If you need a recap of the ground rules, look here. The bottom line is I have $32 million to spend before non-tendering some guys, a pretty shallow farm system, and plenty of holes at the MLB level.
My goal is to get more versatile, better defensively, improve the pitching staff, and get younger where I can. I need to raise the floor, but also take some gambles if this team is going to be noteworthy. In the likely event that this team doesn’t make it to October, I want to have plenty of trade chips and youngsters in AAA who are ready for a taste of MLB life down the stretch.
First, let’s start with some house cleaning:
Non-tender: Patrick Sandoval, Mickey Moniak, Matt Thaiss, and Brock Burke saving $11.15 million.
The decision on Sandoval boils down to the fact he won’t pitch in 2025 and he hasn’t been all that great while he’s been here. If he’s on an innings limit in 2026, I’m likely paying about $14 million for half a season of mediocre pitching and that is bad math. Moniak gets upgraded later and Burke is welcome back on a minors deal. Normally I might keep him but every penny counts this off season.
Trade Taylor Ward to Toronto for Addison Barger
Barger is a multiple position player with ample experience at shortstop, third base, and in the outfield corners. He’ll be 25 when the season starts and just got his first taste of MLB action where he predictably struggled. Across three season in AAA he slashed .259/.372/.440. It is important to note his AAA time was spent in the International League where numbers are closer to normal than the launching pads in the Pacific Coast League. Barger is basically an all in one bench player with clear path to the third base job. Good teams have versatile players and we get one here. I also save $7.95 million by replacing Ward with a minimum wage player.
So now I have a grand total of $51,100,000 to try and salvage this team.
Sign Walker Buehler 1 Year $15 million
I have to take a chance on upside and there’s none better than Walker Buehler. He had a tough go of it coming back from his second Tommy John surgery last year but it is the second year back when the improvement usually shows. In the playoffs his fastball velocity was back but his command was still off a bit. I’m betting a regular off season program can bring him back to something close to his former self. Not a Cy Young candidate, but more upside than our current options offer.
Sign Shinnosuke Ogasawara 2 Years $12 million ($6 million AAV paid $5 million in 2025 and $7 million in 2026)
I love control pitchers and soft contact. Over his career Ogasawara has been excellent at limiting walks. His strikeout rate is lower than most guys who move to MLB, but he seems to have the art of pitching down, mixing speed and location to keep hitters off balance. This is a gamble, but for the same price I’d pay Sandoval to sit at home, I’m taking the Japanese hurler.
Sign Tanner Scott 3 Years $36 million ($10 million in 2025, $13 million 2026 and 2027))
Are the Angels a closer away from contention? No. Could a bullpen anchored by Tanner Scott, Ben Joyce, and a healthy Robert Stephenson be pretty good? Yes. If the starting rotation happens to be good enough to get some leads, I want to close them. And with a young-ish team I’d like to have those guys see some success. Signing Scott basically replaces Carlos Esteves with a younger arm.
Sign AJ Minter 2 Years $16 Million ($7 million in 2025, $9 million in 2026)
Again a bit of a gamble but on a guy who has been a lethal left handed reliever over the course of his career. Adding him to the bullpen mix above creates a lot more depth. And, paired with Jose Quijada gives me multiple fireballing lefties with late inning experience.
Sign Harrison Bader 1 year $8 million
Ok, so this might not seem like a huge jump up from Moniak but it is larger than you’d realize. Against righties Bader carries a .239/.302/.367 career slash line with a BABIP of an even .300, all of which are better than Moniak. Last year he slashed .236/.284/.373 against righties which was slightly better than Moniak. Bader strikes out quite a bit less than Moniak, brings a great glove, and gives us a guy who can keep Trout in left field and DH.
On most days I have essentially three center fielders patrolling the grass with Trout in left, Bader in center, and Adell in right. Barger can cover either corner to give Trout DH days or let Trout cover center field against a lefty. Nearly as importantly, this keeps Soler off the grass and gives the Angels more consistency than Moniak provides.
Sign Travis d’Arnaud 1 year $4 million.
The OC native was just cut loose after Atlanta declined an $8 million option on him. At 35 years old he’s no longer an everyday starter. But his bat still plays and we all saw Logan O’Hoppe wear down the second half of last season. Travis starts 60ish games at catcher and is a potent bench bat as he crushes lefties. Plus he’s a great mentor for O’Hoppe, who hasn’t paired with a solid MLB catcher at this level.
Sign Yoan Moncada 1 year $3 million
Another player on a bounce back contract, Moncada is only 29 years old, plays multiple positions, and has a career wRC+ of 107. If he bounces back at all, he’s a valuable player. If not, he’s a cheap buy who isn’t blocking anybody. Ideally I’d like to keep Barger as a Swiss army knife rather than park him at third base, so having Moncada and Rengifo both available really solidifies infield depth if, and that is a big if, Moncada stays healthy.
Final Result:
I have a solid lineup from top to bottom and the ability to mix and match against righty and lefty pitchers. I’ve improved the outfield defense, added big upside to the rotation, added two hammers to the bullpen, and improved the bench. Also, if this team does not look like a playoff contender I have Buehler, Tyler Anderson, Luis Rengifo, Bader, d’Arnaud, and Moncada as trade chips at the deadline.
Lineup vs. righties would look something like: Schanuel (1B), Rengifo (2B), Trout (LF), Soler (DH), O’Hoppe (C), Adell (RF), Neto (SS), Rendon/Moncada (3B), Bader (CF)
Lineup vs. lefties: Rengifo (2B), Trout (CF), Soler (DH), d’Araud (C), Adell (RF), Barger (LF), Schanuel (1B), Rendon/Moncada (3B), Neto (SS).
Rotation is Buehler, Soriano, Anderson, Ogasawara, Kochanowicz with the out of options Jose Suarez penciled in as the long reliever/spot starter
Bullpen is Scott, Minter, Joyce, Stephenson, Quijada, Sam Aldegheri and a competition for the last two spots.
The bench features two versatile players in Moncada and Barger, plus the thump of d’Arnaud. There’s room for one more spot, too, so we’ll have a camp battle in Tempe for the final spot.
It isn’t hard to see this team playing well enough to be in the Wild Card mix. Nor is it hard to see me with a bundle of trade chips at the deadline. Either way, I come out ahead while letting the young guys grow.
Speaking of letting our young guys grow, our AAA team would have Matthew Lugo and Jordyn Adams on the grass, Christian Moore, Scott Kingery, and Cole Fontenelle on the dirt, and a rotation featuring Reid Detmers, Chase Silseth, Davis Daniel, George Klassen, and Sam Bachman. Plus the power bats of Nico Kavadas and Ryan Noda. It isn’t hard to see any of those guys taking a leap forward and seizing an MLB spot.
It is always tough being first, but tell me how you think I did and whether this team would give you a little hopium come March.
