2025 Team Previews - Los Angeles Angels
As part of my 2025 team previews series, I go through all fantasy-relevant players on the Los Angeles Angels ahead of the 2025 season.
Check out the intro and team links page here.
Intro
I would feel bad for Angels fans if I had that kind of thing in me. The team has had a ton of opportunity and a bunch of money spent over the last decade with nothing to show for it.
Honestly, though, there’s a life lesson to be learned from it. Remember these contacts?
Albert Pujols: 10 years, $240 million (2011)
Josh Hamilton: 5 years, $125 million (2013)
CJ Wilson: 5 years, $78 million (2012)
Mike Trout: 12 years, $427 million (2019)
They got very little [relative] value in return from those contracts, especially the Hamilton/Wilson contracts.
The problem with a ten-year contract is that ten years is a long time. You are almost always giving these extensions to players who are already in their upper 20s, so you agree right up front to suffer pretty hard at the end of those contracts in return for (hopefully) a handful of years of elite production.
But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! “Let us eat and drink,” you say, “for tomorrow we die!”
Isaiah 22:13
This is classic short-termism. It’s akin to getting really drunk. You will enjoy the hell out of your night, but you will pay every single ounce of that enjoyment back the next day with interest.
And isn’t that just a feature of the world that God has created? There is such a balance. Most things that feel really good in the moment have long-term consequences. And the things that have the best long-term results are no fun in the moment. You can trace this all over the place. Exercising, nutrition, relationships, parenting, your career. Quick and easy pleasure seems to always have long-term negative effects.
That isn’t to say you should always avoid the contracts in professional sports. Maybe you just have the cash - and maybe your long-term economic projections ease the pain of that down the road. $100 million today isn’t worth $100 million in ten years, so there’s all of that to consider - but I’m trying to make a bigger point.
The world legitimately could end tomorrow. There’s no guarantee that Major League Baseball will even exist in 2035, so why not commit a bunch of money to the 2034 roster? You might not even have to pay it. You might be dead! You could sell the team and retire! All kinds of options.
Back to 2024.
The Angels lost Shohei Ohtani to free agency and saw Mike Trout play just 29 games, so it’s not surprising that we’re getting to them very early on in this process. They finished with the fourth-worst record in the league. They did nothing well, finishing 28th in runs scored and 27th in runs allowed.
I wrote this next part in late October while the playoffs were still going:
As we move ahead, things should slowly start to improve for the Angels. Any thoughts they had about saving a bunch of money to potentially give to Ohtani are long gone now, and they’re another year closer to the end of this Anthony Rendon contract. They should have money to spend in free agency at some point!
Shout out to me, because it seems I was right on the money here. The Angels have already been active at bulking up their 2025 roster, and it’s only November 25th. So far, they’ve
Traded for Jorge Soler (costly)
Traded for Travis d’Arnaud (weird)
Signed Yusei Kikuchi
In one way, none of it makes any sense. They seem to have more problems than one spending spree can fix, and a longer-term rebuild makes more sense to me. But I’m just a dude in an Indiana basement with a blog.
I hesitated to publish this one because, clearly, the Angels aren’t done this offseason. There will be more shakeups on the roster, so I will have to come back and do an update here in December or January, but for now - I’m pushing forward.
The Roster
The Angels lineup always looks decent at the beginning of the year because Mike Trout has at least those six months to not get injured. Overall, it’s still a mediocre unit - but there are a few non-slouches in addition to the big man, which we’ll get to.
As noted, Travis d’Arnaud has been added to the bench. He’ll be the backup catcher and might even get some run at DH if/when injuries happen, but he’s not relevant for fantasy purposes.
The rotation looks a lot better with the Kikuchi landing, but it’s still pretty rough:
Kikuchi is the only one who would definitely be in every other team’s top five. Soriano and Detmers bring upside, which we’ll get to, and you can at least count on Anderson and Hendricks to make 25+ starts for you.
Let’s get into it.
Hitters
Mike Trout
Age: 33
Pos: OF
It was a long time ago now, but back in April, Mike Trout was back in his former glory.
126 PA, 17 R, 10 HR, 14 RBI, 6 SB, .220/.325/.541, .866 OPS
He posted a 25% stolen base attempt rate in that month he was in the lineup. Check out the year-to-year data:
Trout was doing big things. The K% was down a ton without losing power production, and he was stealing bags again.
