The Angels entered camp with three-fifths of their rotation set. Yusei Kikuchi, José Soriano and Reid Detmers were locked in. Offseason reclamation pickups Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah started the spring as the favorites for the final two spots.
Neither has made a great first impression. Rodriguez has allowed seven runs with a 7:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio through eight innings. He has at least had encouraging velocity, averaging 95 mph on his fastball. He’s a wild card after missing the past season and a half to shoulder issues.
Manoah has had an even tougher time, giving up five runs with eight walks and only four strikeouts through 7 1/3 frames. The former Cy Young finalist, who also hasn’t made an MLB appearance since 2024, has been in the 91-92 mph range with his fastball. His velocity was in a similar spot last season in the minor leagues. Manoah threw 93-94 on average before undergoing elbow surgery two seasons ago.
Both pitchers still have a pair of minor league option years remaining. Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com writes that Manoah’s struggles, in particular, have opened the door to him beginning the season in the minors. That’d obviously open a rotation spot for someone else. Jack Kochanowicz and Sam Aldegheri seemingly represent the top two challengers.
Kochanowicz was arguably the worst regular starter in MLB last season. Among pitchers with 100+ innings, no one had a higher earned run average than his 6.81 mark. Only Erick Fedde had a lower strikeout/walk rate differential. Kochanowicz finished the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake.
The sinkerballer has put a stronger foot forward in camp. Kochanowicz has only allowed two runs in 8 2/3 innings spanning three appearances. He has recorded five strikeouts with one walk while keeping the ball on the ground at a 60% clip. That shouldn’t outweigh last year’s struggles, but it could be enough to jump the struggling Manoah on the depth chart.
Aldegheri is one of the team’s more talented pitching prospects. He has been knocked around for a 6.41 ERA in his first seven big league appearances but is coming off a 3.78 ERA season in Triple-A. Aldegheri has only made two Spring Training outings for the Halos. His most impressive performance to date came for the surprisingly undefeated Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. Aldegheri struck out eight over 4 2/3 scoreless frames against Brazil (admittedly one of the worst teams in the tournament).
Mitch Farris has had a slight velocity uptick this spring, but he has been rocked for 12 runs in six innings. Caden Dana is behind in camp after an offseason mononucleosis diagnosis. Walbert Ureña has made one career Triple-A start, while Victor Mederos has already been optioned out of MLB camp. Prospect George Klassen leads their group of non-roster invites. The 24-year-old has only made one Triple-A start but has bigger stuff than any of the depth pitchers on the 40-man roster.
It’s a rough group, but the Angels showed little interest in making a significant free agent upgrade. That’s essentially off the table at this point. Lucas Giolito, whose previous brief stint as an Angel couldn’t have gone worse, is the only unsigned starter who’s guaranteed to command a big league contract. Patrick Corbin and old friend Tyler Anderson are probably looking at minor league deals as they enter their respective age-36 seasons.
Grayson & manoah had massive ceilings a few yrs ago. Injuries/poor performance crushed their potential. Angels like picking up other tms scraps
Manoah has to be toast at this point or close to it. I’d put him in the minors and wait for a solid stretch of games then bring him up if he shows anything. He’s probably get bludgeoned in AAA though.
Manoah has only pitched 44 and 38 IP the last two years. There is not really any world where he would be able to give more than 100 IP this season even if he was effective.
If he is like he was in TOR he will complain about being sent down. I think the Jays gave up on the arm and the person.
So they’re in great shape
Thankfully us Angels fans have no interest in winning…as long as we feel safe at games.
Don’t forget the cheap hotdogs.
My Mom is the one that makes the decisions, at least 80% of the time.
It could be worse. If you were on the Jets, you might be reporting to a couple of 18 year old kids.
“It’s a rough group” pretty much applies to the whole team. I’ll be surprised if they avoid losing 100 games.
Trade 37 home runs away for a pitcher coming off a year of injury and shocking. HE SUCKS. His velocity is down 3 mph. Manoah. His velocity is dow 4 mph and he can’t find the strike zone. Look at the pitch that was hit out today. 89 and up. That equals crushed at the major league level. We still have not replaced the 37 home runs in the line up
In MORONassian we trust.
This is no longer a 100 loss team. This is a 110 loss team with this garbage we call a rotation. We have a # 3. Two #4 and two guys that should be pitching in Japan.
Operation extreme redundancy is finally coming to fruition
Oh and 7 everyday players that cannot hit above .230
oh Soccer_ref
Thou crieth too much!
