Another year, another losing record for the Los Angeles Angels.
The Angels finished with a losing record for the 10th straight year, the last in the AL West. Manager Ron Washington, who left the team midway through the season due to medical concerns, and interim manager Ray Montgomery were fired. Whoever lands the position will become the Angels’ sixth manager since their last winning season in 2015.
The Angels’ next manager will have talent to work with. While outfielder Mike Trout is a shadow of his former self, shortstop Zack Neto could be a budding star. Outfielder Jo Adell and first baseman Nolan Schanuel showed signs of progress. However, a farm system ranked 27th in the game by MLB.com won’t do much to help a roster short on talent.
General manager Perry Minasian has a lot of work to do. Let’s look at three areas he needs to focus on.
Three spearheads for the Los Angeles Angels
1. Stop trying to live up to Anthony Rendon
The Angels have played 870 games since signing Rendon to a seven-year, $245 million contract during the 2019-2020 offseason. The oft-injured third baseman played just 257 of those games and missed the entire 2025 season after hip surgery. said Minasian that Rendon has yet to begin baseball activities, which shouldn’t be a surprise at this point.
Rendon is in the final year of his contract and has exceeded sunk costs. He is a symbol of the losing culture The Athletic’s Sam Blum opined hangs over the franchise. Finally, cutting the cord on Rendon could be a matter of addition by subtraction.
2. Go for Nutaka Murakami
While owner Arte Moreno wants to compete, the Angels are realistically still years away. That doesn’t mean they should completely eschew free choice. A perfect fit, for both their timeline and lineup, will be available this offseason.
The Yakult Swallows corner infielder missed most of the first half of the season due to injuries, but has been crushing the ball since his return, hitting 22 home runs in 224 at-bats. Jon Heyman of the New York Post linked Murakami to the Angels as a free agent and would fit well with Neto and Adell in the lineup.
3. Trade Taylor Ward and start paying attention to the farming system
The soon-to-be 32-year-old Ward has been one of the Angels’ better hitters over the past four years. He also has two years of team control remaining through arbitration and wouldn’t fit into a realistic timeline for the Angels to compete for the postseason.
However, Ward is said to be a hot commodity on the trading bloc. He would be one of the better power hitters available and an immediate upgrade for teams like the Giants and Royals. While the Angels tend to rush their top prospects to the majors, Trading Ward could help rebuild a farm system that desperately needs attention.
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