College baseball is back and better. Every year new stars rise and compete to get drafted into the MLB. Who is going to be drafted into the top 10, and who will slip possibly later in the first round that the Angels could get a franchise superstar.
Perry Minasian the Angel’s general manger has mainly been picking college players the last couple years. Could that change this year? This year’s college draft has a lot of talented high school prospects.
Who are some players that Angels should target to draft in the first round?
Tyler Spangler – SS De La Salle High School
Tyler Spangler a left-handed shortstop from De La Salle high school. Smooth glove at shortstop with a lot of pop in the bat. He won Offensive player of the year, with 10 home runs. Tyler right now is ranked 11th best MLB prospect, I think he will slide past 11 and if the Angels select him, wouldn’t be a bad choice at all.
Jackson Flora – RHP UC Santa Barbara
Jackson Flora a right-handed pitcher from UCSB. Last year in 11 starts, Flora went 6-3 with a 3.60 era. He pitched 75 innings with 86 strikeouts. Coming into this year he was named 2026 Preseason-All America First Team. Flora is ranked the 14th best prospect in the draft. I think getting another pitcher is very likely for the Angels, from previous first round picks.
Liam Peterson last year started 15 games with 8-4 record and a 4.28 era. He pitched 69.1 innings with 96 strikeouts. His freshman year, he was named 2024 SEC All – Freshman. He is ranked the 13th best MLB prospect. This would be a really good pickup for the Angels.
Chris Hacopian coming into this draft is pretty underrated prospect in this year’s draft. Hacopian played at Maryland his first two years and dominated. In 2024 he batted 323 with 15 home runs. The year after, he batted 375 with 14 home runs. Right now, Hacopian is ranked the 16th best prospect in the draft.