It seems as though we write the same thing for Trout every year. If you knew he’d stay healthy all year, you’d want to take him in the first round. But he just cannot stay on the field.
Mike Trout Games Played Since 2020
2021: 36
2022: 119
2023: 82
2024: 29
And now he’s a year older, which doesn’t make it any more likely that he’ll pop off for a 140-game season here.
The steals spike does make the risk a little more appealing, but there’s no guarantee that stealing bags will be part of his game again next year. He didn’t stop running because of a lack of ability (he has consistently posted very high sprint speeds); it was an injury-prevention choice. It’s fair to wonder if he’ll bail on that idea once again.
What’s true of every player is true with Trout; ADP will be the most important thing. If you can get him outside of the first four or five rounds, I would say he’s worth a shot. The worst thing that happens is you get very good production from him while he’s healthy, and then you replace him when you have to. If you’re in a league where it’s easy to replace an outfielder (say, a ten-team, three-outfield league), I think he’s worth a click. In a 12-team, five-outfielder league, it’s much tougher - because the stats you plug in for him will be pretty rough.
Rank
Trout is always tough to rank, and I would do it much differently depending on the context of the league. With Trout being just the 18th hitter I have to rank, it’s pretty easy to slot him in here at #3 between Luis Robert and Ezequiel Tovar.
Projection
Trout isn’t someone you should even review the projection for. I should be projecting him for 350 plate appearances or something, but I find it better just to project more or less a full season to show you what could happen. I trust my subscribers are sharp enough to consider more than just this raw projection with a guy like Trout.
574 PA, 83 R, 37 HR, 89 RBI, 8 SB, .265/.357/.552, $13.61 roto value
I’ll say it once again. I would not touch him a five-outfielder league, but I am happy to take him in a three-outfielder league where the replacement level is high.
Logan O’Hoppe
Age: 25
Pos: C
O’Hoppe was my favorite late-round catcher pick in 2024, and I can’t say that it worked as well as I hoped for.
522 PA, .242/.301/.407, .708 OPS, 29.7% K%, 6.3% BB%, 20 HR, 2 SB
The reason I liked him so much after that 2023 campaign was the classic combination I’m always looking for
→ Low K%
→ High Brl%
Both of those went in the wrong direction in 2024.
K%: 24% → 30%
Brl%: 15.6% → 12.0%
I suppose it’s not a surprise that pitchers were able to adjust and handle him better, and there was probably some small-sample randomness in that 2023 season with just the 200 PAs.
But look, we’re talking about a catcher here. He was one of just eight catchers to hit at least 20 homers. He had the eighth-highest xwOBA of the bunch, and he was also in the top ten in playing time with 520 PAs.
Playing time is key for catchers. There are plenty of these guys that can hit, but there are fewer that can hit and also play 130+ games. O’Hoppe did just that last year with 121 starts at catcher and six more at DH.
Willie Calhoun was the most common DH for the Angels last year, starting there 58 times. He’s a free agent now. That’s less important than my point that the Angels don’t have a clear-cut DH right now, so you could see O’Hoppe play there more often when he needs a break from behind the plate.
I wrote that paragraph before the Soler and d’Arnaud acquisitions. Both of those signings reduced O’Hoppe’s chances of DHing a bunch next year, so keep that in mind.
The bottom line is that O’Hoppe is very young and has undoubted power in the bat. The launch angle profile was very strong (38% GB%, 26% LD%, 29% FB%, 44% Sweet Spot%), and the exit velocity is above where we need it to be (that 105 90th-percentile mark).
O’Hoppe has a real 30-homer upside if he can knock a few points off of the strikeout rate, which I believe he can do. I think he has a top-five upside at the position, so I’ll be pretty aggressive on him this year.
Rank
Catchers are always tricky to rank because how you approach the position is so league-dependent. I attack the position much differently, depending on the league settings. So, I prefer to just rank catchers among other catchers; it’s much tougher to integrate them with the rest of the positions. I could not find a worthwhile catcher on our first three teams, so O’Hoppe is our first #1.
