Conflicting Reports On Angels Outfield Situation
12:43pm: On the Baseball Insiders podcast, Robert Murray of FanSided says the Angels are not in fact close to trading an outfielder (hat tip to Sam Blum of The Athletic and Beyond the Halo on X)
9:28am: Yesterday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link) reported that the Angels seemed to be close to trading an outfielder. Nothing has come together yet but it’s possible that talks are still ongoing. It wasn’t specified which outfielder they were about to trade but Feinsand suggested that Taylor Ward would make sense since there have been rumors of other clubs being interested in him. However, Ward’s agent Joel Wolfe told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (X link) that he hadn’t heard anything about trade talks involving his client. That doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t discussions happening but members of the Atlanta beat like David O’Brien of The Athletic (X link) and Mark Bowman of MLB.com (X link) both report that, if there is an imminent Ward trade, it won’t be to Atlanta.
Ward has seemed like a logical trade candidate for a while now. As the Angels have struggled to compete in recent years, there has been natural speculation about the veteran players on the roster with shrinking windows of club control. Ward will be celebrating his 31st birthday this Saturday and can be retained via arbitration for two more seasons.
If the Angels were pivoting towards a sort of reset, it would make sense to trade Ward for younger and more controllable players. However, despite just losing 99 games in the most recent season, the Halos are clearly trying to contend in 2025. Both owner Arte Moreno and general manager Perry Minasian made it clear that was the plan for this winter and they have backed that up, acquiring Yusei Kikuchi, Jorge Soler, Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Hendricks and others already.
In that context, trading Ward becomes a bit more difficult to see. The outfield is already a fairly thin part of the roster, consisting of Ward, Mike Trout, Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak and perhaps Soler. Trout has become increasingly injury prone in recent years, having not played 120 games in a season since 2019. Soler is a poor defender and best suited to be the designated hitter more often than not. Adell and Moniak still have poor offensive track records overall.
Subtracting Ward from that group would make it even flimsier but clubs would certainly be interested if he were available. He has hit .259/.338/.440 over the past four years for a wRC+ of 118, indicating he’s been 18% better than the league average hitter in that time. His defense has also been graded around league average or above, allowing him to play at a pace of about two to four wins above replacement per year, according to FanGraphs.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Ward for a $9.2MM salary in 2025, a notable sum but still a bargain for a player like Ward. Free agent corner outfielders like Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernández are likely to command multi-year contracts with average annual values double that. Ward would be in line for a raise in 2026, his final season before free agency, but that figure would still be a good deal if he continues to produce at his usual rates.
A trade coming together would naturally depend on what other clubs are willing to offer. Perhaps the Angels get offered some big league pitching or infield help that they feel is worth taking, but they would then have to pivot to replacing Ward in the outfield mix. The Pirates and Royals were both connected to Ward at the trade deadline with Kansas City reportedly still interested in him as of last month, though the Angels haven’t let go of him yet.
Some fans might hear about the Angels potentially trading an outfielder and jump to Trout but it’s hard to imagine a trade like that coming out of the blue. He has a full no-trade clause and has repeatedly said that he wants to stay and win with the Angels. It’s possible that he changes his mind at some point but there’s hasn’t been any public suggestion that has happened.
His contract is also hard to move from a financial perspective. Trout is paid at superstar rates but hasn’t been able to provide that production in a while. He’s always good when he’s on the field but hasn’t been out there enough to accrue counting stats at his previous levels. He’s set to make $35.45MM annually for another six seasons. Even for a marquee name like Trout, that’s a lot of money for a guy who’s now 33 years old with mounting injury concerns.
Even if Trout wanted to be traded, it would be a tricky spot for the Halos since they would likely have to settle for a middling return on a franchise player or eat money just to get a notable package, which isn’t a great P.R. position either way.
It’s also possible Moniak or Adell are the ones being discussed, though neither would have huge value right now. Moniak has stepped to the plate 908 times in the majors thus far with a .230/.272/.402 batting line and 32.3% strikeout rate. Adell has hit .211/.268/.381 in his career with a 32.2% strikeout rate.
It’s possible to see some improvement from Adell in 2024, as he popped 24 home runs while lowering his strikeout rate to 27.9%. His overall production was still subpar but his .244 batting average on balls in play was well below league average. It’s possible he took a meaningful step forward this past year and will break out with better luck in 2025 but he’s floundered so many times that teams might be reluctant to bet on that.
