ohtani's return to the mound going for them. Throw in healthy versions of Justin Upton and Tommy La Stella and the pending arrival of uber-prospect Jo Adell, and the Angels would really only be wanting for some extra pitching depth.

Assuming said depth were to materialize, the Angels would resemble at least a wild-card contender for 2020. Given that they'd be stealing Cole from a key AL West rival, a rise to the top of the division wouldn't be out of the question.

Cole himself may be only too happy to catch on with the Angels. Though he'll be able to find better rosters and just as much (if not more) money elsewhere—looking at you, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies—the Angels are one of only two teams that can offer the Orange, California native and UCLA alum a proper homecoming.

As Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote, "Cole grew up nearby, attended Angels games regularly and seems inclined to try to get back toward home."

Could the Los Angeles Dodgers assert themselves as the better homecoming destination for Cole? Hypothetically, yes. But it would be out of character for them. They have been sticking to modest three-, four- and five-year contracts in recent winters.

The obligatory disclaimer for discussions such as these is that anything can happen in free agency. For instance, Patrick Corbin seemed like a shoo-in to sign with the Yankees last winter. Instead, he joined the Washington Nationals and went on to win a ring.

But if nothing else, Cole certainly seems ready to leave Houston. If they want to do right by Trout and generally become relevant again, the Angels should be there waiting for him.

                       

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and Baseball Savant.

The worst-kept secret in the game is now official: Three years after cementing his legacy by managing the Chicago Cubs to a World Series title, Joe Maddon is going to Disneyland. He's the new manager of the Los Angeles Angels.

But for a bowl of soup, this was going to happen 20 years ago.

And, oh, how different history might be had visionary general manager Bill Bavasi successfully executed the plan.

Maddon surely would not have managed in Tampa Bay and led the Rays to their only World Series appearance (2008).

He likely would have never made it to Chicago and, who knows, maybe the Cubs' streak would be up to 111 years without a World Series title.

And, probably, Mike Scioscia wouldn't have had his 19-year run managing the Angels.

You never know when one single lunch might change the course of history.

The Angels were in the market for a new manager in 1996 after blowing a large AL West lead down the stretch in 1995 and following that up with a clunker of a '96 season. Bavasi, then the GM, had identified a young, personable, quirky and whip-smart coach as future managerial material.

But he didn't think Maddon, then 42, was quite seasoned enough.

Meanwhile, a year earlier, a future Hall of Fame manager named Sparky Anderson had just ended a 17-year run with the Detroit Tigers. Sparky was a fixture at Angel Stadium, then called Anaheim Stadium, and a local. His home in Thousand Oaks, California, was just 65 or so miles from Anaheim.

Bavasi's idea: Convince Anderson to add one more chapter to his career. Anderson would manage the Angels for two seasons with Maddon as his bench coach. Maddon's education would continue under one of the grand old legends of the game, and by the time his apprenticeship was finished, Sparky would pass the torch and Joe would be seasoned and ready to take charge.

"I'd known Sparky since I was a kid, and I loved him, loved his work," says Bavasi, who now is senior director for MLB baseball and softball development and works under another former Angels GM, Tony Reagins. "I think at that time in life he could have still been really good."

It was the perfect plan and, quietly, Anderson, then 62, was on board. A lunch was arranged to discuss things further: Anderson, Bavasi and Tony Tavares, the Angels team president.

And then Sparky ordered soup.

As he drew his spoon from the bowl to his mouth, his arm shook and some soup splashed.

The Angels at the time were owned by the Walt Disney Co., and Tavares was head of Disney Sports Enterprises. Not only was he responsible for the ballclub, but Tavares had a corporate image to manage.

After lunch, he nixed the idea.

"I've seen a lot more people have their soup spoons shake a lot worse who have led huge companies to success and have started other careers in their lives," Bavasi says. "I think it was just somebody who didn't know Sparky and saw him for the first time, or close to the first time.

"You can't blame Tony. If you were in the same spot Tony was in, you'd have done the same thing. You'd have to have known Sparky to say, 'I'm not worried about this, it's been this way for 10 years.'"

But much as Tavares was enamored with the idea as well—"He loved the idea, that's why we got as far as going to lunch," Bavasi says—he didn't know Anderson like others. And he couldn't get past the shaking.

"If it was just me, or Alan Trammell, or Kirk Gibson, nobody would have noticed because we had all seen it for a while," Bavasi says.

So instead of Sparky Anderson, the new Angels manager for 1997 wound up being Terry Collins.

Collins lasted three years and resigned late in the 1999 season amid clubhouse turmoil so bad that there was a mutiny against him.

The interim manager for the final month of the '99 season after Collins' resignation was…Joe Maddon, who had been retained as a coach on Collins' staff. But the idea of an apprenticeship was long gone, and given the player rebellion, the Angels went outside the organization at season's end and hired Scioscia.

Maddon waited another seven years before Tampa Bay gave him his first break as a manager in 2006. And now, as Maddon returns to the organization for which he spent his first 31 years in professional baseball, crazy as it might seem, he's nearly four years older than Anderson was during that fateful lunch.

Bavasi's plan was top secret at the time and kept quiet for years. Mostly out of sensitivity to Anderson, who, understandably, didn't want to be in a public position where he was up for a job and wasn't chosen, given all he had done in his career.

Maddon, in fact, didn't even know of the plan until I told him about it a few years ago.