Really 110 loses? Don’t you think you are being a bit too dramatic?
Got to love the thrid grader mentality in calling Minasian names. MLBTR should send you to the corner for a timeout to think about your actions.
Yes 110 losses. This rotation will have an era over 4. The bullpen will be just as bad if not worse. Is this a 4 run a game offense?? They will be in the bottom 3 in runs scored and runs given up
I would bet you a beer and a hot dog that they are not a 110 loss team. I would even give you a minus 5 on that.
105-110 losses.
That’s a bet
Who can we dupe in a trade
We need Perry Minasian
Someone to foist all our troubles
Calling Perry Minasian, again
We have a # 3.
===============
If it helps, I think you have two #3 SPs. But at least you’ll be safe at the ballpark.
How the hell did you watch the game? They’re not even broadcasting most ST games
Highlight on mlb network
Manoah is toast and the Angels desperately need to add an arm or two. Anderson and Hendricks combined for 300 innings and an out 4 bWAR and have not been replaced.
I’m predicting Klassen gets the fifth rotation spot. His stuff is the best and a year with Maddux can only make it better.
Sam Bachman has had a good spring. Sam Aldegheri also a good spring.
@soccer_ref — the Greyson Rodriguez trade will be the biggest of misses if he cant return to form, and I’d say that he likely has a TJ coming at some point, but his numbers were very good before the setbacks and in some way he was worth gambling on.
I think it was a bad trade not in that Minasian targeted Rodriguez but in that he didn’t require a second player as a hedge.
The O’s have a stack of young pitching prospects. Ward was worth adding a prospect like Chayce McDermott or Cameron Weston to the trade and the uncertainty with Rodriguez’s injury history should have made a hedge a necessity for Minasian.
Ward is a good hitter and makes Baltimore’s lineup. Angels were due another player in that trade.
I think Bachman makes the opening day bullpen.
This is why Minasian needs to also go. Fricken liar. Talked about upgrading SP. Nope. Talked about upgrading the OF. Nope. 3B? Once he signed Moncada I lost hope for the Season. All we became is the Island for Misfit Relief Pitchers and Backup Inf.
It has nothing to do with Minasian and everything to do with Arte “Fans don’t care about winning” Moreno
I bet Mike and the other players loved reading that.
Minasian’s making do with the the jack squat he’s been given.
Minasian is a horrible judge of talent. He should have chosen a different sport because he totally sucks at baseball. After 105-110 losses he won’t have a chance at another job in MLB. Maybe his brother will give him a job with the Giants.
See I’m not the only one that thinks 110 losses is possible
Minasian has to play within the ludicrous constraints Arte sets.
If Minasian was a horrible judge of talent, 4 players would not have gone from the draft to the majors within a year and played well. Arte has said in interviews that he wants college players with a fast track to the majors drafted in the first round. Since 2018, before Minasian, we have drafted only college players. Minasian has no opportunity to draft the best high school talent and he has an absolutely horrible baseball ops to develop players because Arte refuses to spend money on it.
Arte has said the Angels will not sign starting pitchers for longer than 3 years. So no big FA starting pitchers will ever be an Angel while he is the owner. Arte spends the smallest amount of on scouting and player development in the majors. We had no analytics staff whatsoever until Eppler and no data scientists until 2 last season while most teams have entire departments of those PHDs. There are many other items that Minasian has to fight through. Only one other team did not have a pitching lab when the Angels got one at their spring training facility, the Rockies. We still don’t have one in Anaheim. There is only one scout in APAC. One. If you are actually an Angels fan you know that the MLB players had to practice in the minor league spring training camp for 5 seasons because Arte refused to spend money to upgrade the MLB side. The weight room was in a TENT in the parking lot for 5 seasons. A freaking tent. In Phoenix.
We don’t have the spring training games on TV this year because it would have cost Arte $2 million. A measly $2 million. The radio broadcast crew doesn’t travel with the team. They do their broadcast by watching the game on the TV feed because it saves Arte a few hundred thousand a season. Arte doesn’t spend money on anything other than every day players on the MLB squad.
The problems is ARTE. Only Arte.
Who’s the 4 players that made it to the Majors that are playing well? Neto? He is the nut the Blind Squirrel found. Schanuel? A .260 hitting 1B with no power. Name another team he would be a starter on. Who’s the other 2? Detmers? He’s a questionable #4 SP. Who’s the last one? Perry also had 6 seasons to draft a 3B. Yes, no one could predict Rendon’s brutal last few seasons. But somewhere along the line, Perry should have drafted a 3B. There are no candidates in our system. Speaking of drafts how’s that all pitcher 2021 draft work out. What a numbskull move that was. Oh and Bryan Woo went in the 6th round. Arte sucks. But he’s not the only problem.
