The Angels Are Essentially the Nationals

Baseball, like most of America, is divided into the have’s and the have not’s. And, just like the rest of America, that gap is growing larger and larger. Just take a look at the payrolls of the Dodgers and Mets compared to other large market teams like the Cubs and Angels.

But the payroll of the Angels is deceiving. Yes, Spotrac lists the overall team payroll at $192 million and change with the total outlay of just north of $205 million, but when it comes to the actual roster we see the team is much more in line with the Washington Nationals.

Of the $192 million, $35 million is slated to the perpetually injured Anthony Rendon and another $11 million is sunk into Robert Stephenson, who has yet to throw a pitch for the Angels. The fact Stephenson was signed while injured shows just how brilliant the front office minds in Anaheim truly are.

So, we take $192 million and subtract $46 million and we get to a payroll of $146 million. However, another $35 million and change is going to the shell of Mike Trout. Yes, you sign Mike Trout to a lifelong extension 10 opportunities out of 10. And, yes, had he aged even remotely gracefully that sum would not look bad compared to other mega contracts.

But, unfortunately, in the real world Mike Trout is incapable of staying healthy which eliminates any chance he has of providing any value on the field. So, take his $35 million off the $146 and the Angels on the field are earning just a tad less than the $112 million the Nationals will pay their players.

In looking at the standings, the 17 and 24 Nationals and 16 and 23 Angels are also on the same track in the win column and for the same reasons. Both teams lack depth on both sides of the ball. Washington pitching is 26th in batting average against and 28th in team ERA. Offensively they are a bit better than the Angels, but that’s not saying much.

Both teams wear red uniforms and compete with a more famous club in their own backyard. Really, the similarities far outweigh the differences. However, this is one difference that could be substantial.

That is the farm rankings, where the Nationals are 13th and our boys are way lower on the list.

Nobody is expecting the Nationals to do well or to spend much money on free agents for another year or two. Like the Angels they are rebuilding.

In fact, if looking at the rebuild process, the Angels appear to have an edge here as Neto and O’Hoppe are already producing at the MLB level and most of the Angels top prospects are at the AA level.

Meanwhile, most of the Nationals prospects are further away from The Show. Prospect evaluators tend to favor upside over floor and some Nats prospects have a huge upside, which explains the rankings.

I’m not sure if there’s a huge point to this piece other than to point out just how much the dead weight of three horrible contracts is impacting the on field product. We wouldn’t expect the Nationals to compete with $112 million in payroll and the Angels are essentially rolling out the same level of payroll.

2025 will likely be a horrible year for both franchises as they look towards brighter days ahead. Both will look to unload veterans and add more young talent at the trade deadline. On the plus side, the Angels have a major financial windfall coming over the next two years and a solid list of pitching prospects who are making their case to be future MLB’ers.