Angels Interested In Gleyber Torres
Free agent second baseman Gleyber Torres is getting attention from multiple teams, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (X link), with the Angels cited as a new suitor. The Blue Jays were also mentioned, and while Toronto’s interest in Torres dates back to early November, Morosi’s report today was published before the Jays seemingly addressed their second base position by acquiring Andres Gimenez.
An inconsistent 2024 season left Torres with a .257/.330/.378 slash line over 665 plate appearances in his walk year, as well as 15 home runs for the pennant-winning Yankees. This works out to a 104 wRC+ that is slightly above league-average offensive production, but also a step down from the 118 wRC+ that Torres posted over the 2022-23 seasons. Torres’ 35.4% hard-hit ball rate and 6.3% barrel rate were both career-lows of a full season, and he saw his strikeout rate drop back to average-ish career norms after a great year of avoiding swings and misses in 2023.
This doesn’t tell the full story of Torres’ 2024 campaign, however, as his numbers were diminished by an ugly early-season slump that cost him the leadoff spot in the Yankees’ lineup. Getting regularly slotted back into the leadoff spot in mid-August seemed to restore Torres’ confidence — he hit .236/.309/.349 in his first 481 PA, but .313/.386/.454 in 184 PA from August 16 until the end of the season. Torres continued to hit well during the ALDS and ALCS before the Dodgers’ pitching cooled off his bat during the World Series.
Finishing strong gives Torres some level of momentum heading into free agency, but clubs must have some natural concerns over the dropoff in Torres’ power. Home run pop and a decent walk rate are Torres’ bread and butter, as public defensive metrics have graded his second-base glovework as subpar across the board in each of the last two seasons.
On the plus side, Torres is still only a couple of days short of his 28th birthday. A case can be made that a change of scenery might be beneficial, as Torres was often a target of fan criticism during his up-and-down seven-season run in the Bronx. Moving from New York to Los Angeles would technically be a lateral move in terms of market size, but obviously the Angels have a much lower profile, as the team is mired in a string of nine straight losing seasons and is playing second fiddle to the Dodgers within the area.
MLBTR ranked Torres 20th on our list of the offseason’s top 50 free agents, with a very fluid projection of a two-year, $36MM deal. It is easy to imagine Torres taking even a one-year deal with the intention of testing the market again after a strong 2025 season, or he might prefer to lock in the security of a longer-term contract if such an offer is on the table. The free agent market for second basemen isn’t exactly deep, plus second base-needy teams like the Blue Jays (with Gimenez), Giants (by signing Willy Adames and moving Tyler Fitzgerald to second base), Royals (Jonathan India), and Rockies (Thairo Estrada) have already addressed the position in other ways. A reunion with the Yankees has never seemed likely.
Luis Rengifo is penciled in as the Angels’ top second base option at the moment, but Rengifo’s versatility would allow him to be deployed in plenty of other ways if Los Angeles brought Torres into the fold. Rengifo could play shortstop until Zach Neto is healthy, or get more work at third base given the Angels’ willingness to either move Anthony Rendon to other positions or perhaps reduce Rendon’s playing time entirely.
Despite the questions that exist about Torres’ bat, it still feels like he would help an Angels lineup that was one of the worst in baseball in 2024. The Halos have been aggressive in trying to upgrade their roster this winter, already bolstering the lineup with Jorge Soler and Travis d’Arnaud and bringing Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks into the rotation. Owner Arte Moreno has traditionally been wary about the luxury tax threshold, but RosterResource‘s estimate of a current $207.1MM tax number still leaves L.A. with plenty of room for more additions before approaching the $241MM tax line.
Nolan Arenado Willing To Approve Trades To Six Teams
As Nolan Arenado‘s trade market continues to percolate, the no-trade clause in the third baseman’s contract puts Arenado and his camp in the driver’s seat when it comes to determining whether or not he’ll leave the Cardinals. MLB.com’s John Denton reports that Arenado would okay a deal to any of the Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Phillies, Mets, or Red Sox. It isn’t known if these are the only six clubs on what Denton describes as Arenado’s “wish list,” or if Arenado could be amenable to deals to any other clubs in the right circumstances.
Agent Joel Wolfe discussed his client’s situation with reporters (including Denton, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch) today at the Winter Meetings, and implied that Arenado’s list of potential teams is “bigger than you would think.” The chief factor in Arenado’s decision-making is finding “a team that he thinks is going to win now and consistently for the remainder of his career. He wants a team that has the throttle down….that he believes he can jump right in and they’re going to win right now.”
