Angels and Padres Look for Upside on the Left Side

The Angels had been the busiest group in baseball in the course of the first month of the offseason, signing Yusei Kikuchi, Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Hendricks, and Kevin Newman, and buying and selling for Jorge Soler. Then, after a quiet interval all through December and January, they returned to motion final week, agreeing to a one-year, $5 million pact with Yoán Moncada. He’ll reportedly take over for Anthony Rendon as their major starter at third base.

In the meantime, the Padres are waking from a good longer hibernation. Whereas the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Giants have been onerous at work bettering their rosters this winter, the Padres have been quiet. Their solely notable transfer previous to February was re-signing catcher Elias Díaz. On Friday, they lastly broke their silence and added not only one, however two main league free brokers: Connor Joe and Jason Heyward. The 2 are anticipated to share duties in left area. Joe will earn a assured $1 million on his one-year deal. The phrases of Heyward’s contract, whereas presumably fairly related, haven’t but been reported.

Angels Signal Yoán Moncada

We should always have seen this coming. Again in December, the Angels reportedly expressed curiosity in a trio of third basemen on the offseason commerce market: Nolan Arenado, Eugenio Suárez, and Alec Bohm. They had been additionally linked to a pair of big-name free agent sluggers coming into their age-30 seasons: Pete Alonso and Anthony Santander. So, after all, the Angels discovered a technique to get one of the best a mediocre approximation of each worlds.

Moncada has had a profession trajectory that few, if any, can relate to. There was a time when his star was so shiny that he was typically talked about in the identical breath as fellow worldwide phenom Shohei Ohtani. At the same time as a young person, he regarded like such a stud that the Purple Sox shattered worldwide signing precedent to present him a $31.5 million bonus, which price them one other $31.5 million in penalties. Lower than two years later, he was such a extremely regarded prospect that some questioned if the Purple Sox made a deadly mistake by buying and selling him to the White Sox for Chris Sale.

After all, Moncada wasn’t the primary prospect to garner a lot hype, nor was he the primary prime prospect who failed to succeed in his full potential. What makes him so attention-grabbing is that he did uncover his ceiling – he simply couldn’t keep there. In 2019, his age-24 marketing campaign, Moncada performed 132 video games, swatted 25 homers, swiped 10 bases, and produced a 139 wRC+ en path to a 5.2-WAR season. That’s the sort of participant the Purple Sox thought they had been signing once they gave him a record-setting bonus. That’s the sort of participant the White Sox thought they had been buying once they gave up one of many best beginning pitchers of this technology to get him.

Unhappy to say, Moncada has by no means been that sort of participant once more. Everybody has a principle about the reason for his decline, from lengthy COVID to the deadened ball, however whatever the clarification, the actual fact of the matter is that Moncada was not in a position to make a constant affect for the White Sox from 2020-24. His bat dropped off a cliff in 2020. He bounced again to submit 3.7 WAR in 2021, however after that, accidents and underperformance grew to become the defining themes of his late 20s. From 2022-23, he put up an 86 wRC+ and simply 2.0 WAR over 196 video games.

Moncada obtained off to a pleasant begin in 2024, slashing .282/.364/.410 over the primary two weeks of the season earlier than a left adductor pressure compelled him to the injured listing. Though he was initially anticipated to return in July, his rehab was placed on pause for six weeks in the summertime, first as a result of no matter on earth “anticipated soreness” is and later as a result of he was oh-so-vaguely “nonetheless sort of feeling one thing.” He lastly obtained again to Chicago in mid-September, after tearing up Triple-A on a rehab project, solely to sit down on the bench for the worst group in fashionable baseball historical past.

The White Sox had a dozen extra video games to experience out and roughly 450 plate appearances to fill. And but Moncada appeared in simply a type of video games and took simply a type of journeys to the plate. If you happen to blinked on the proper moments, you won’t have realized he ever got here off the injured listing in any respect. Over these closing 12 video games, White Sox batters produced a 70 wRC+ and -0.6 WAR. Their designated hitters went 9-for-50 with a 49 wRC+. Their third basemen had been even worse, going 4-for-44 with a -2 wRC+. But, the one work the White Sox provided Moncada was a Twelfth-inning pinch-running gig towards the Angels on September 18. He struck out the next inning in his solely plate look of the month. Nonetheless, he in some way completed the season as the most efficient offensive performer on the group, due to course he did:

All that to say, Moncada’s efficiency in 2024 can’t inform us a lot about what to anticipate from him in 2025. Might he be the 5.2-WAR participant we noticed in 2019, and even simply the three.7-WAR participant we noticed in 2021? I imply, certain, I suppose. He’s accomplished it earlier than, and he gained’t even flip 30 till Might. However Moncada put up 2.2 WAR over 208 video games from 2022-24, and that’s the sort of participant our Depth Charts projections count on him to proceed to be in 2025 (1.3 WAR in 118 video games). ZiPS is a bit of greater on him, whereas Steamer is a bit of decrease, however in the end, we’re speaking a few slightly-below-average on a regular basis participant – if he can keep on the sphere sufficient to play daily. For a lot of groups, that wouldn’t be sufficient to crack the beginning lineup. For the Angels, nevertheless, Moncada could possibly be a pleasant addition.