"I couldn't be more grateful, sincerely, for how things have worked out for me in my baseball career," Maddon told me then. "I've always been a big believer in not having anything happen to you before it's time. In other words, I had to earn this opportunity, and I felt like I did by 2006.

"Having said that, when you get a chance to work below the best professor and earn your doctorate degree with this kind of Aristotle, or Socrates, whoever this man was as a baseball manager, it would have been outstanding."

Maddon Madness starts now 🔥 pic.twitter.com/iANb0dcI3d

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) October 16, 2019

Maddon certainly has earned everything that's come his way, and he is a different man today than the one who bade the Angels farewell after the 2005 season. He will need every ounce of his baseball acumen and interpersonal skills, too: This is an organization reeling from the death of Tyler Skaggs and the recent testimony by club employee Eric Kay that not only did Kay supply Skaggs with drugs but that other current and past Angels were using opioids as well.

While the Drug Enforcement Administration investigates, on the field the Angels have lacked pitching, lost 90 games this season for the first time since the Collins-to-Maddon transition in 1999 and have failed to get Mike Trout to the playoffs for the past five seasons. There is a whole lot of heavy lifting to do, but Maddon remains well-liked in the organization, in Southern California in general, and the respect he commands at least will provide the organization some cover.

"Joe is Joe, man," Bavasi says. "I think people think he's strange sometimes, his quirkiness, but he's been that way ever since I've known him. I never saw it as quirkiness. I just saw it as Joe. The one thing he is is sincere, and because of that sincerity, if Sparky were there, he would have wrung that rag dry. He would have gotten everything you could get out of Sparky. Joe hasn't come across anybody from whom he hasn't taken their best traits and put them somewhere in his notebook.

"Look, fate is what it is. Brad [Ausmus, who was fired as manager last month] was not there, Mr. Moreno [Angels owner Arte] was gonna choose the manager, and Billy [Eppler, current GM] could not have done better. Joe will have no agenda except to make them better, help Billy do his job better, ask Billy to help Joe do his job better. It'll be a collaboration. Once Brad was gone, I was a little worried for Billy. With Joe, he's got nothing to worry about. Swear to God. I'll stake my life on it."

     

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball.

For the third consecutive year, the Los Angeles Angels will open the year with a different manager.

On Wednesday, the Angels announced they reached a deal with Joe Maddon to become the manager.

Joe Maddon's 3-year contract will pay him $12 million, making him the second-highest paid manager behind only Cleveland's Terry Francona, who'll earn $4.2 million in 2020

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 16, 2019

"We are thrilled that Joe is coming back home and bringing an exciting brand of baseball to our fans," general manager Billy Eppler said, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale. "We believe Joe will be a great asset for our club and look forward to him leading the team to another World Series Championship."

When Mike Scioscia's 19-year run with the Angels ended following the 2018 season, Brad Ausmus took over the team. 

Things never came together under Ausmus, due in no small part to injuries. Andrelton Simmons, Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols all missed at least 28 games. The starting rotation didn't have one pitcher reach 20 starts. Trevor Cahill was the only hurler to throw more than 100 innings. 

Beyond the injuries, the Angels also endured a tragedy in 2019 when Tyler Skaggs died on July 1 at age 27 when he was found unresponsive in the team's hotel before a game against the Texas Rangers. 

Los Angeles finished the year in fourth place in the American League West at 72-90, its worst single-season record since 1999 (70-92). Ausmus was fired on Sept. 30, one day after the end of the regular season.

Despite their record last season and missing the playoffs in each of the last five years, the Angels offer an attractive managerial job.

They play in a great location with an owner, Artie Moreno, who has spent at least $150 million on payroll in five of the past six years, and 28-year-old Mike Trout remains the sport's best player and is under contract through 2030. 

Maddon returns to the organization that gave him his start as a manager. He had two brief interim stints with the Angels in 1996 and 1999, going 27-24 in 51 games. The Pennsylvania native also worked as a coach for the team from 1994 to 2005. 

For the past five seasons, Maddon managed the Chicago Cubs. He led them to four postseason appearances in each of his first four years, including three straight trips to the NLCS and the 2016 World Series title.

The Angels will hope Maddon has the same type of impact on them. They are facing an uphill climb, as they play in the same division as the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics, two franchises that combined to win 204 games in 2019. 

It won't be easy, but Maddon is the first big domino to fall in an offseason that should see them do everything possible to get back in the playoff mix in 2020.    

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has interviewed several Los Angeles Angels players while investigating the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who was found dead in July with opioids fentanyl and oxycodone in his system, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.

Pitchers Trevor Cahill, Andrew Heaney, Noe Ramirez and Matt Harvey were among at least six current and former Angels players the federal officials reportedly interviewed. The team released Harvey three weeks after Skaggs' death.

Heaney was considered Skaggs' closest friend on the team, while Cahill was also close.

"Trevor was friends with Tyler," agent John Boggs said, "but all this other craziness that happened over weekend was news to everybody."

T.J. Quinn of ESPN reported Saturday that Angels communications director Eric Kay told DEA agents that he provided opioids to Skaggs before his death.

"I felt and continue to feel that it is time for everyone to stand up and take responsibility for their respective roles in this," Kay said in a statement to Outside the Lines.

He also reportedly told the DEA of five other players on the Angels he believed used opioids.

Those interviewed haven't been accused of using the drugs, but the investigators want to learn whether the use of opioids was prevalent in the clubhouse or on team flights, per DiGiovanna.