This all being said, Wolfe noted that Arenado is “not going to go just to go,” or “approve and move his family and go play somewhere that would…sidestepping” into a situation no better than his current spot in St. Louis. Wolfe said he and Arenado have been in regular dialogue with Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, with Mozeliak floating some teams that have already been dismissed as “hard no’s of where he’d prefer not to go.”
Earlier reports indicated that three unknown “mid-market” clubs also had interest in Arenado’s services, so these could be some of the teams Arenado has already vetoed since the six teams on his list are bigger spenders. The Yankees had also been linked to Arenado and Goold reports that the Cardinals were in touch with the Bronx Bombers about the third baseman. As Jones notes, the Yankees seem like a fit on paper given their need at third base and the presence of Arenado’s good friend and old Rockies teammates DJ LeMahieu, but it remains to be seen if the Yankees are still on Arenado’s radar.
New York’s other team could also have an opening at the hot corner depending on how the Mets choose to deploy Mark Vientos, or whether or not the Mets re-sign Pete Alonso or add another big first base bat. The Phillies likewise have an incumbent third baseman in Alec Bohm, but Bohm’s name has been mentioned in several trade rumors as one of the big-league roster pieces Philadelphia is reportedly open to moving to address other needs.
The Red Sox and Padres were more speculatively linked as suitors a few weeks ago, and Goold reports that St. Louis has already been in contact with these two clubs about Arenado. Boston’s interest could hinge on whether or not they’d move Rafael Devers off third base, while Arenado’s own apparent willingness to leave his longtime third-base position might be related to his interest in joining the Padres (as San Diego already has a star third baseman in Manny Machado).
Wolfe addressed his client’s offer of a position change as a way to get in front of any awkward questions from a team’s end on the subject. “The way he phrased it, ‘I’ll play first,’ sometimes [teams] don’t want to ask a player to do that,” Wolfe said. “So he wanted to offer it and say, ‘I’m happy to play first, I can move around and play third.’ Nolan was like, ‘I’ll play shortstop, I’ll do whatever, but I’m not insulted to go play first, and I can win a Gold Glove over there, if that’s what it takes.’ ”
Since Arenado is from Southern California, it shouldn’t be ignored that the Padres, Dodgers, and Angels are all on his approval list, though Wolfe said Arenado has no geographic preference about his next destination. It could be argued that the Angels might be on Arenado’s list solely due to location, as a team coming off nine straight losing seasons hardly seems to match Arenado’s preference for a team ready to win.
A trade to the Dodgers seems off the table, as The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and Katie Woo hear from sources that “a deal for Arenado is not a possibility the organization has considered.” L.A. general manager Brandon Gomes made a point of saying Monday that Max Muncy was going to remain as the team’s regular third baseman, and a position switch wouldn’t much help Arenado find a spot amidst the crowded Dodgers infield.
It remains to be seen if any of Arenado’s preferred teams may or may not want to bring the eight-time All-Star into the fold, though even in the event of mutual interest, there’s also the matter of working out a trade that is also acceptable to the Cardinals. Other complications include Arenado’s age (he turns 34 in April), his declining power over the last two seasons, and the $74MM ($10MM covered by the Rockies) in salary owed over the remaining three years of his contract.
Angels Sign Carter Kieboom To Minors Contract
The Angels have signed infielder Carter Kieboom to a minor league deal, according to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball Media (X link). While not specified, it seems likely that Kieboom’s contract includes an invitation to the Halos’ big league spring camp.
There’s some irony that Kieboom is now again in the same organization as Anthony Rendon, since Kieboom was once viewed as Rendon’s successor at third base in Washington. Selected 28th overall by the Nationals in the 2016 draft, Kieboom received plenty of attention on top-100 prospect lists as he continued to hit his way up the Nats’ minor league ladder. He made his MLB debut in the form of 11 games with the Nationals in 2019, and after Rendon signed with the Angels during the 2019-20 offseason, the path was seemingly clear for Kieboom to step in at the hot corner.
Unfortunately, Kieboom hasn’t delivered over parts of four Major League seasons, though his entire career in the Show (133 games and 508 plate appearances) is still short of even one full season. Kieboom has hit .199/.297/.301 over those 508 PA, and he didn’t get any big league action in 2022 since he missed most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery. After playing in 27 games with the Nationals in 2023, Kieboom again missed out on any MLB playing time last year, as he spent the whole season at Triple-A after being outrighted off Washington’s 40-man roster.
