Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington had some significant roster decisions to make in the final week before the start of the 2024 MLB season. The most intriguing of these decisions was in the outfield, where the Halos had five options to fill what is traditionally four spots. Mike Trout and Taylor Ward were guarantees, but Mickey Moniak, Jo Adell and free agent signing Aaron Hicks were in a battle for those two remaining spots.
The positional battle had some added intrigue because Adell — who has yet to piece together consistency at the Major League level — is out of minor league options. This meant that his choices were to either make the 26-man roster or end up in a different organization via trade or waivers. Instead, Washington is opting to bring all five outfielders into the regular season.
Teams don’t usually carry five outfielders on their roster. However, Washington believes he can make it work given the individual skillsets of each player, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“It’s not gonna be hard because whatever lineup I put out, it’s gonna be the lineup,” Washington said. “So it’s not going to be hard. They’ll get some playing time, every single one of them. So how I’m going to do it, I really couldn’t tell you that right now. But they are going to get some playing time.
“Who’s the pitcher, who has good matchups, who fits well at that time against that pitcher, those types of things,” Washington said. “Who needs a break? And we’ll use the DH, because every one of those guys is gonna find themselves getting a little bit of DH time also.”
If not for Adell’s lack of options, it might have made perfect sense to give him more time in Triple-A while allowing Moniak and Hicks to serve as a platoon. Hicks slashed .349/.446/.524 with a .970 OPS against left-handed pitching last season while Moniak slashed .294/.322/.544 with an .866 OPS against righties.
With Adell on the roster as well, Washington has to find a spot for all three players to succeed. For Adell, that may be a designated hitter role that only plays in the outfield when Ward or Trout need a day off or a day to DH.
The Angels outfield figures to be a story to watch throughout the season unless one player solidifies himself above the rest.
Angels’ Aaron Hicks working on being every day player
Hicks made it clear that while the Angels did not promise him any specific role, his plan is to work his way toward being an every day player.
“If you make yourself feel like you’re a bench player, you’re going to be a bench player,” Hicks said this week. “Obviously, I want to work my way into playing every single day. But, you know, whenever my name is called, I’ll be ready to go.”
Hicks has been arguably the best of the three outfielders in Spring Training thus far.