I stretched it a bit when I said 4 that had done well. Only 3 did well. Moore was out of his depth in his cup of coffee late in 2025.
Can you name any other GM that has had 4 players go from the draft to the majors in their first full year in the pros?
Mainasian’s first draft as GM was in 2021.
His 1st round picks have been
2021 – Bachman (who was brought up and had a great rookie season with a 143 ERA+ and then had TJ. He has not given up a run with 10k in 5.2 IP this spring),
2022 – Neto (who went 13th so 12 other teams passed on him),
2023 – Schanuel (who has averaged a 104 OPS+ which is above MLB average), and
2024- Moore who got a cup of coffee in 2025 and who will make the OD squad in 2026.
2025 – Bremner – has a possibility to make the rotation on OD 2026. Especially with both Rodriguez and Manoah bombing so far. Most likely call up is first injury to rotation.
Others that have played in the majors include Joyce, Dana who had a cup of coffee in 2025 and may make the 2026 rotation, and Silseth who has been outstanding out of the pen but has not shown he can be a starter.
Exactly, can’t make chicken salad out of chicken crap
Angels50 -If you look at Minasian’s comments I think with the restructuring of Rendon’s contract He wanted to sign the 3 Japanese players. I think he thought re had a good shot at them with Kikuchi pushing for his friend and one that said the Angels would be his first choice. The TV deal had Moreno saying NO SPENDING until farther notice.
I think the Angels may have missed on Jose Miranda and Miguel Andujar signed for an absurd number, Angels should have paid Andujar long term as their third baseman but I like Moncada at 3B and I like Nick Madrigal at 2B. Moore in AAA. Three good prospects in Moore, Paris and Rada.
Angels have to sort out the Peraza, Grissom, Candelario, Taylor, Frazier situation but a pair of those players should be on the bench with D’Arnaud and Siri.
Id go with Candelario and Peraza to start the season. Cut your losses on Grissom, Frazier and Taylor.
Thats a good bench with D’Arnaud, Siri, Candelario and Peraza with Moore, Paris and Rada all available as depth on the farm.
Can’t recall the last time I read “I like Nick Madrigal.” I like your optimism. I may not agree with it, but I like it.
It was Madrigal at 2B and Moncada at 3B with the White Sox in 2021.
Madrigal hit .305/.349/.425 that season before getting injured and traded to the Cubs.
Off to a good start this spring, has some Luis Arraez in his game.
That may be the singular most inane thing I have seen on here. Madrigal didn’t play in the majors at all last season and his last two seasons in the majors he had a 76 OPS+. He is absolutely worthless. At least there is a chance that moore will hit. There is no chance with Madrigal.
@outinleftfield — Id say you’re incorrect, first in your comprehension of my comment as I had referred to Madrigal’s ’21 statistics with the White Sox, and second in regards to his current abilities. He is an excellent contact hitter.
He needs to be the starter, without a platoon, with some runway to hit a peak and a trough and find his true mean, and you’ll see that he is a better hitter than his numbers with the Cubs may portray.
Do you even watch baseball? Something he did 5 years ago has no business even being in the conversation about what kind of player he is now.
I watch a lot of baseball on youtube, I listen to most games on the radio.
Last season, I was 52-34 on my moneyline bets, down seven units on the season. In ’21, I was up 29 units on the season and won 70% of my picks.
I missed a few seasons due to jail time and lack of resources.
LMFAO. GTFOH. If you had better than 60% success on your bets you would not make such stupid comments on here. In fact, you wouldn’t BE on here.
I dont tell lies. I dont even mess around with half truths. Now occasionally I may err, I am human, but honesty is important to me and I make an effort everyday to be honest and to live with that tenet as the foundation of my heart and spirit.
I dont make bets because I can’t afford to make bets. I make the picks and keep track of my wins and losses because I enjoy the challenge of beating the book. I dont cheat myself to impress others.
I post my accolades in this thread because you challenged me to do so but I’ve posted quite a bit in these threads and my understanding of the game, past, present and future, speaks for itself.
I am not one to be bullied and I see you’re the type who mostly gets off on being engaged in that paradigm, because you’re a jockey.
You like having the reigns but the horse don’t like you.
I don’t like you either.
No way Siri makes the team, he’s looked terrible. Teodosio has done everything to win the backup outfielder spot.