Now entering his age-27 season, Kieboom will see if he can be a late bloomer in Anaheim. He naturally wouldn’t be a fit as a starter at third base, but since the Angels are at least looking around for third base possibilities besides Rendon, Kieboom might have a shot at winning a roster spot during a Spring Training competition. Primarily a third baseman, Kieboom does have some career experience at the other three infield positions, which could help his bid for a job.
Nationals Win Draft Lottery
Major League Baseball conducted its third annual draft lottery this afternoon at the Winter Meetings. The Nationals won the lottery and will pick first overall. They’ll be followed by the Angels and Mariners. Washington had just above a 10% chance of securing the top pick, the fourth-highest odds.
Here’s the first round order:
- Nationals
- Angels
- Mariners
- Rockies
- Cardinals
- Pirates
- Marlins
- Blue Jays
- Reds
- White Sox
- Athletics
- Rangers
- Giants
- Rays
- Red Sox
- Twins
- Cubs
- Diamondbacks
- Astros
- Braves
- Orioles
- Brewers
- Royals
- Tigers
- Padres
- Phillies
- Mets
- Guardians
- Yankees
- Dodgers
As part of the Players Association’s efforts to reduce the incentive for non-competitive teams to lose games, the latest collective bargaining agreement introduced a lottery to determine the top six overall selections. A team’s odds of landing a higher pick are still weighted in favor of the clubs with the worst records, although the Rockies and Marlins had identical chances (22.5% apiece) of landing the top selection.
All non-playoff teams ostensibly have a chance to win the lottery. However, the CBA also prevents a team that is not a revenue sharing recipient from landing within the top six in consecutive seasons. No team can get a lottery pick more than two years in a row. That ruled out the White Sox and Athletics this year. Chicago is not a revenue sharing recipient and picked fifth last year, while the A’s were in the top six in both 2023 and ’24.
The Sox were not allowed to pick higher than 10th, while the A’s were capped at 11th. That’s despite the White Sox having the worst season of all time that would’ve placed them among the three likeliest teams to pick first. That increased the odds for every team but was especially beneficial to Colorado and Miami (from a probability perspective) by pushing their chances of the #1 pick north of 20%. Unfortunately for those teams, the balls didn’t bounce their way. The Angels and Nationals were the other teams with at least a 10% shot.
Seattle and St. Louis come away as big winners. The Mariners went 85-77 and had the second-best record of any non-playoff team. St. Louis had the fourth-best mark for clubs that didn’t get to the postseason. They nevertheless were fortunate to spring into the top five. It’s a particularly disappointing outcome for Miami, who didn’t land a lottery pick at all despite sharing the best shot at the first selection. The only silver lining is that they’ll remain eligible for lottery picks for at least 2026 and ’27 if they don’t make the playoffs.
Teams that exceeded the third tier of luxury penalization have their top picks dropped by 10 spots unless that selection lands within the top six. (In that instance, the club’s second-highest pick would move back.) MLB has yet to officially announce the 2024 tax data, but it is believed that the Mets, Dodgers and Yankees are the only clubs that surpassed the $277MM threshold for the pick to be dropped. All those teams made the playoffs and weren’t eligible for the lottery anyhow.
The lottery only comes into play for the first round of the draft. From the second round onwards, pick order is determined in inverse order of the prior season’s standings, aside from compensatory and competitive balance selections.
Baseball America published its most recent Top 100 draft prospects in September. As always, that’s worth a full read. Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette topped BA’s list, though there’ll obviously be plenty of changes to the board as next spring’s amateur baseball season gets underway.
Max Fried Will Reportedly Choose Destination In Coming Days
Left-hander Max Fried is one of the top remaining free agents but he could be coming off the board soon. Per a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Fried is expected to pick his next club by Thursday, with the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays presented as the frontrunners. Rosenthal adds that right-hander Corbin Burnes is generating interest from the same three clubs, with the Giants perhaps involved there as well but not for Fried. The Rangers are mentioned as a possibility for Fried but that’s depicted as more of a long shot, with the Angels listed alongside the Giants as cubs that are not finalists for Fried.
It’s perhaps not a coincidence that the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays were finalists in the Juan Soto frenzy and are now listed as the most likely landing spots for Fried. The general expectation throughout the baseball world has been that the clubs with money to spend would focus on Soto until getting clarity on that situation, with those that missed out then pivoting to other targets. Now that Soto is going to the Mets, that seems to be how things are indeed playing out.
