The Los Angeles Angels remain one of the more intriguing teams in the league in terms of their plans for the rest of the offseason. They have made it known that their goal is to compete for the postseason in 2025, and have already made some major moves towards that goal.
General manager Perry Minasian traded for Jorge Soler, signed some infield depth and signed starters Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks. But as things currently stand, it’s hard to imagine the Angels going from a franchise record 99 losses all the way to the Playoffs.
But given where the Angels are in the MLB Draft order, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic believes the franchise has good reason to pursue one of Pete Alonso, Anthony Santander or Alex Bregman in free agency:
“They’re one of the few teams in a decent position to sign a free agent who rejected a qualifying offer and give up a draft pick. They’re drafting No. 2 overall, and their next pick after that is likely to be No. 47. That’s the one they would lose if they signed, say, Anthony Santander, (Pete) Alonso, (Alex) Bregman and Nick Pavetta, the four remaining players who rejected qualifying offers. And if you do that, you give up your 47th pick, then why not give up your third pick as well? They’ve got another third round pick coming later in the round as compensation for a player they did not sign in last year’s draft. Is it worth doing that, is the better question.”
The qualifying offers rejected by these three players make them a difficult sell for many of the teams league-wide. But if the Angels are serious about contending, and don’t need as many bites at the apple in the 2025 draft, maybe they would take a swing at one of those players.
If they were, it appears Bregman would make by far the most sense. Alonso primarily plays first base, a position occupied by one of the franchise’s young cornerstones in Nolan Schanuel. Santander is a right fielder, which could be a possible option if the Angels found a deal they liked for Taylor Ward or Jo Adell.
But Bregman — a career third baseman — would be a perfect fit. The Angels are looking to move Anthony Rendon to a bench role and have been looking for an infielder. This would be either a third baseman directly or a second baseman that allows Luis Rengifo to take over at third.
Bregman won a gold glove award at third base in 2024 and had a .768 OPS and 118 OPS+. That is above replacement level despite being his worst numbers in both categories since 2021.
It’s unclear what the cost would be to acquire Bregman, or if he would have any interest, but it may actually bring the Angels some intrigue in the heart of their lineup.
Angels agree to arbitration terms with five players
The Angels agreed to terms on one-year contracts with five players, including outfielders Adell and Ward, to avoid arbitration, the team announced Thursday.
In addition to Adell and Ward, L.A. also agreed to terms on deals with starter Reid Detmers and relievers Brock Burke and Jose Suarez.
