The Angels, like so many other teams, will enter spring training searching — for a shutdown relief corps, a third-base solution, a lineup configuration that can feature both Shohei Ohtani and Albert Pujols without compromising the younger player’s development.
Perhaps they’ve already found a legitimate candidate in right-hander Felix Pena, whose first season with steady turns in a major-league rotation ended this week in a no-decision in the Angels’ extra-innings win over the Texas Rangers on Monday.
“There’s no doubt he’s taken some steps forward,” manager Mike Scioscia said Friday, a few hours after it became known that Pena would not get another start despite falling in line for the season finale.