The Los Angeles Angels have not yet announced their full 26-man roster for Opening Day of the 2024 MLB season. However, the pieces are slowly coming together with Opening Day on Thursday. The final roster figures to be announced either Wednesday evening or Thursday morning prior to a 12:05 p.m. PT first pitch against the Baltimore Orioles. And when that happens, infielder Miguel Sanó will be present.
Sanó was brought into Spring Training as a non-roster invite after eight seasons with the Minnesota Twins. He hasn’t played for the Twins — or in the Majors — since early 2022, but was an All-Star in 2017 and had an OPS above .850 in three of his first five Major League seasons. In 23 Spring Training games for the Angels, Sanó slashed .204/.295/.444 with a .740 OPS.
But Sanó’s positional versatility and his power have earned him a spot on the Angels Opening Day roster, the MLB veteran announced via his Instagram on Tuesday and spoke about the excitement of the decision, according to Janis Carr of The O.C. Register:
“For the first thing, I want to say thank you to God and to the Angels for the opportunity,” Sanó said before the Angels’ final spring training game against the Dodgers. “It’s great to have the moment and opportunity that has been given to me.
“I’m going to take care of my job. I’m going to work hard every day to prove what I got every day on the field,” said Sanó, who reported to camp 58 pounds lighter and eager to show he could still swing the bat.
The stats are not eye-popping by any means, but manager Ron Washington explained exactly what he likes about Sanó as a backup corner infielder.
“He swung the bat well and did everything we asked him to do,” Washington said. “He worked his butt off and is very deserving of being on our roster and that’s why he’s here.”
The new Angels infielder is capable of playing the corners at first and third base. Given that the first baseman is a rookie entering his first full professional season in Nolan Schanuel and the third baseman has a massive injury history in Anthony Rendon, Sanó may see some serious playing time.
The Angels clearly feel comfortable with six players in the infield, with Schanuel, Rendon, Zach Neto and Brandon Drury as the likely starters while Sanó and Luis Rengifo take the platoon roles.
Ron Washington seeking consistency from Angels
Angels manager Ron Washington knows what’s ahead for his team in terms of an uphill battle to make the postseason and break a nine-season drought. And for him, it starts with being consistent and sustainable each and every day from the very start of the season.