Playing GM: 4 Moves To Complete the Angels Roster for 2026
The Angels need to improve their pitching depth and defense. Here are four moves that will help L.A. prevent runs this coming season.
The Los Angeles Angels kicked off their offseason by trading outfielder Taylor Ward to the Baltimore Orioles for the talented but oft-injured starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez. A couple of weeks later, they added another high-upside right-hander starter whose career has been derailed by injury, Alek Manoah.
Since then, they’ve made several additions to their bullpen, signing Drew Pomeranz, Kirby Yates, and Jordan Romano to join a group that will be led by a hopefully healthy Robert Stephenson (and possibly a healthy Ben Joyce too).
There’s now a world in which L.A.’s pitching staff is a real asset in 2026. Of course, that will require a lot of things to go right. Rodriguez, Stephenson, and Joyce need to stay healthy. Manoah, Yates, and Romano need to bounce back. Reid Detmers needs to prove he can make the transition back to the rotation.
Still, the point is, it’s possible. And if the Angels can add some reliable depth and improve their defense, that would only increase the chances of their run prevention unit becoming a legitimate strength.
The following four moves come from a conversation between Peter Appel and Aram Leighton on a recent episode of the Just Baseball Show. They came up with one starter, one reliever, and two strong defenders the Angels could bring in to complete their offseason. Let’s talk about those moves.
Sign Harrison Bader To Play Center Field
- Projected contract: Two years, $25 million
- 2025 stats: 146 G, 501 PA, 17 HR, 122 wRC+, 11 SB, 6 OAA, 3.2 fWAR
Jo Adell played 89 games in center field for the Angels last season. That can’t happen again. In about half a season’s worth of games, Adell cost his club 13 runs according to DRS and 8 according to FRV.
Mike Trout’s days as a center fielder are behind him, and the same should be true for Adell. That leaves… Bryce Teodosio? Kyren Paris? Matthew Lugo? Wade Meckler?
I can’t even choose someone to name as L.A.’s placeholder in center field right now. That’s how badly the Angels need Harrison Bader.
Bader is coming off what was arguably the best season of his career in 2025. He set new career-highs in home runs, RBI, OPS, and wRC+ while continuing to play his typically excellent defense.
The former Gold Glover shifted into left field with the Twins in deference to Byron Buxton, but he moved back to center field following a mid-season trade to the Phillies. Altogether, he produced 13 DRS, 6 OAA, and a 5 FRV in the outfield.
If Bader repeats his 2025 season, he’s a steal at two years and $25 million. Yet, even if his offense regresses to a below-average level, which seems likely, Bader would still be a valuable upgrade for this Angels team.
Sign Zack Littell
- Projected contract: Two years, $24 million
- 2025 stats: 32 GS, 186.2 IP, 3.81 ERA, 4.42 xERA, 1.5 fWAR
Zack Littell has made 72 starts since the Rays made him a starter mid-way through 2023. He ranks among the league’s top 20 pitchers in starts and innings in that span. His 3.72 ERA is solid, though it belies a 4.32 xERA and 4.37 FIP.
Littell isn’t a pitcher you want starting for your team in a postseason series, but he’s the type of pitcher every team needs in order to survive the regular season and make it to said postseason series.
The Angels, in particular, could use an arm like Littell.
Rodriguez, Detmers, and Manoah currently occupy the three through five spots in the starting rotation. All three of them could be great for the Angels. All three of them could also give the Angels absolutely nothing. Keep in mind, none of those three pitchers started a major league game in 2025.
The Angels already have upside on their pitching staff. What they need now is a higher floor. Enter Littell.
Trade for Ryan McMahon
- Angels get: Ryan McMahon, $7 million
- Yankees get: Ryan Zeferjahn
- McMahon’s 2025 stats: 154 G, 586 PA, 20 HR, 86 wRC+, 3 SB, 6 OAA, 1.9 fWAR
Now that the Angels have resolved their Anthony Rendon dilemma, they need a new third baseman.
Trade acquisition Vaughn Grissom has played the position in the minors, but he’s a better fit at second base. Former top prospect Christian Moore is also a second baseman, and he struggled badly at the plate in 2025.
When the hosts of the JB Show were playing GM for the Cardinals, they had Nolan Arenado going to the Angels. It made sense.
The Angels are the only team known to have expressed interest in trading for him, and perhaps he’d be willing to waive his no-trade clause to return to Southern California, where he was born and raised.
Yet, maybe the Angels would prefer Arenado’s successor in Colorado to Arenado himself.
Both are under contract for two more years. Both are defense-first players with some pop. But McMahon swings the bat faster, hits the ball harder, and consistently draws his walks. He also has not been on the injured list since 2019, and he’s three and a half years younger than Arenado.
There’s no small chance he’s the better player in 2026, and I’d go so far as to say he’s likely to be the better player in 2027, when Arenado will be 36 years old.
Moreover, in McMahon’s case, the Angels wouldn’t have to worry about a no-trade clause complicating anything.
In this mock trade scenario, we have the Yankees paying off $7 million of the $32 million left on McMahon’s contract, so the Angels are essentially getting him for two years and $25 million. In exchange, they’re sending righty reliever Ryan Zeferjahn to New York.
Zeferjahn has great stuff, though he struggles to throw it in the zone. This is primarily a salary dump for the Yankees, but the return isn’t nothing. Zeferjahn is a project that could yield fantastic results if New York’s coaching staff can find a way to improve his control.
Sign Brent Suter
- Projected contract: One year, $1.14159 million
- 2025 stats: 48 G, 67.2 IP, 4.52 ERA, 4.08 xERA, 0.1 fWAR
Brent Suter, like Zack Littell, is a floor-raising veteran with a long track record of eating innings. He has thrown at least 65 innings in each of the last five seasons, often working in a low-leverage, long relief role.
Since he became a reliever in 2019, Suter owns a 3.39 ERA, and last year marked the first time he’s had an ERA over 4.00 since his final season as a starter in 2018.
The Angels have plenty of options for the late innings, but every one of them has struggled with injuries and/or inconsistency in recent years. If they sign Suter, he isn’t going to challenge for saves, but it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see him finish with more innings pitched than anyone else in this bullpen.
Simply put, if you can get 65 MLB-quality innings for under $1.5 million (in this case, Peter suggested $1.14159 million, in a nod to π) and you have the roster spot to spare, there’s really no reason not to do it.
Written by
Leo Morgenstern is one of the managing editors for Just Baseball. He is also the managing editor at Jays Centre. His writing has appeared all over…