Very small sample size on Siri this spring, he is an excellent defensive outfielder and he has pop in his bat. He isnt going to post gaudy AVG/OBP but he has 30+ HR potential. I like his power on the bench.
Teodosio was a career .211/.319/.408 hitter in NCAA. .238/.320/.376 in five seasons of MiLB. He can take a walk.
For reference, Nick Madrigal:
.361/.422/.502 (NCAA)
.319/.386/.420 (MiLB)
Madrigal is a good hitter, a good player, has had some tough breaks and was in a bad situation in Chicago with the Cubs.
He’d be my starting 2B, only Frazier would push him for the job. Frazier is a good player.
Grayson – keep him. Stuff is good, command needs work.
Manoah – he’s a fighter, but his stuff just isn’t very good anymore. SLC is fine just in case the magic returns somehow.
Klassen – next man up.
The Angels aren’t going anywhere this year, so the decisions need to be based on the future.
You are a positive young man! Good on ya!
Who is this Anthony Franco that wrote this article? I am just shocked that he wasted time writing about the Angels.
Crazy how he went from striking out the side, while miked up, in the All Star Game to unable to pitch in the majors, and pretty much out of baseball.
Poor Mike Trout. Other than never having to buy a drink or dinner in Anaheim the rest of his life, his career has been disappointing in the Big A.
Ya, having a career that results in being a 1st ballot hall of famer who will likely receive 95%+ of the votes while signing contracts totaling more than 1/2 a billion dollars is definitely the definition of a disappointing career.
Sure it sucks he wasn’t in the playoffs more and had years wiped out by injuries but not really a disappointing career.
Imagine being such a disaster of an organization that you’re hoping Alec Manoah can be your 5th starter.
Ryan Johnson might be the Angels pitcher of the future. Made the club out of spring training. Washington pitches him game 1 and gets a 1,2,3 7th. Then like all rookies who never played in the minors, Wash puts him out for another in the 8th and let’s him get hammered. Nicky Lopez finished the game. Was sent down and pitched great the rest of the year in the minors.
They pulled Jack K. Out 2/3 into the season. Called up Mederos who was pitching great in Salt Lake and gave him his first MLB start on three days rest. Mederos hurts his shoulder and goes on DL. Jack K pitched no better in the minors and they still put him back in the rotation.
All this while trading Griffen Canning 5 million in arb for Solars 24 million over 2 years and throwing no hitter Reid Detmers in the bullpen.
Hope they don’t stall out Klassen, Dana, Urena and Aldegheris futures
Canning needed to go. He wasn’t very good. Detmers in the bullpen last season may have been one of the team’s smarter moves if he turns out to be a solid rotation piece this season like everyone thinks he’s supposed to be.
Who was better for the Angels than Cannings 16 starts last year before he got hurt? 7-3 3.77 era 1.1 war
Solar hit .215 .298 .387 in 82 games -0.5 war.
He was good enough for this halo Team
Ya, his season numbers looked good but most of that is based on his April starts. May-June not including the start he got injured he had a 4.85 era/4.75 fip. He had reverted back to the inconsistent Canning Angels fans complained about for the last couple seasons.
At least with Soler you can point to a reason for him not performing. Canning was just more of the same.
I’ve never seen a team more averse to minor league development. They promote guys before they’ve had a chance to unpack their luggage.
Its ugly right now. Manoah will start the season in Salt Lake if not DFA. Rodriguez is at least throwing hard if not effectively. He has a couple more starts to earn a spot in the rotation. There is really no one else. Maybe Aldegheri but he hasn’t looked ready to claim a job in camp so far. Sigh.
L
Former number 1 draft pick Sam Bachman has looked great in spring training. I think they might give him the 5th starters job. They can have him pitch 3 to 4 innings and try to stretch him out and then a bullpen game after he comes out of the game. Chase Silseth lately has looked terrific and he has swing and miss stuff. He is out of options, but the Angels will not release him. Another team is probably going to make the Angels an offer for him. I still think he has a promising future. I still remember he was borderline dominant against the Atlanta when they had the number one offense back in 2023. He made an emergency start in place of Griffin Canning, allowing only one run and three hits while striking out four batters to secure a 4-1 victory for the Angels.
Ty Bremner should be mentioned, especially given the Angels proclivity for promoting recent draftees.
There are countless reasons to dunk on Minasian. Taking a gamble on Rodriguez for one measly season of Ward is not one of them.
I agree. Ward is very unlikely to contribute to a successful Angels season. They are likely to finish 5th, and in the bottom 5 overall. GRod might take a full season to unpack all his tools, but if he can, you might have 3 years of a #2 SP.
