If the early bird gets the worm, the Los Angeles Angels should open a bait shop.
So far this offseason, 12 free agents have signed deals with the MLB. Here they are:
| Player | Equipment | Worth | Years | New team? |
| Yusei Kikuchi | LAA | 63 million dollars | 3 | Yeah |
| Nick Martinez | NIC | $21.05 million | 1 | No |
| Travis d’Arnaud | LAA | 12 million dollars | 2 | Yeah |
| Austin Hedges | C.L.E. | 4 million dollars | 1 | No |
| kyle farmer | COLUMN | 3.25 million dollars | 1 | Yeah |
| Kevin Newman | LAA | $2.75 million | 1 | Yeah |
| Jacob Stallings | COLUMN | 2.5 million dollars | 1 | No |
| Brent Suter | NIC | 2.5 million dollars | 1 | No |
| Kyle Hendricks | LAA | 2.5 million dollars | 1 | Yeah |
| Justin Wilson | bos | 2.25 million dollars | 1 | Yeah |
| TJ McFarland | OAK | 1.8 million dollars | 1 | No |
| Austin Slater | CWS | 1.75 million dollars | 1 | Yeah |
Of the seven players who have found new teams, four are now seeking housing in Orange County, California. That’s because no baseball team has been more active so far this winter than the cellar-dwelling Los Angeles Angels, who have lost 99 games and have the longest playoff drought in MLB.
On Monday, they landed the biggest fish of free agency so far: left-handed starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. The 33-year-old Japanese had a dull first half in Toronto in 2024, but shined after a deadline deal sent him to Houston. He has struggled for consistent success throughout his six-year MLB career, but he has shown the benefits of a true front-line starter, something the Angels desperately need.
The Halos, who haven’t made the postseason since an ALDS loss in 2014, are coming off their first season in the post-Shohei-Ohtani era. As expected, it didn’t go well; Their 99 losses represented the worst season in franchise history.
Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, the club’s two highest-paid players, were hampered once again by injuries. The fallen stars appeared together in the starting lineup just 19 times in 2024, despite making up 43% of the team’s $176 million payroll. Since the Angels signed Rendon before the 2020 season, he and Trout have started together in just 23% of the team’s games.
Beyond that injured duo, the 2024 Angels lacked depth, impact and direction. In late September, first-year manager Ron Washington told the LA Times that the team “forgot to bring real baseball players into the organization. “There’s nothing against those guys here, but they’re not major league baseball players and they certainly can’t help us win a championship.” He later walked back the comments, but the message was clear: the Angels were nowhere near contention.
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So why has the team been so active earlier this winter? Why has general manager Perry Minasian committed $32 million to next season’s payroll before Thanksgiving? What exactly are the angels doing here?
The answer starts at the top, with owner Artie Moreno. The much-maligned business magnate, who has owned the club since 2003, has always shown a willingness to invest in major league payrolls. However, under Moreno, the Angels have earned a reputation for being stingy in other aspects of the organization, particularly when it comes to player development.
Moreno, who will turn 79 next year, has never been interested in embarking on a traditional, torn-down rebuild. For that, perhaps, he deserves some credit. Yet league insiders universally view the Angels as a ramshackle operation, without a plan or a destination, focused too much on the present and not enough on the future. The team’s recent history of rushing the first draft and ascending the minor league ladder at a dizzying pace only reinforces this belief.
So when Moreno decided to extend Minasian, whose contract expired after the 2024 season, through 2026, the mandate was clear: keep the Major League team competitive.
That questionable management appears to be the main reason behind the Angels’ recent rush of signings. In just a few weeks, Minasian has signed a likely Opening Day starter (Kikuchi), a highly regarded backup catcher with an underrated bat (d’Arnaud), a utility infielder who was astutely solid last year (Newman) and a veteran pitcher. who can absorb innings (Hendricks).
And there are, even in the midst of the catastrophe of 2024, reasons for optimism. A solid young core is forming around shortstop Zach Neto and catcher Logan O’Hoppe. Flamethrower reliever Ben Joyce hit 105.5 mph during an electrifying run in August. The Angels’ top pick in the most recent draft, second baseman Christian Moore, torched the minor leagues last summer. There are a handful of encouraging prospects as starting pitchers in the upper minors.
A person employed by the Angels could squint, pray and daydream about a relatively competitive roster in 2025. Minasian, Moreno and their new additions will surely point to the 2024 Royals, who, after a very aggressive offseason, improved in 30 games and they sneaked into the playoffs. And furthermore, it is difficult to criticize a team that “goes for it.” Some new additions to the coaching staff could improve the culture. The American League West looks weaker than it has in years; Even if the Angels are unlikely to capture the division crown, they will enjoy those extra wins against less formidable opponents.
Still, the consensus around baseball remains that the Angels will not be competitive next season. The roster is too shallow and too reliant on the health of two rickety pillars. The board has not demonstrated the ability to extract value from the hidden corners of the sport. Besides the Angels, only the Rays and White Sox finished awards season without a single player receiving a Cy Young or MVP vote.
It’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the 2025 Angels break their scheme and reach the promised land of the playoffs. However, Halos will continue to march into the darkness, armed with a handful of new players and the power of irrational self-confidence, in the hope that there is a light somewhere.
Good luck.