Projection
495 PA, 60 R, 25 HR, 68 RIB, 2 SB, .255/.316/.475, $9.76 roto value
Nolan Schanuel
Age: 23
Pos: 1B
Schanuel inspired this analysis piece, so check that out if you missed it.
Let me get right into that angle since I linked to it. Schanuel’s hitting profile is nice:
K%: 17%
BB%: 11%
Contact%: 86%
Launch Angle: 9.9°
Sweet Spot: 38%
GB%: 46%
LD%: 28%
FB%: 23%
% of Barrels Pulled: 73%
His launch angle profile is very impressive. This is a professional hitter. It’s hard to get this many balls into this angle range, especially with such a high contact rate.
All of this from such a young player would have me very excited. But this this happens:
He’s down there with the Adam Frazier’s and Steven Kwan’s of the world.
It’s very bad.
My original thought was this: Schanuel has the K% and launch angle stuff figured out; if he can just raise that exit velo a couple of points, he’ll have a huge season.
But now, after doing the analysis linked above, I’m 90% sure he can’t raise that exit velocity a couple of points. And honestly, he has to raise it by more than a couple of points to get into really great territory.
He hit just 13 homers in a full season in 2024 and maxed out at 106 miles per hour. The way he hit homers was by pulling fly balls and presumedly getting a lot of backspin.
He maxed out at 103.9 miles per hour and 410 feet of distance.
His launch angle profile was so clean that I doubt he can repeat that. I think he’s just as likely to hit fewer homers next year than to hit more. That’s where I’m at with the guy.
I have a lot of belief in young hitters being able to fix up their launch angle profile. We see all the time that young hitters come in and post high ground ball rates in their first year or two and then slowly improve on that. We see that less often with the launch velocity. Schanuel can’t improve on the launch angle stuff. So it’s bad news for his prospects of potentially hitting 20 homers next year. I’m pretty sure he can’t do it.
The good news is that what he can do is hit for a high batting average and on-base percentage in the middle of a lineup that shouldn’t be completely awful. I could see a .290 season with 75+ RBI and a .350+ OBP. That puts him in play at the end of 12-team league drafts, I think.
Ranks
I went back and forth between Schanuel and McMahon. They’re pretty similar. McMahon has a 5-10 homer advantage, but Schanuel has the batting average and 10-15 steal upside, so he gets the nod.
Projection
608 PA, 67 R, 12 HR, 69 RBI, 9 SB, .258/.359/.378, $4.35 roto value
Zach Neto
Age: 24
Pos: SS
UPDATE: I did not realize the severity of Neto’s late-season shoulder injury. He had surgery to repair his shoulder in early November and is now at risk of missing the beginning of the season. Not only do we have to dock his playing time, there are also real concerns about his performance following this surgery. I’ve moved him down significantly in my ranks and updated the projection.
Neto was one of the few bright spots for the Angels in 2024. He debuted back in 2023 at a very young age and right away proved that he could hang in the Majors. He improved significantly in 2024, finishing with this line:
602 PA, .249/.318/.443, .761 OPS, 23 HR, 23% K%, 6.5% BB%, 30 SB
Some of those marks of improvement:
Stat: 2023 → 2024
90th-Percentile EV: 104.3 → 105.2
xBA: .221 → .235
xwOBA: .289 → .319
SLG: .377 → .443
SB Attempt%: 8% → 30%
The K% held steady at 23%, and the barrel rate stayed the same as well at 8.5%. He was remarkably consistent throughout the year:
Solid skills, steady production, and no missed time. Neto volumed himself to a nice 23-30 season.
He did overperform the expected batting average pretty significantly (.249 vs. .235), but the sprint speed (73rd percentile) explains some of that.
Neto is a bit like Schanuel, hitting more of his homers due to launch angle rather than raw exit velocity, but the 90th percentile EV mark lands at 104.7, which is around the middle of the league. So it’s not a huge issue. He also pulled 59% of his barrels, that’s above the league average, so a checkmark there.
The ceiling isn’t through the roof here. I don’t think Neto is going to develop into a Francisco Lindor-type player, but I think there’s still room for improvement, and 2024 was a very good fantasy season for the guy. He was a top fifty hitter on my player rater.
I’m in on Neto. He’ll be a guy I’m willing to target in the middle rounds if I miss out on the elite tier of shortstops.
