On one team you've got a guy looking for his 400th home run and another guy relatively close to his 500th save. Seeing as it's the Angels that's really all they've got to look forward to right now.
Mike Trout reaching 400 feels like something that, had his 30s been a luckier period of his career, should have happened a while ago. It's very much the Ken Griffey thing where so much talent and promise couldn't be sustained past thirty because of those awful injury-lost years. Having him in a better state this year has helped, but this isn't peak Trout either. In 119 games he's hit .231 with 21 homers and 58 RBIs, some very pedestrian numbers for a guy who'd routinely pass 35 during his prime. You can see he's trying desperately to help this team and return to his prior period of dominance, but he's 34, on the verge of a downslope and still playing kinda hurt. I've never seen a road to a 400th home run feel so anticlimactic. Heck, how likely is it that Trout even makes it to 500? Maybe it's a Griffey thing where he just makes up some ground in his late 30s without the high quality, but the wind's been taken out of the sails, and it's just sad to see.
Meanwhile, you've also got Kenley Jansen on this team, and somehow HE's the one still giving out prime seasons. Since Craig Kimbrel has been winding down, Jansen has become the sole tentpole closer in the bigs, and he's also managed to deliver consistent dominance in the ninth into his late 30s. Since becoming an everyday closer he's never finished a [non-2020] season with less than 25 saves. Right now he's got 27, and a 2.73 ERA to go with it. Despite some really sketchy early 2010s seasons, Jansen's career ERA is currently 2.58, and isn't really in danger of going over 3 anytime soon.
Jansen will likely hit 500 saves next year, which will all but guarantee a Hall of Fame induction he's honestly deserved for a while. For a whole decade, Kenley Jansen was a lights-out closer who never got hurt [substantially], always rose to the occasion and just kept at it. He's probably the greatest closing pitcher in Dodgers history, and he might be one of the best pure closers of the 2010s. In an era where the closing job has become so variable, and is routinely given to simply the best reliever on the team these days, you don't see as many people as a primary closer for 10 years. Josh Hader's coming close but he's definitely had his missteps. Clase was on the way but who knows what the rest of his career looks like now. Even Chapman had years where he was a better reliever than a pure closer. Jansen is just that guy consistently, and has been that guy for every team he's played for. His next save will be number 475, and seeing as you get the sense he's not done yet, 500 is not out of the question.
As for what IS out of the question...an Angels playoff run. I can admit there's been improvements, and having Taylor Ward and Jo Adell as a 30+ homer duo feels absolutely correct, but all the pieces I thought would bring this team further forward really haven't. Kyren Paris, Christian Moore, Ben Joyce and Luis Rengifo all struggled this year despite the promise of taking on the load. And again, no input from Anthony Rendon. What a terrible contract that's turned out to be. I can only assume 2026 will be better, but...what'll go wrong that time?
It's very weird that I'm more confident in Kenley Jansen's 2026 accomplishments than the Angels themselves, but that's where we are.
Coming Tomorrow- South Jersey export trying to salvage a decidedly down year.
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