Angels GM Reveals What Position Halos Are Targeting in Free Agency

Maren Angus-Coombs | Nov 11, 2024

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Perry MInasian isn't done adding to the Los Angeles Angels roster.

The general manager told reporters he wants to add at least one more starting pitcher this offseason after the addition of Kyle Hendricks.

Perry Minasian said Angels would like to add one more starter to rotation

— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) November 8, 2024

Hendricks thought his offseason was going to be long. He knew his time with the Chicago Cubs had run its course and his future was uncertain.

What he didn’t anticipate, though, was a team ready to move fast to bring him on board — the Los Angeles Angels. Their stadium is just a 30-minute drive from his hometown, offering him a familiar setting and a great chance to keep pitching.

He was on the market for less than a week.

“It was a slow process, throughout the course of the year,” Hendricks said of when he realized his time in Chicago was ending. “It’s a results-based league. Of course, I would have loved to be a Cub my whole life if it could have happened. But you have to produce, and it didn’t happen for me.”

Hendricks may not have an All-Star title to his name, and he probably won’t find himself in the Hall of Fame. But he’s had a solid, reliable career that many would envy. Known for his consistency and stability on the mound, he’s earned respect as a dependable player.

Hendricks’ legacy, however, is about more than stats. He’ll be remembered most as a Chicago Cub. He was a steady force in the rotation, a figure who helped guide the Cubs through some of their most pivotal years. In 2016, he was a key piece of the roster that finally broke the team’s World Series drought, finishing third in the National League Cy Young voting that season.

For years, Hendricks remained one of the last links to that unforgettable championship team. His presence symbolized the end of an era for Cubs fans, representing the perseverance and grit that brought a long-suffering franchise to the ultimate prize.

The need is so obvious that even Minasian, who usually keeps things vague, openly expressed that he's still looking to add at least one more starting pitcher.

“We still think he can pitch. We think there’s a lot left in the tank,” Minasian said. “He’s a year removed from being very good, and we don’t see any reason he can’t get back to that point, where he was in 2023. He’s not somebody that relies on velocity, he can really pitch.”