“Is (a lefty hitter) the No. 1 pressing need? Is that ‘A’ on the checklist of things we need to do? No,” Minasian told reporters (link via Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register). “But it’s something we’ve talked about a lot. We want to be a more balanced attack. … There are some really attractive right-handed hitters that I would like to have, who are just good hitters, that I don’t think anyone cares if they’re right-handed or left-handed. So does it have to be left-handed? No. Apples to apples? Obviously you’re choosing left-handed over right-handed.”
The Halos have included three pitchers in the opening day rotation: Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Soriano And Reid Detmers. They don’t have much more than that with either of them Caden Dana, Sam Aldegheri, Jack Kochanowicz or Mitch Farris securing a rotation spot. They will likely push the second overall pick for 2025 Tyler Bremner soon, but it would be surprising if the Angels were willing to bring him into the opening day rotation before he even pitches in the minors. They skipped the 2024 second round Ryan Johnson Last season, he returned to the big league as a reliever, but he struggled and was optioned in early May. Johnson built back into the role of starter and pitched well in High-A, but still has no starting experience at the higher levels.
The bullpen could lose its two most reliable arms. Detmers, last season’s best setup man, returns to the rotation. Closer Kenley Jansen is a free agent. The Angels are likely to want to bring Jansen back after an excellent season. The four-time All-Star went 29-30 in save opportunities. He posted an ERA of 2.59 over 59 innings. Even that was blown up by a nightmarish performance against the Tigers, in which he gave up six of the 17 earned runs he allowed all season. Jansen is likely limited to one-year contracts at this stage of his career, though he could match last winter’s $10 million guarantee.
Left-handed Brock Burke enters the offseason as the Angels’ only reliable reliever. Minasian provided a positive update on the talented but oft-injured Righty Robert Stephensonwho ended the season on the shelf with an elbow infection. Stephenson will not require surgery and is expected to be ready for Spring Training, Bollinger said. Stephenson has the talent to pitch late in games, but his durability issues make him a wild card. The Angels clearly need to add multiple leverage arms.
While pitching numbers is the priority, the Halos have a few questions in the lineup. They don’t have an everyday center fielder or third baseman. Christian Moore projects as a starting second baseman, but he struggled as a rookie after being quickly pushed through the minors. There is arguably a surplus of corners in the outfield Taylor district, Mike Trout, Jorge Soler And I Adel – who is misplaced in midfield and should remain on the right wing, where he spent the last month of the ’25 season. Ward and Adell have already been mentioned in trade rumors. One of them could be traded for a player at a position where the need is greater, but that wouldn’t come close to covering all the work the front office has to do.
The club’s preference would be to add a lefty hitter in one or two of those positions. No team gave fewer at bats to left-handed hitters this year. Only the Astros relied more heavily on pure righty bats. The Angels had an MLB-worst batting average of .224 against righty pitching. They were 28th in on-base percentage (.299) and 24th in slugging (.394). Switch hitters Luis Rengifo And Yoan Moncada hit free agency, leaving the first baseman Nolan Schanuel as their only lefty hitter who would play a significant role.
If they choose freely for that need, it would make the most sense to focus on midfield. Trent Grisham And Cody Bellinger are available at the higher end of the market. Carlo Mullins is a rebound candidate who will likely sign for a year.
There are far fewer left-handed bats who could play second or third base. If neither Rengifo nor Moncada are retained, the top free agent options are Jorge Polanco, Luis Arraez And Willie Castro. Polanco can play either position, but saw a lot of DH work with the Mariners this year due to knee issues. Arraez hasn’t played second base regularly in two years due to limited range. Castro is a bat-first utility player who started the season well but went downhill after a deadline trade to the Cubs.
Players like it C.J. Abrams, Brendan Donovan or Brandon Lowe could be commercially available. That would require the Angels to use an already poor farm system for short-term help after a 72-90 season. As Minasian noted, that could allow them to pursue a superior right infielder, even if it’s not ideal for lineup balance. Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, Eugenio Suarez, Kazuma Okamoto, Hi Seong Kim And Gleyber Torres are all right-handed free agents who can play second and/or third.
Torres, who is considering a qualifying offer from the Tigers, was apparently a target of the Angels last winter. Ken Rosenthal, Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic report that Torres turned down a multi-year offer from the Halos during the 2024-25 offseason because he doubted the team could compete. He signed a one-year contract worth $15 million with Detroit. The Tigers made the playoffs for the second straight season and the Angels still have one of the worst rosters in the American League on paper.
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