All three clubs are looking to make a big splash, though for different reasons. The Yankees just made it to the World Series, but suffered a deflating five-game loss to the Dodgers in which they looked clearly outmatched. They then lost last year’s big splash when Soto moved from the Bronx to Queens. The Red Sox have been dialing back payroll in recent years with lackluster results to go along with it, though now seem motivated to big big dogs again. The Jays were good during the regular season from 2020 to 2023 but suffered heartbreaking ends in each of those years, narrowly missing the playoffs in one of them with three quick postseason exits in the others. They followed that up with a dismal 2024 season that saw them fall to the basement of the A.L. East.
In different ways, each club is looking to both improve their respective rosters for next year while also perhaps mollifying a restive fanbase. Soto would have been one way of doing that but that’s now off the table.
Fried, 31 in January, has been a strong pitcher at the major league level for quite some time. He got brief big league looks in 2017 and 2018 but has been an established big leaguer for the past six seasons. From 2019 to the present, he has tossed 824 2/3 innings, allowing 3.06 earned runs per nine. His 23.8% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate in that time were both a bit above average while his 54.1% ground ball rate was excellent. Only Framber Valdez and Logan Webb had better ground ball rates for that time, among pitchers with at least 550 innings pitched, and Fried had a slightly better strikeout rate than those two. Fried was also a key part of Atlanta’s postseason rotations throughout that time.
There is a little bit of injury risk, as Fried was limited to 14 starts last year due to a forearm strain and had a brief IL stint in 2024 due to neuritis in that same forearm. That’s bit concerning but Fried managed to make 29 starts this year, logging 174 1/3 innings, and there hasn’t been anything to suggest he won’t be healthy for 2025.
At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Fried could land a six-year deal with a $156MM guarantee, though it’s possible that Fried’s earning power has jumped since then. Pitchers like Luis Severino, Yusei Kikuchi, Frankie Montas, Matthew Boyd and Clay Holmes have outearned expectations and the massive Soto deal has perhaps altered industry spending expectations more generally.
For the Yankees, they don’t strictly need pitching. Their rotation is already fairly deep with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil, Marcus Stroman, Nestor Cortes and other options on the roster. However, Fried would certainly upgrade that group and they could then perhaps use the surplus to make a trade, with both Stroman and Cortes have been in previous rumors.
Boston’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has said he would like to raise the ceiling of the club’s rotation, which currently has a core three of Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford. The Sox will get Lucas Giolito back at some point during the 2025 season, once he recovers from last year’s elbow surgery. They have depth options like Richard Fitts, Cooper Criswell and Quinn Priester but adding Fried would help the club with its aims of improving the rotation and the club more generally.
The Toronto rotation has a veteran core of Kevin Gausman, José Berríos and Chris Bassitt. It seems likely that Bowden Francis will get a shot at having a spot next year since he was so strong in the second half of 2024. Yariel Rodríguez is an option for the fifth spot but he also has plenty of relief experience and could get bumped to the bullpen. Jake Bloss is on the roster and has encouraging potential but limited experience and could be ticketed for the Triple-A rotation.
While all three clubs are looking at Fried, they have another option in Burnes. He has flashed a higher ceiling than Fried but hasn’t hit that ceiling in the past two years. From 2020 to 2022, he posted a 2.62 ERA with a 33.4% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 47.6% ground ball rate. Over the past two seasons, his 3.15 ERA has still been a strong mark but with a diminished strikeout rate of 24.3%. He is still perceived as a strong option on account of his durability and overall strong results, with MLBTR predicted him for a $200MM guarantee over seven years.
The Giants make sense for a rotation addition and seemingly prefer Burnes to Fried. Their rotation currently consists of Webb, Robbie Ray and Kyle Harrison. President of baseball operations Buster Posey said this week that Jordan Hicks will get another shot at a rotation job. Guys like Hayden Birdsong and Landen Roupp could battle for the fifth spot but getting Burnes would obviously be a boon to the group.
Both Burnes and Fried rejected qualifying offers and are therefore associated with penalties, which differ depending on who ultimately signs them. The Giants are perhaps the most interesting club in this group as they already agreed to sign QO guy in Willy Adames. Since they paid the competitive balance tax last year, that means forfeiting $1MM of international bonus pool space and two draft picks, while signing another QO would effectively double that.
The Rangers’ interest in Fried was reported previously but also characterized as more of a long shot. They definitely want rotation upgrades, including a hope of re-signing Nathan Eovaldi, but they might need more clarity on their finances. They no longer have a broadcast deal with Diamond Sports Group and have been looking into creating their own regional sports network but haven’t quite figured that all out yet. They are reportedly hoping to stay under the CBT in 2025 and they might need to make progress on the broadcast deal before throwing big money around.