Ranks
He’s quite similar to Ezequiel Tovar. I think you’ll see those two ranked pretty close on everybody’s list. I prefer Neto there because of the better plate discipline and lower strikeout rate.
(I’ve moved him down to #8 after the updating for the shoulder injury).
Projection
615 PA, 81 R, 25 HR, 81 RBI, 19 SB, .251/.327/.451, $10.39 roto value550 PA, 70 R, 19 HR, 75 RBI, 17 SB, .240/.317/.414, $7.29 roto value
Luis Rengifo
Age: 28
Pos: 2B/3B
Rengifo missed half of the 2024 season with a variety of injuries. On his injury page, we see lightheadedness, infection, wrist, hand, and then wrist again. His season ended on August 2nd, but it was a very impressive half-season:
.300/.347/.417, .763 OPS, 14.5% K%, 5.3% BB%, 6 HR, 41 R, 30 RBI, 24 SB
He scored 2.07 fantasy points per plate appearance (using the DraftKings scoring system). That was in the top 30 league-wide.
Rengifo’s appeal is the multi-positional eligibility and the ability to get the ball in play and do some damage on the bases. The weird part is that his skills look pretty sucky. He had just 37th percentile sprint speed. That was down a bit from the previous year, but he’s never been very fast. He was just incredibly aggressive on the bases. That was a bit of a change as well:
So he stole twice as many bases in 2024 as he did in almost 1,000 plate appearances the previous two years. I am pretty hesitant to expect many steals next year.
He also does not have much raw power in the bat, with a 2.5% Brl% last year. To be fair, he was at 7.5% in 2023 and 5.4% in 2022, so we should expect better things than 3% next year.
I should also mention his .338 BABIP from last year, along with his 55% GB% and his .257 xBA. He was very lucky last season.
So why should we draft Rengifo? I can think of four reasons:
He’ll be very cheap
He should play a ton
He has multi-position eligibility
He has 15-homer, 15-steal upside
There’s a real downside here as well. I could see him being a guy who is bad across the board. The steals and power are both shaky, so we could see a 10-10 season even if he does manage to stay healthy.
I’m out on Rengifo in standard leagues, but I could see myself taking him as a depth option late in one of those crazy deep leagues.
Rank:
He feels pretty similar to Otto Lopez and Connor Norby right now, so he’ll show up around those two Marlins on the list.
Projection
630 PA, 84 R, 17 HR, 73 RBI, 21 SB, .264/.325/.407, $11.14 roto value
Jorge Soler
Age: 33
Pos: OF
The Angels acquired Soler on the first day of the offseason, and he figures to slide right into the cleanup spot for the team. The age is a concern, of course, and we should be downgrading his projections because of that. We have to mention that he’s hit 57 homers over the last two seasons, and that is the 26th-most in baseball over that time. He has done that without killing any fantasy teams in batting average, hitting .244/.338/.475 with his three different teams in these last two seasons.
We know Soler isn’t going to hit .270 or steal bases, so we just need to figure out how many homers he can still manage. Let’s check some trends from his last four seasons:
K%: 23.9% → 29.5% → 24.5% → 25.0%
Brl%: 12.7% → 12.2% → 15.1% → 12.6%
GB%: 41% → 43% → 36% → 38%
xwOBA: .355 → .319 → .372 → .350
It’s all fine there. The bat speed is still there (94th percentile in 2024), he kept hitting a bunch of fly balls, and he did not see a significant increase in strikeout rate.
I think it’s a low-upside pick in 2025. The best you’ll get from Soler is 30 homers, 90 RBI, and a .250 batting average - and that’s very optimistic, I think. He’s not one of these guys that can become one of your best fantasy picks. That said, the price will be cheap, and he should pretty easily clear 25 homers if he remains healthy. He’s a good late-round guy to pick if you slacked in homers early on.
Ranks
He’s feeling pretty similar to Andrew Vaughn and Ryan McMahon as far as the players I have ranked already. I don’t think there are any questions about his playing time, so that helps get him over guys like Connor Norby and Nolan Jones, who could find their way back to AAA if they struggle early on.
Projection
580 PA, 74 R, 27 HR, 80 RBI, 3 SB, .238/.331/.453, $8.99 roto value
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