The Los Angeles Angels youth movement has unofficially begun in Anaheim. The team has fought off the dreaded “rebuild” label for nearly a decade. Time after time, current general manager Perry Minasian has said the team will not go into full rebuild mode given the star power on the team. For years, that star power included Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Anthony Rendon. When the Angels fought to stay in the American League Wild Card race in 2023, most Angels fans and baseball insiders thought their best strategy was to trade Ohtani for a prospect haul that would have been unrivalled for an upcoming free agent. Instead, the team sold off some of their best prospects in a misguided attempt to grab a playoff spot.
When the season ended, the players they traded for and Ohtani moved on to other teams. The only thing left over from those trades was the crashing of the Angels farm system. Even this year should have seen the Angels sell at the trade deadline. Either way, the Ohtani exodus and Trout and Rendon’s annual trips to the Injured List have finally forced the Angels’ hand. The youth movement has begun in Anaheim.
Angels Youth Movement Gives Fans Hope
There is a silver lining to be found from the Trout and Rendon’s yearly injured list trips. Specifically, the team is finally looking to its youth instead of its “star” players. Trout will have played 41 percent of the team’s games since 2021 when this season ends. Rendon has played just below 31 percent of the games played since the start of 2021, as of today. They combine to make just shy of $76 million for the 2024 season. None of this is news to Angels fans. The tormented fan base has gone through this quite a few times since owner Arte Moreno bought the team in 2003. Whether it was trading for Vernon Wells and his bloated contract or the free agent signings of Gary Matthews Jr., Albert Pujols, and Josh Hamilton, Angels fans have felt the pain of many bad contracts.
Succeeding in the MLB Draft
Now, most of the team’s production comes from pre-arbitration players. Owner Arte Moreno and Minasian are not calling this a rebuild, yet it is clear that the team is focused on a youth-driven direction. The Angels youth movement isn’t souring fans on the team’s prospects but giving them hope. Minasian has produced Major League players out of every draft he has run for the club.
2021 Draft Started the Trend
The 2021 draft class of pitchers produced first-rounder Sam Bachman and 11th-rounder Chase Silseth. Silseth was the first player from that draft class to reach the Major Leagues. It would be the beginning of a yearly trend for Angels draft picks. Currently, Silseth is out for the season due to injury and Bachman has recently been promoted to Triple-A. Both players still figure heavily in the Angels’ plans but 2025 will be a big season for both of them.
2022 Draft Is Key to the Youth Movement
The 2022 draft produced starting shortstop Zach Neto as the team’s first-round pick and future closer Ben Joyce as the club’s third-rounder. Neto played only 48 total games in the minor leagues. It looks like that was all he needed because he is on pace for a 20-20 season in 2024. Over the last five weeks, Neto’s .340/.436/.628/1.064 slash line has produced a 197 wRC+ which is second among shortstop in that time. Joyce pitched in 47 games over three seasons in the minors, though he did pitch for the Angels in 2023. While he’s not striking out batters at the rate the team would hope, he’s been great. Before today, Joyce had been on fire since mid-June, when he added a splinker to his game arsenal.
Right behind them will likely be 11th-round pick Caden Dana, who is thriving in Double-A as a 20-year-old starting pitcher. Dana keeps posting zeros for Rocket City. At the beginning of the season, the Angels only had Schanuel on Top 100 lists from baseball publications. Currently, Dana is #88 in the MLB Top 100 Prospects list.
2023 and 2024 Draft
In the 2023 MLB Draft, Nolan Schanuel was the team’s first-round pick and he’s now the starting first baseman. It happened that fast. The team was confident enough in his abilities that Schanuel played a total of 22 games in the minor leagues. He started the season off slowly and entered the All-Star break with a lowly .672 OPS. Since then, he’s hit .328/.449/.531/.980 over 20 games. There is still some worry that he won’t develop enough power but his eye at the plate might make up for that weakness.
The Angels selected Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore with this year’s first-round pick and he has immediately made an impact. The Angels promoted Moore after two games in Class A. He responded by playing better. Now, Moore is dominating Double-A for Rocket City. Before too long, Angels fans will see an infield filled with 25-and-under players.
Minasian Making Trade Deadline Moves
It can be easy to see the Angels as underachievers every year they missed the playoffs with Trout and Ohtani. Yet, although the organization has paid big money to star players, it’s been known to pinch pennies everywhere else. With that in mind, Minasian has continued to make shrewd moves to improve the organizational depth. It’s a well-known secret that Minasian looked to move Ohtani before the 2023 trade deadline only to be told to hold onto him and go for the playoffs. Despite the meddlesome owner, Minasian has been able to acquire quality young players. Trading Brandon Marsh for O’Hoppe at the 2022 deadline was a great move that sort of flew under the radar at the time. The Angels young catcher, an All-Star snub this season, has quietly entered the top tier of offensive catchers.
Moving free-agents-to-be Carlos Estévez and Luis García at the trade deadline has helped replenish what was a league-worst farm system. The Estévez trade with Philadelphia netted the team pitchers George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri, who are the team’s No. 3 and No. 9 prospects, respectively. Corner outfielder Matthew Lugo (No. 11) and first baseman Niko Kavadas (No. 24) came over in the García’s trade to Boston, as well as pitchers Ryan Zeferjahn and Yeferson Vargas.