The Angels are seemingly only mentioned to touch on Fried’s potential geographic preferences. Fried was born and raised in Southern California, then committed to UCLA before being drafted by the Padres. He was traded to Atlanta as a prospect and has spent his entire major league career with them so far. That club has signed many players to extensions but Fried wasn’t one of them. Rosenthal relays that some clubs feared Fried would prefer to return to the West Coast but it seems his three primary suitors are all A.L. East clubs.
Time will tell how things play out with Fried and Burnes, but it seems that the expected post-Soto domino effect might be coming to pass. As clubs pivot to plan B or plan C or plan D, guys like Fried and Burnes are seeing their markets heat up, which could potentially also impact guys like Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and others soon as well.
Angels Open To Everyday Addition At Third Base
It’s no secret that the Angels’ seven-year, $245MM contract with third baseman Anthony Rendon has not gone as the club hoped it would. While Rendon turned in a phenomenal inaugural campaign in Anaheim during the shortened 2020 season, the four seasons since then have been marred by injury and ineffectiveness. Rendon has totaled just 205 games and 863 plate appearances during that time, and his .231/.329/.336 (89 wRC+) slash line on the rare occasion he’s healthy enough to take the field leaves much to be desired. With two years and $77MM left on the contract, it may seem inevitable that the Angels will continue to attempt to make Rendon work as a regular fixture of their lineup, but MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger relayed comments from club GM Perry Minasian Monday that suggest the club would be open to going in another direction.
“We have to be open to at least looking at that spot and seeing if there are other alternatives make us better,” Minasian said of the hot corner, as relayed by Bollinger. “Obviously, a healthy Anthony Rendon makes us a lot better. But with the last four years being the last four years, we need to take a look and kind of see what else is out there.”
To that end, Bollinger reports that Rendon will enter Spring Training 2025 “competing for a roster spot” and added that Minasian suggested the 34-year-old veteran could be moved into a part-time utility role where he sees time at first and second base in addition to his native position at third. That scenario would likely come to pass if the Angels were to add a full-time third baseman to their ranks via trade or free agency, a possibility which Bollinger notes that Minasian did not rule out. The Angels GM also noted that the club’s internal group of infielders offers a handful of players capable of handling the hot corner like Luis Rengifo, Scott Kingery, and Kevin Newman.
That the Angels would consider moving on from Rendon as their starting third baseman is certainly justified based on his performance in recent years, but still registers as something of a shock given the substantial sum he’s owed over the next two seasons. With that said, this winter does offer some interesting infield candidates the club to bolster its offense with. It seems unlikely that the Halos would greenlight another massive third base signing with Rendon on the books, so it would be a surprise to see them target Alex Bregman in free agency this winter. Looking beyond Bregman, free agency offers a number of interesting options such as Josh Rojas, Donovan Solano, Yoan Moncada, and Paul DeJong. Trade candidates at the hot corner this winter include Nolan Arenado (whose cumbersome contract comes with the same obstacles a pursuit of Bregman would), Alec Bohm, and Brett Baty.
DeJong in particular could be an intriguing fit for the Angels given the fact that Opening Day is in question for shortstop Zach Neto following offseason shoulder surgery. DeJong, 31, has plenty of experience at shortstop and could handle the position for the Halos while Neto is on the mend before shifting over to the hot corner once the youngster returns. Another option could be using the positional flexibility of Rengifo to add a second baseman to the mix. Gleyber Torres is the top free agent available at the keystone this winter, but if the Angels are unwilling to meet his price tag more affordable options include Jorge Polanco, Jose Iglesias, Amed Rosario, and Whit Merrifield. Iglesias and Rosario, much like DeJong, also offer ample experience at shortstop and could help fill in for Neto early in the season before moving off the position late in the season once he’s ready to go.
If the Halos do add another bat to the offense at some point this winter, Bollinger suggests the addition is far more likely to be an infielder than an outfielder. The Angels still intend to give longtime face of the franchise Mike Trout every opportunity to return from injury and re-establish himself as one of the games best players, and while the club has not yet decided whether he’ll continue to play center field on a daily basis or spend more time in the outfield corners and DH going forward Bollinger relays that the club believes they have the position covered given the presence of Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak, and Taylor Ward as possible options in center on at least a part-time basis. Bollinger adds that while Jorge Soler is expected to get the lion’s share of playing time at DH after being acquired from the Braves last month, if the Angels decide to rest Trout at the position or utilize other players there on occasion the Halos are comfortable playing him in either outfield corner as well.
