With powerful offense, Angels eye postseason

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Angels have high hopes for 2020 after a busy offseason that saw them hire Joe Maddon as their new manager and make a huge splash by signing third baseman Anthony Rendon to a seven-year, $245 million deal.

The Halos initially went after the top starting pitchers available in free agency, only to pivot to Rendon once pitchers such as Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg and Zack Wheeler signed elsewhere. Instead, the Angels made several smaller moves to improve their pitching, including trading for right-handers Dylan Bundy and Matt Andriese and signing right-hander Julio Teheran and veteran catcher Jason Castro to one-year deals.

It's all an effort to build around stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, as the Angels haven't been to the postseason since 2014 and haven't won a playoff game in more than a decade.

What's the goal?
It's clear that owner Arte Moreno has his sights set on the postseason, as he brought back Maddon to the organization as manager and opened his checkbook to sign Rendon. It's also an important year for general manager Billy Eppler, who is in the last year of his contract and hasn't received an extension.

The Angels have made the postseason just once since Trout joined the club in 2011, and they were swept by the Royals in the '14 American League Division Series. Even making an appearance in the AL Wild Card Game would represent a huge step up for the Angels, who lost 90 games last season for the first time since 1999.

How do they get there?
With the addition of Rendon, the Angels should have one of the better offenses in the AL, powered by Trout, Rendon and Ohtani. They also are hoping that David Fletcher and Tommy La Stella can build off their breakout campaigns last year while Justin Upton needs to prove he can be healthy and productive. Albert Pujols is entering his 20th season and remains the club's primary first baseman, but the club will take precautions to keep him healthy.

The Angels have to hope they have enough pitching, as they have a few veterans -- such as Andrew Heaney, Bundy and Teheran -- but they could have to rely heavily on youngsters such as Patrick Sandoval, Jaime Barria and José Suarez.

Ohtani will provide a huge boost, but he won't join the rotation until mid-May and will only start once a week. Their bullpen has some intriguing arms behind closer Hansel Robles, as they'll count on Ty Buttrey, Cam Bedrosian and Keynan Middleton as their top setup relievers.

Maddon has preached all spring that the Angels' pitching is better than everybody thinks, but they'll have to prove it this season under new pitching coach Mickey Callaway. If their pitching is even league average, it could be enough with their offense.

What could go wrong?
The Angels already lost one key member of the rotation, as right-hander Griffin Canning had a PRP injection in his right elbow on Friday and won't be ready for the start of the season. There's optimism he'll return this year, but the Angels won't know more until an evaluation closer to Opening Day.

The Angels can't afford any other injuries in their rotation, as Heaney has had trouble with injuries in the past, but Teheran and Bundy have been durable. Injuries have derailed the Angels in recent seasons and staying healthy will again be key in 2020.

Who might surprise?
Shortstop Andrelton Simmons is heading into a contract year and is fully healthy after dealing with a severe left ankle sprain that hampered him for much of last season. Simmons is out to show that he's still the best defensive shortstop in baseball and that his down year offensively was related to his injury. The 30-year-old is likely to hit eighth in a deep lineup and could be due for a big year. He finished eighth in the balloting for AL MVP in 2017 and 15th in '18, so he's not too far removed from being one of the better players in the league.