AL West club interested in veteran slugger

The Angels are one of the clubs with interest in free agent Joey Votto, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

Votto, 40, is a free agent for the first time in his career after spending parts of 17 seasons with the Reds. His performance was excellent in many of those years but he’s coming off some recent struggles. He has been dealing with a significant shoulder injury that required surgery in 2022, with the effects lingering into 2023. He hit just .204/.317/.394 over those two seasons, production that translates to a wRC+ of 95 or 5% worse than league average.

But he has been among the best hitters in the game in the past and was in good form as recently as 2021. He hit 36 home runs that year and drew walks in 14.4% of his plate appearances. His .266/.375/.563 slash line during that season led to a wRC+ of 140 or 40% better than league average. He also received strong grades for his glove-work at first base, helping him produce 3.8 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs and 3.7 WAR per the calculations of Baseball Reference.

Perhaps it may be asking too much for a club to expect Votto to get back to that kind of production as he is now 40 years old, but if he’s able to get beyond the shoulder issues and produce at a level beyond the past two seasons, he could still be a useful contributor. His hometown Blue Jays have also been connected to him in rumors this offseason but a return to Cincinnati seems to be off the table.

With only three weeks until pitchers and catcher report to spring training, the Angels have question marks both at first base and designated hitter. The DH spot has been utilized primarily by Shohei Ohtani in recent years, though he has now moved across town to the Dodgers. At first base, Nolan Schanuel was rushed up to the Majors to take over the position last year. He was only just drafted in July and made a handful of minor league appearances before making his debut in the big leagues.

Remarkably, he managed to carry himself well despite the short track record of professional experience. In his first 132 plate appearances, he showed Votto-esque discipline, drawing walks at a 15.2% clip while striking out only 14.4% of the time. He only hit one home run, giving him a hunched batting line of .275/.402/.330, though that was still good for a wRC+ of 112. Despite that solid debut, Schanuel has just 51 games of professional experience and just 29 in the majors. For a club like the Angels with plans on contending this year, it’s a risk to be relying on him.

The club would be wise to get some insurance in case he experiences a swoon or the league figures out a way to attack him. Brandon Drury is on the roster and could play some first, but he also may be needed at second base or third base. Anthony Rendon is the on-paper option at the hot corner but he hasn’t played as many as 60 games in a season since 2019, meaning Drury may be needed over there. Miguel Sano was recently added into the first base mix via minor league deal, though he sat out the 2023 season and had a rough injury-marred season the year before. Hunter Dozier was also signed to a minors pact but his only two above-average seasons at the plate were the juiced ball season of 2019 and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

Bolstering the first base mix makes plenty of sense, especially with the designated hitter spot open for extra at-bats in the event Schanuel is justifying a regular role. The first base market has recently started to move, with Sano, Rhys Hoskins, Joey Gallo and Trey Mancini all signing in the past few days. Cody Bellinger is capable of playing some first base and still out there, though will be primarily considered an outfielder and is in a different stratosphere than the other available free agents.

Brandon Belt, Garrett Cooper and Carlos Santana are some of the other guys out there with Votto. Justin Turner isn’t likely to be counted on for everyday action in the field but can play the infield a bit while mostly DHing. The open market also features names like J.D. Martinez, Joc Pederson and Jorge Soler, who could be used as primary designated hitters with varying degrees of outfield playability. The Halos have been connected to big bats like Bellinger and Martinez in this offseason.

The Angels should have plenty of payroll space available, assuming they are willing to get close to the competitive balance tax line again, as they did last year. Roster Resource currently pegs their CBT number at $187M, which is $50M below this year’s base threshold of $237M. Replacing an elite bat like Ohtani’s won’t be easy but they should have resources available to make upgrades to the current lineup in some form or another.