The Angels have had a quiet offseason. It can be argued their biggest move was restructuring Anthony Rendon’s final year under contract, with the two parties deferring his $38MM salary over five years. In terms of adding to the roster, the club signed Jordan Romano, Drew Pomeranz, Kirby Yates, and recently Brent Suter for the bullpen. They’ve also bought low on Alek Manoah, Grayson Rodriguez, and Josh Lowe (the latter two by trade) and re-signed Yoan Moncada to play third base.
With Moncada being a returning player, the Angels’ infield hasn’t seen much of an upgrade. Perhaps that’s due to financial uncertainty. The club recently terminated its contract with Main Street Sports and may consider turning over their broadcasts to MLB – generally a less-lucrative arrangement. Whatever the reason, the team’s infield still has some question marks, especially at second base. What options do the Angels have at present? Let’s take a look at the possibilities:
Moore is the incumbent at the keystone after Luis Rengifo, who led Angels second basemen with 260 plate appearances last year, became a free agent. He was the club’s first-round draft pick in 2024 and will get plenty of opportunities on that basis alone. That said, Moore struggled mightily at the plate in his debut season in 2025. In 184 PA across 53 games, he batted .198/.284/.370 and graded out 18% below average by wRC+. His 10.3% walk rate was a positive, but that was outweighed by a 33.7% strikeout rate. Moore also has room for improvement on defense, with Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average both taking a negative view of his work at the keystone. The key for him in 2026 will be making more consistent contact and getting on base so he can take advantage of his 78th-percentile speed.
Grissom was acquired from the Red Sox two months ago. He owns a career line of .255/.309/.346 with an 82 wRC+ in 350 PA for the Braves and Red Sox from 2022-24. Unfortunately, he didn’t play at all in the majors in 2025, instead spending the year at Triple-A. While he was above-average there and posted good strikeout and walk numbers, time is running out for him to prove himself at the big-league level. Grissom’s defense at second base is on par with Moore’s (-3 DRS and -8 OAA in 613 innings), so he’ll need to outhit Moore to compete with the recent draftee for playing time. Grissom is out of options and comes with five additional years of team control.
Peraza is a former Yankees prospect who has yet to make an impression in the majors outside of a late-season callup in 2022. In 524 PA from 2022-25, Peraza has batted just .189/.260/.282 with a 54 wRC+. He has also struck out at a 27.1% clip in his career, including 34.7% of the time in 95 PA with the Angels in 2025. He has only played 205 career innings at second base, although DRS and OAA both see him as slightly above average. Apart from his range, Peraza also has 81st-percentile arm strength, so the Angels might take advantage by playing him across the infield. Of course, he’ll need to cut back on the strikeouts and get on base more frequently to justify a bigger role than “defensive replacement.”
Guzman was an international signing in 2021 and made his big-league debut at the end of last year, albeit for just 43 PA. He batted .247/.343/.426 with a 119 wRC+ across Double-A and Triple-A in 2025, showing decent power with 17 home runs. Paris was the Angels’ second-round draft pick in 2019 and has made 245 PA in the majors from 2023-25. He is a steady defender but hasn’t shown anything with the bat, with a career wRC+ of 50 and an extremely high 42.1% strikeout rate in 140 PA last year. Even as depth pieces, Guzman and Paris are lower on the pecking order than Grissom and Peraza. Both have at least one option remaining, so they’re likely ticketed for Triple-A.
Minor-League Signings
Trey Mancini and Jeimer Candelario are in the organization on minor-league deals and will likely attend big-league Spring Training. Both are veterans with minimal track records in recent years. Mancini was out of baseball entirely in 2024 and spent 2025 with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate, hitting 10% better than average by wRC+ in 335 PA. His last productive big-league season was in 2022 (105 wRC+). Candelario was released by the Reds mid-way through last year after seeing his offense crater compared to the heights of his 2023 campaign. In 554 PA since the start of 2024, he owns a wRC+ of just 76 and has struggled badly to get on base. Candelario is limited to the infield corners and Mancini to just first base, so their ceilings are essentially as backups if Moncada or Nolan Schanuel get injured.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
I miss Chone Figgins. He was a fun player!
He was!
Until he signed with the Mariners. One of the worse signings in team history.
I”d say contact the White Sox concerning 2nd baseman Lenyn Sosa who hit .264/.293/.434 with 22 HR’s and 75 RBI, and has played all 4 infield positions. The Sox have Meidroth at 2nd, Montgomery at SS, Murakami at 1st and Vargas at 3rd. But they also have 3 future stars in BIlliy Carlson, Caleb Bonemer and soon to be drafted #1 Roch Kochlowski, all who all play SS and Carlson and Bonemer can play 2nd and 3rd, so the only 2 players assured of playing in the INF is Montgomery and Murakami. Sosa is a glove first infielder, but also swings a big bat with power. He would be a better addition that anyone they list in this article, especially former White Sox Moncada.
💩 Sox get some pitching n Tigers dont run away w division, they may be playing some semi meaningful baseball after the break ( vs the usual development n spoiler role they been playing for better part of the decade )
How do you build a pitching staff with such awful infield and outfield defense?
How does anyone think Perry knows what he’s doing?
With that pitching n offense, they should have glove first defenders all over the diamond ( kinda like the cubs but a few of their gloves can hit too )
Looking at this posting, a poll should be done on whether the Angels will end up with more wins than the White Sox. I believe the Angels are worse.
I think so.
I think angels will struggle to win 66+ games
💩 Sox will get to 69 w out too much problem. Maybe 72ish
If Candelario has gotten in shape and motivated, I don’t see him being a backup to Moncada. Both are a low bar.
Yikes. Do they have a single starter who’s even an average defender?
Grissom has to win that job this spring.
Pencil in Moncada at 3rd and Grissom at 2nd.
A bench of D’Arnaud, Siri, Madrigal and Mancini isn’t great but therr is some intrigue. All those guys can hit. The Angels lineup and their bench will lack left-handed hitting but that is the team they put together.
Moore, Paris, Peraza, Candelario, Guzman — nice to have depth on the farm.
So, nothin’ much!
This roster is like toilet paper.
Hopefully they have a top 5 farm
Oops. They dont have Nada / a future
Please sell the team so us remaining Angels fans can go cheer on a team that will be competitive…
We deserve better.
And get Los Angeles out of the team name.
No one outside of LA wants to have the name attached to their team.
Who could they trade to the Astros for either Walker or Paredes?
Wow, they all suck…
It’s obvious the Angels are not interested in fielding a competitive team. Just rip the band aid off, Arte. If you’re not selling the Team, you should. At least fire Perry who has taken this Team backwards during his tenure. Play the kids. You can dump Soler now. He’s just taking a roster space. Trade Soriano for a CF (Duran?). that you can build around. Trade one of Dana or Aldegheri for Baty, Shaw, or Barger. Throw in another player if need be. Put the one you don’t trade in the rotation. F these one year deals. Get some controllable players with potential.