The Los Angeles Angels are still searching for answers in the infield. One of their major goals going into the offseason was to have legitimate depth and not give away at-bats to below replacement-level players. And that’s certainly shown through their moves ahead of Spring Training.
They have brought in a host of utility infielders, including Scott Kingery, Kevin Newman, Ryan Noda and Tim Anderson already. This has certainly addressed the issue of replacement-level depth behind their starting infield. The one issue they haven’t addressed, though, is third base.
The Angels have made it clear that they do not want Anthony Rendon to be the starting third baseman when the 2025 season begins. It was assumed they would take care of that by either signing a third baseman or by signing a second baseman and moving Luis Rengifo over to third.
And while it may be a longshot, it appears the Angels have now signed a player that could be a Rendon replacement at third base in J.D. Davis, according to Robert Murray of FanSided:
Free-agent infielder J.D. Davis in agreement with the Los Angeles Angels on a minor-league contract, sources say. Davis gets an invite to spring training.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) January 24, 2025
Davis is an interesting candidate for the Angels, but he’ll have to earn his place during Spring Training as a non-roster invite. He is coming off of one of the worst seasons of his career, when he had an OPS of .631 and an OPS+ of 83. He split time with the Athletics and the New York Yankees throughout the year.
But outside of 2024, Davis has been relatively consistent. The utilityman has had six seasons with an OPS+ of 104 or greater and an OPS of .738 or greater. He’s not a huge power hitter, but he has been an above replacement-level player for the majority of his career.
And given what the Angels have been getting from Rendon recently, that might be all he needs to do to win the third base job. Like Anderdson, the Angels are going with a low-risk, high-reward signing if he can recapture his best work from 2019-22.
Angels offense if Davis makes roster as starting 3B
If Davis is able to return to his 2019-23 self and win a roster spot and the starting job at third base, here is what the Angels offense could potentially look like.
C: Logan O’Hoppe
1B: Nolan Schanuel
2B: Luis Rengifo
SS: Zach Neto
3B: J.D. Davis
LF: Taylor Ward
CF: Mike Trout
RF: Jo Adell
DH: Jorge Soler
Bench:
C: Travis d’Arnaud
IF: Anthony Rendon
IF/OF: Scott Kingery
OF: Mickey Moniak
