SAN DIEGO -- The past five years, the average win total needed to earn a playoff spot in the American League has rounded out to 91. For the Los Angeles Angels, striving to launch themselves into legitimate contention as quickly as possible, that means finding 19 more wins in one offseason. Teams have done it -- 29 of them since 2000, most recently the 2019 Minnesota Twins and the 2018 Oakland Athletics -- but never easily.
"I think it's going to require risk," Angels general manager Billy Eppler said. "So you have to be prepared to take risks, be willing to kind of pursue both marketplaces, free agency and trade, in order to do that.