Minasian acquired relievers Hans Crouse, Carson Fulmer, and Roansy Contreras for nothing as all were buy-low options. All three of them are better than the league average by 15 to 20 ERA+ points. Contreras is especially valuable as he is only 24 years old and was a better-than-league-average starter just two seasons ago with Pittsburgh. The team’s best starter has been José Soriano, who signed with the Angels out of the Dominican Republic in March of 2016. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted the 25-year-old Soriano in the Rule 5 Draft in December of 2020, only to return the right-handed fireballer to the Angels the following November. Why? Because he underwent his second Tommy John surgery only sixteen months after his first one.
The Angels Youth Movement in 2025 and Beyond
The Angels youth movement has a lot of question marks moving forward. Not trading Ohtani during last season’s trade deadline was a huge mistake for the health of their league-worst farm system. Minasian didn’t trade Tyler Anderson, Taylor Ward, Luis Rengifo, or Kevin Pillar this season which might look like a poor decision soon. Rengifo played only one game after the deadline before a wrist injury cost him the rest of his season. Whether or not he is in the Angels’ future plans remains to be seen. Anderson would have added three to four high-quality prospects given his team-friendly contract that runs through 2025. Even Ward, who has struggled this year, would have brought back at least one top-10 Angels prospect in a trade.
Not everything is perfect. Minasian has continued to walk the fine line between full rebuild and minimal improvement. It’s unfortunate that Minasian, or Moreno, chose this path because the Angels are nowhere near competitive in 2024. Injuries to Trout, Rendon, Silseth, Rengifo, and Patrick Sandoval have drastically lowered the expectations so now was the time to sell. Sandoval could be out until 2026. When you add in the demotion of Reid Detmers to Triple-A, Mickey Moniak‘s struggles to repeat 2023, and Brandon Drury‘s terrible season it becomes obvious that a youth movement was necessary.
Jo Adell is an interesting player to watch moving forward given his streakiness this season. He slashed .316/.365/.614/.979 through April, which had Angels fans celebrating that their former first-round pick had finally figured it out. Unfortunately, his next streak proved otherwise. Over the next 61 games, Adell limped to a .141/.207/.313/.521 hitting line that returned all the questions about whether or not he was a Big Leaguer. Over his last 25 games, early-season Adell has returned. A .281/.392/.476/.867 slash line has returned a glimmer of hope. Adell has a shot at a 20/20 season as he has 18 home runs and 14 stolen bases. Plus, his defense has substantially improved. These last forty-plus games will be important in deciding his role on next year’s team. Or, if he’s on it.
A Glance into the 2025 Roster
It can be difficult to predict future MLB rosters given the multitude of factors that go into roster construction. Plus, it’s impossible to know who will own the club given Arte Moreno’s flip-flopping on a sale. Add in the four-year cycle that most Angels general managers have lasted under Moreno and it’s clear this exercise of roster prediction is a difficult one. Furthering that point, the Angels youth movement will hardly be finished in 2025, since Rendon has two more years on his contract. Also, Trout has six years remaining on his contract. Players like Adell, Detmers, and Sandoval could be a good couple of months from an extension. Or, a couple of bad ones from the waiver wire. It can be easy to say what a team needs in free agency, so below is more of a foundation of players currently in the organization.
Starting Lineup
*Ages in parentheses
Catcher: Logan O’Hoppe (24)
First Base: Nolan Schanuel (22)
Second Base: Christian Moore (21)
Shortstop: Zach Neto (23)
Third Base: Anthony Rendon (34)/Luis Rengifo (27)
Left Field: Taylor Ward (30)
Center Field: Mike Trout (33)
Right Field: Jo Adell (25)/Mickey Moniak (26) or Matthew Lugo (23)
Designated Hitter: Willie Calhoun (29), Keston Hiura (28) or Niko Kavadas (25)
Free Agent focus: Corner outfielder, designated hitter
Bench
Backup Catcher: Matt Thaiss (29)
Fourth Outfielder: Adell/Moniak/Lugo
Utility Infielder: Luis Guillorme (29), Kyren Paris (22) or Charles Leblanc (28)
Starting Rotation
Tyler Anderson (34), LHP
José Soriano (25), RHP
Griffin Canning (28), RHP
Chase Silseth (24), RHP
Reid Detmers (25), LHP
Other options: Caden Dana (20), RHP and George Klassen (22), RHP
Bullpen
Closer: Ben Joyce (24)
Robert Stephenson (31), RHP
José Quijada (28), LHP
Roansy Contreras (24), RHP
Sam Bachman (24), RHP
Ivan Armstrong (24), RHP
Samuel Aldegheri (22), LHP
Free Agent focus: Mid-tier relievers. Bachman/Aldegheri can remain starting in minors if they don’t earn a spot in the rotation. Or, a closer if they don’t believe Joyce is ready for the ninth inning.
Main Photo: © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