Angels, Dakota Hudson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels and right-hander Dakota Hudson have agreed to a minor league deal, per Aram Leighton of Just Baseball (X link). The righty will presumably receive an invite to big league spring training as well.
Hudson, 30, is coming off a rough season. He signed a one-year deal with the Rockies with a $1.5MM guarantee but wasn’t able to give the club much in return for that investment. He made 18 starts and threw 89 innings but allowed 6.17 earned runs per nine. He struck out just 12.1% of batters faced, giving out walks at a higher rate of 12.4%. His 52.3% ground ball rate was typically strong for him but it wasn’t enough for him to cling to a job even in the injury-marred Colorado rotation.
In July, Hudson was designated for assignment and sent through waivers unclaimed. He was later added back to the roster in August but quickly wound up on the injured list due to elbow inflammation and finished the season there. He was outrighted off the roster again in October and elected free agency.
Once upon a time, Hudson seemed like a solid rotation option for the Cardinals. Over the 2019 and 2020 seasons, he tossed 213 2/3 innings with a 3.24 ERA, 18.4% strikeout rate, 11.1% walk rate and 56.9% ground ball rate. But Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his 2021 season and he hasn’t been able to bounce back since. His 221 innings in the 2022-23 seasons resulted in a 4.64 ERA with his strikeout rate falling to 12.9%. His 52.5% ground ball in that time was still above league average but a drop from his own previous track record.
For the Angels, rotation depth has been an ongoing issue for years. 2024 was no exception, as the club’s starters posted a collective 4.97 ERA, which was better than only the Marlins and Rockies. They subtracted from their group by sending Griffin Canning to Atlanta in the Jorge Soler deal. Patrick Sandoval was also non-tendered after requiring elbow surgery in the summer.
This offseason, they have signed Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks, adding to a group that also includes José Soriano and Tyler Anderson. The roster also features Reid Detmers, Chase Silseth, Caden Dana, Sam Aldegheri, Jack Kochanowicz and others but Hudson will give them a bit of non-roster depth and try to get back on track after a few challenging years.
Angels Re-Sign Bryce Teodosio To Minor League Deal
The Angels have re-signed outfielder Bryce Teodosio to a minor league deal, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake for now but will presumably receive an invite to big league spring training.
Teodosio, 26 in June, got a brief stint on the club’s roster as the 2024 campaign was winding down. He was selected a week into September and got into five big league games for the club, striking out five times and getting one single in his 12 plate appearances. He then suffered a right middle finger fracture and landed on the injured list for the final weeks of the season. The Halos non-tendered him last month, sending him to free agency without being exposed to waivers, allowing them to quickly bring him back via this deal.
An undrafted free agent in 2021, Teodosio was signed by the Halos at that time and climbed their minor league ladder. He hasn’t done much to impress with his bat, slashing .229/.312/.358 in the minors over the past three years for a wRC+ of 76. However, he has shown an ability to steal bases, swiping 28 in 2022, 16 last year and 40 this year. He has also lined up at all three outfield spots. During his brief stint in the majors, Statcast put his sprint speed in the 98th percentile.
The Angels currently have Mike Trout and Taylor Ward as their two most established outfielders, both of whom are fairly injury prone. Trout has played more than 82 games in a season just once since 2019 and hasn’t topped 140 games since 2016. Ward just played 156 games in 2024 but that was his first time getting beyond 135 and just his second time in triple digits. Beyond that, players like Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak have spotty track records in terms of performance.
If the Halos need to call upon their outfield depth this year, Teodosio can perhaps carve out a bench role. The lack of offense doesn’t make him a great fit for regular playing time but his wheels could allow him to contribute as a pinch runner or defensive replacement.
Angels Notes: Detmers, Further Additions, Anderson
With the Angels’ recent signing of left-hander Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year deal now officially announced, GM Perry Minasian spoke yesterday to reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) about the club’s 2025 rotation and their plans for the rest of the winter.
Of note, Minasian suggested that with the addition of Kikuchi and fellow offseason addition Kyle Hendricks to the club’s rotation mix, the Angels currently have those two veterans, Tyler Anderson, and Jose Soriano penciled into the first four spots in their rotation for 2025. Notably, that leaves left-hander Reid Detmers fighting for a spot in the rotation alongside less established arms like Chase Silseth and Jack Kochanowicz. 2024 was a brutal season for Detmers, as the lefty surrendered a disastrous 6.70 ERA across 17 big league starts.