This may end up being the bottom five in the major leagues starting rotation for the season
Manoah’s cooked.
The team is rebuilding. Most of these pick ups become trade chips, are let go or perhaps contribute to a future a few years down the road. This is not a competitive team.
Nobody will trade for this trash. The could have got them on the open market and passed. Why give up assets
The Angels have to be the most poorly run franchise in all professional sports, IMO. They squandered the opportunity while Ohtani was there. He and Mike Trout could have produced at least a competitive team if the FO had a clue. SMH
Yawn
This is the correct response to this type of take.
They rarely, if ever, acknowledge that Ohtani & Trouts injuries during this period were a major factor in why they did not make the playoffs.
It’s tough to win without your stars in general but it can be done. If something happened to Raleigh last year the Mariners likely don’t win the division, but they have that pitching and Julio/JP/Arozarena pile to keep them in the race. Plenty of teams have made the playoffs without their best player, they build the depth and have multiple good players contributing. The Braves won it all in 2021 without Acuna because they had a strong enough roster to weather the storm. The Yankees without Judge are still an 85 win wild card team.
The Angels thought that Trout, Ohtani, Pujols/Rendon on a mega contract was enough to win, but it takes 23 other guys also playing good baseball to pick up the slack when the superstars get hurt or go through a slump. They could never get the most out of their supporting cast.
I don’t have enough info about Bremmer, but the shape/command/stuff of everyone else, including Klassen, at this point is not worthy of optimism
The Angels will go with the expected five. I expect that to be the case until someone gets hurt or until May rolls around.
Think Rodriguez is a lock and that Kochanawics will get a chance at redemption to start the season
“Kochanawics will get a chance at redemption to start the season”
Sure, he can start at triple-A.
Hey, at least the games will be affordable and the fans will be safe when they go to the Big A.
Tyler anderson is still available. He looks better than Manoah. Giolito makes more sense. Give the young guys a chance until Giolito is ready. You see what they have to offer and Giolito can be traded later
What would Anderson and Giolito give us? Eat innnings. Maybe 10 wins. This pitching staff
is gonna need to be nearly perfect. They’re gonna get absolutely no run support.
Everybody here is focused on the pitching nobody is looking at the fact that nobody in this lineup other than two players will hit above 240 they will have more than 1600 strikeouts as a team they will not be able to score runs
The Atlanta Braves rotation of the 90s might keep us under 100 losses but with this lineup and that bullpen, even that would’ve been a stretch
You are making some vague assumptions on the batting averages. Earlier in the day you proclaimed .230 suddenly it jumps to .240.
What are you proclaim to be the ONLY 2 to bat over .230/.240 this season? (Everday players)
Neto and Schanuel will hit above .240. Trout maybe.
Look at what the everyday lineup hit last year and tell me I’m wrong?
I feel Adell will hit .245 plus this year. I do not see Trout hitting below .240 either.
Soler, if healthy, should also be higher.
Point is I would bet you another beer and hot dog that more than 2 hit higher than .230 (revised to .240).
Soler is a career .241 hitter and has not broke .235 in three seasons and as always in traditional MORONassian fashion always hurt plus he will turn 35 this season
Adell is a career .220 and strikes out at a 30% clip. You see that improving??? All you need to do is pitch him inside then go low and away and he is walking back to the dugout
Trout. God love him. Cannot turn on that inside pitch anymore.
I appreciate your optimism I really do but as a realist and not Roger Lodge. Bat speeds slow down with age and if you’re not hitting at least 250 in your first three full seasons you never will. Teams have scouting reports and if you can’t adjust. Your done. The Angels never should have made the Soler trade. Why take someone from a team so desperate to get rid of him. Oh wait that’s right he is an ex brave and Angel stadium is where Ex Braves
Go to die.
Adell. Should have moved him when you could have got value. Every season he plays that value is going down
This is what happens to quote a recent ESPN article. A clueless GM assembling a roster that would have been a playoff team in 2019 Now it’s a roster full of cast offs and players that can’t play at the major league level anymore.
All these bets remind me, im taking the run line against the angels all year.
Well, the point of all this I feel the Angels are not a 110 loss team. I also feel that they will have more than said 2 everyday players hit above the .240 projection you proclaim.
At the end of the day you can write all the lists you want, but you are only making an assumption ,just the same as me. You can claim I am overly optimistic, just the same I can say I feel you are overly pessimistic.
Upgrades past Manoah