The Los Angeles Angels left the winter meetings without making any big moves, but they did make one small move, and they made their presence felt to some degree. Here’s a summary of the Angels’ winter meetings experience—three-up, three down style.

Three up

1 Vaughn Grissom deal. This was a small move that may have big repercussions. Grissom was expected to be the starting second baseman for the Boston Red Sox when they acquired him from the Atlanta Braves in the Chris Sale deal, but Grissom struggled out of the gate, then ended up buried at Triple A. GM Perry Minasian knows him from his Braves day, and if he starts or gives the Angels any kind of production, this deal would be a significant accomplishment.

Advertisement

2 Being in the mix. Visibility matters to a team that’s where the Angels are right now, and the Angels were connected to several significant free agents, including outfielder Cody Bellinger. Just being able to get mentioned and connected by super agent Scott Boras is something of a minor achievement, and at the very least it means there’s recognition that things might be slowly changing with new manager Kurt Suzuki and his coaching staff in place.

3 Avoiding Coverage of the Skaggs Trial. This one’s more important than it looks. The ongoing drudgery and sheer awfulness of the news coming from out of the Tyler Skaggs civil suit trial has been an albatross around the necks of Angels fans, and it’s been a relief to focus on baseball with the Angels making some significant moves in the last couple of weeks.

Three Down

1 Where’s the outfielder? We’ve seen the Angels trade for a promising pitcher, sign another low-level pitcher and trade for a middle infielder. Where’s the outfielder, though? It’s not hard to find outfielders at the Grissom level who are worth a flyer, but they Angels couldn’t find anyone.

Advertisement

2 Mentioning Mike Trout as an outfield possibility. Minasian actually had the audacity to mention Mike Trout as an occasional possibility in center field, which is ridiculous. Trout is basically a full-time DH unless the Halos want to buy out his contract, but they managed to keep Trout healthy and get some production out of him this year. Even suggesting this made MInasian look foolish.

3 Talking up more moves. This is definitely not what the fan base wants to hear, because talking isn’t doing. That’s especially true when Minasian mentioned the money saved in the Taylor Ward trade—everyone knows what owner Arte Moreno’s m.o. is at this point, and trying to convince anyone that things are going to be different isn’t going to fly.