From about 2015 to 2020, Rendon was one of many few third basemen one may need picked over Moncada. The latter was a future famous person, however the former was already taking part in at that degree. As of late, Rendon is without doubt one of the few third baseman upon whom Moncada is, extra probably than not, a significant improve. Right here’s how the 2 evaluate in keeping with a number of projection programs:

Saddled with unfair expectations as a young person, Moncada has developed a little bit of a status as a prospect bust. The reality, nevertheless, is that he was value each penny the Purple Sox paid him; they used him to get Sale, and Sale helped them win a World Collection. What’s extra, he gave the White Sox 13.8 WAR over elements of eight seasons and contributed to the group’s first two playoff runs since 2008. Total, he supplied Chicago about $110 million in worth (utilizing a simplistic $8 million per WAR estimate) whereas incomes just a bit over $70 million in wage. Maybe he didn’t change into the whole lot he may have been, however he gave each of his groups greater than he took. He can do the identical for the Angels in 2025.

Padres Signal Jason Heyward and Connor Joe

On Opening Day in 2023, Juan Soto stood in left area for San Diego. The next season, the Padres braced for what may have been the worst downgrade since The Contemporary Prince recast Aunt Viv. Jurickson Profar, he of the bottom WAR in baseball the yr prior, was Soto’s alternative. The Friars dropped from first to thirtieth on our left area positional energy rankings. But, issues typically have a humorous manner of figuring out. In opposition to all odds, the 2024 Padres had the highest left fielder within the Nationwide League, in keeping with WAR, for the second yr in a row.

Sadly, the Padres then discovered themselves seeking to substitute their All-Star left fielder for a second consecutive winter. This time round, their answer is a platoon of the lefty-batting Heyward and the righty-batting Joe. And you understand, for what it’s value, each Heyward and Joe have higher projections now than Profar did coming into 2024:

To be crystal clear, these projections say way more about Profar’s outstanding 2024 season than they do about both Heyward or Joe. They don’t recommend that Heyward and Joe this yr are prone to outperform Profar final season. Nor do they recommend that both of them has extra upside than Profar did presently final yr. Heyward was an All-Star caliber participant in his early 20s, and to his credit score, he has loved a number of bounce-back seasons over the previous a number of years. Certainly, he’s solely two years faraway from a robust 2023, when he put up a 120 wRC+ and a pair of.3 WAR in 124 video games with the Dodgers. Nonetheless, his Thirty eighth-percentile xwOBA that yr instructed he was due for regression, and regress he did. Over 87 video games with the Dodgers and Astros, he produced a 94 wRC+ and simply 0.8 WAR in 2024. Whereas the Padres are certainly hoping to get one thing just like the 2023 model of Heyward, a repeat of his 2024 is way extra probably. He’s already 35 years previous (he’ll flip 36 in August), and I’m extra satisfied by his general 91 wRC+ and .301 xwOBA from 2021-24 than I’m by his transient resurgence in 2023.

Joe is three years youthful than Heyward however has by no means proven something near Heyward’s All-Star ceiling. In truth, he has by no means even had a yr as robust as Heyward’s 2023. (There’s a cause the Pirates non-tendered Joe fairly than pay his projected $3.2 million arbitration wage.) All issues thought of, Joe’s manufacturing over the primary 4 correct seasons of his profession has been fairly just like Heyward’s declining efficiency in the identical timeframe. Joe has been the extra constant hitter, however Heyward makes up the distinction as a greater baserunner and outfield defender:

Heyward is used to working in a platoon; since 2021, solely 12.9% of his plate appearances have come towards left-handed pitchers. Joe, alternatively, may gain advantage from much less publicity to opposite-handed hurlers. He has a profession 107 wRC+ towards lefties and a 91 wRC+ towards righties. His managers in Colorado and Pittsburgh made an effort to defend him from right-handed pitching, however they haven’t had sufficient high quality choices to make use of him in a real platoon position; 38.2% of his profession plate appearances have come towards lefties. Excluding his eight-game cup of espresso with the Giants in 2019, when 14 of his 16 plate appearances got here towards lefties, he has by no means had a season during which nearly all of his plate appearances have include the platoon benefit.

Are the Padres such a group to vary that? They need to be, though that’s contingent on their making additional additions. Ideally, Heyward would take the majority of the work in left area, well being permitting, whereas Joe would deal with the quick facet of the platoon. Nonetheless, the Padres would possibly want Joe for extra than simply outfield duties – and greater than only a platoon position. Contemplating his defensive success at first base (5 DRS, 2 FRV in 170 profession video games), and the huge gap San Diego has at designated hitter, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Joe taking part in loads of first with Luis Arraez because the DH. Joe’s projected 95 wRC+ (per Steamer) towards right-handers could be pitiful at first base, however the Padres don’t at the moment have many higher choices for both first base or DH — whichever place that Arraez just isn’t occupying. The one participant on their 40-man roster with a better projected wRC+ towards righties who isn’t already penciled into the lineup at a unique place is Tirso Ornelas, a prospect who has but to make his MLB debut.

If San Diego goes to beat its 33.2% playoff odds with out making any main additions, it would want somebody to step as much as substitute its best hitter from 2024. If that hero exists, it virtually actually gained’t be Heyward or Joe. As a substitute, that manufacturing might want to come from Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, or, in a best-case situation, some mixture of all three. Nonetheless, Heyward and Joe are confirmed large league gamers, and there’s little doubt the Padres wanted extra of these on their roster. And hey, you by no means know. It’s not so way back we had been saying the identical factor about Profar.