Weak as that production was, however, Detmers’s underlying metrics suggest his performance may have been slightly better than it looks on paper. His 27.9% strikeout rate was actually the best of his career, while his 9.7% walk rate was certainly elevated, but more or less in line with his 2023 performance. Detmers’s 4.72 FIP was “just” 13% worse than league average by measure of FIP-, and some metrics were even more bullish on his underlying numbers. His 3.86 xFIP was actually 6% better than league average, and a 3.77 SIERA actually places Detmers 43rd among 138 starting pitchers who threw at least 80 innings out of the rotation this past season.
While underlying metrics that compared Detmers to Corbin Burnes (3.75 SIERA) and Gerrit Cole (3.79 SIERA) in 2024 certainly don’t tell the whole story by themselves, they do provide enough optimism about Detmer’s future that it’s a surprise to hear he isn’t guaranteed a rotation spot next year. After all, the lefty posted a solid 4.15 ERA and 3.97 FIP across 53 starts in 2022 and ’23, and is just a few years removed from being the Halos’ first-round draft pick when they selected tenth overall in 2020. With that being said, it’s easy to imagine Detmers’s performance after coming back to the majors back in September raising red flags in the front office’s mind. While he struck out an eye-popping 34.2% of opponents in five starts down the stretch, he also struggled badly with the long ball, surrendering 8 homers and an untenable 15.6% barrel rate.
Minasian also didn’t rule out making further additions to the club’s rotation. “We’ll continue to look, from a free agent standpoint, from a trade standpoint,” he said, as relayed by Fletcher. “If there’s an upgrade, from a rotation standpoint, we’ll look to do it.”
With that being said, it seems as though upgrades to the rotation may take a backseat to upgrading other areas of the roster as the Angels look ahead to the remainder of the winter. Specifically, Minasian noted that they’d like to add depth to their bench and bullpen while focusing on lengthening the lineup with another bat. The club has already added Jorge Soler as an everyday DH and Travis d’Arnaud poised to act as a backup to Logan O’Hoppe behind the plate, but holes remain in a lineup that posted just a 90 wRC+ that was 25th in baseball last year.
Nolan Schanuel, Luis Rengifo, and Zach Neto figure to have regular roles on the infield, with Schanuel in particular seemingly locking up first base. Neto is sure to be the everyday shortstop when healthy, but he could miss the start of the season after going under the knife earlier this month. Kevin Newman and Scott Kingery have already been brought in to shore up the club’s infield depth on the bench, but another infield bat could help lessen the club’s reliance on oft-injured Anthony Rendon while also backing up Neto early in the season.
There’s also room in the outfield for another bat. Taylor Ward figures to be the club’s everyday left fielder, and Mike Trout will of course be an everyday player in the outfield when healthy enough to take the field. Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell currently figure to platoon in right field when everyone’s healthy, but upgrading that spot in the lineup could improve the roster, particularly if the addition was capable of playing center at least occasionally to lessen the defensive workload on Trout.
One other possibility Fletcher floats is the Angels considering a trade of Anderson. Anderson came up in the rumor mill ahead of the trade deadline over the summer, but no deal ultimately came together as the Angels reportedly preferred to hold onto players controlled beyond the 2024 season. Given that hesitance just a few months ago, it’s unclear if trading Anderson is something the Halos would seriously consider this winter, and it would hardly be a surprise to see him stay put.
The veteran southpaw is entering the final year of his contract with the Angels in 2025 following a decent season in 2024 where he posted a solid 3.81 ERA despite lackluster peripherals. Even if clubs project him to post numbers closer to his 4.66 FIP and and 4.37 xERA next year, his ability to eat innings (179 1/3 frames across 31 starts in 2024) could make him an attractive back-of-the-rotation candidate to teams in need of pitching and a deal would clear the final year and $13MM of his contract off on the Angels’ books to address other areas of the roster.
Of course, moving Anderson would be a step backwards in terms of depth for an Angels club that has already parted ways with Griffin Canning and Patrick Sandoval this winter. Removing Anderson from the club’s rotation would leave them with Kikuchi, Hendricks, Soriano, and Detmers as their front four starters with Kochanowicz, Silseth, and depth options like Sam Aldegheri in the mix for the fifth spot. With that being said, it’s at least plausible the club could listen to offers on him if they were to land a third external starter to join Kikuchi and Hendricks in the Anaheim rotation next year, whether that be in trade or free agency.