Will the Angels’ Busy Offseason Help Them Make Up Ground?

Kicking off the 2024-25 MLB offseason, there has not been any teams more active than the Los Angeles Angels. Really, there’s not even a close second.

The Angels have busted out of the gate making trades and signing free agents like their lives depend on it. Of course, the major question is whether or not any of these transactions will be needle-movers; or, if you put them all together, do these new faces combine to form a unit that can take this club back to the postseason?

As of right now, the Angels sport MLB’s longest playoff drought. The last time they made the postseason was back in 2014. We’re all well aware of the “are the Angels wasting Mike Trout?” conversation, but there’s no real arguments to be made in their defense because, well, yes they are.

It remains to be seen whether any of their new players are going to be the difference-makers this organization needs, but one thing’s for sure: the 2025 Angels are going to look a whole lot different than the 2024 Angels did.

Right off the bat, there have been quite a few players sent packing from the organization, too, so this is not just an endless pipeline of new ones coming in. Catcher Matt Thaiss, outfielder Jordyn Adams, infielder Eric Wagaman and starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval have all either been traded or cut. Each of them played a role on last year’s team at the big-league level.

Let’s take a look at the Angels’ busy offseason, and whether there’s any hope for them snapping that decade-long drought in the upcoming season.

A Look at the Angels’ Busy Offseason

Jorge Soler Trade

The first major move of the offseason involved the Angels and the Atlanta Braves. Practically right after the World Series ended, Jorge Soler was shipped to the Angels in exchange for starting pitcher Griffin Canning – who has since been non-tendered.

Soler, 32, is an 11-year veteran who has played in over 100 games just five times, but he’s got light-tower power. While he can fake it in the corner outfield, Soler is a designated hitter through and through and will get all of his at-bats there next year.

Few players possess more raw power than Soler does, so his addition is a decent one for the Angels. The past season, he hit 21 home runs and drove in 64 across 142 games split between the Giants and Braves. His 121 OPS+ put him 21% above league-average, so his output speaks for itself.

Soler is under team control through the 2025 and 2026 seasons. He gives the Angels an immediate middle-of-the-order power bat that they’ve desperately needed after finishing 22nd in baseball in home runs this past season.

Scott Kingery Trade

Arguably the biggest lottery-ticket type acquisition of the offseason, Kingery is coming off of a wildly disappointing stint on the Phillies that’s resulted in his banishment to the minor leagues dating back to 2022. He was at one point supposed to be the next big thing in Philadelphia, but he hit just .229 with a 74 OPS+ through 325 games.

The Angels traded for Kingery on Nov. 1 and selected him to their 40-man roster just three days later. The 31-year-old could not be farther from a “sure thing”, but he projects to make the Angels’ Opening Day roster as bench piece as of right now.

Kingery’s value primarily lies in his base-stealing ability and his defensive versatility. He can play all over the infield and also has experience at all three spots in the outfield. On the bases, he swiped 18 bags in 2022, 24 in 2023 and 25 this past season.

Where the Angels may be most intrigued, however, is the power that Kingery has come across recently. In 125 games at the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate this past year, he hit 25 home runs with 67 RBI and an .804 OPS. When you put that all together, it makes up his best season as a pro since 2017.

Kingery is an obvious risk, but the Angels must feel like they have the opportunity to catch lightning in a bottle. If he works out, great. If he can’t get it going at the big-league level, he’s not going to be an expensive player to cut bait with.

Travis d’Arnaud Signing

The Angels did a solid job in inking d’Arnaud to a two-year contract shortly after the offseason kicked off. He’s been a strong oft-used backup on the Braves for the past five years and will now give the Halos a rock-solid backup who can DH or even play first base here and there.

Essentially, the Angels swapped out Thaiss for d’Arnaud, which is a great upgrade. d’Arnaud carries a ton of pop in his bat and has shown that he has what it takes to be successful whenever he’s given playing time. During his stint in Atlanta, he made the All-Star Game when he was the club’s primary backstop in 2022 and then turned in 15 home runs and a 103 OPS+ this past season through 99 games.

Logan O’Hoppe has the catcher position locked down for the foreseeable future, but d’Arnaud is just about as great of a backup as the Angels could’ve gotten this winter, especially with such a weak free-agent class behind the plate.

As of right now, Dario Laverde and Juan Flores are the only two catchers on the Angels’ top-30 prospects list from MLB Pipeline. Neither player has an ETA to the big leagues before 2028, so d’Arnaud for two years and O’Hoppe under contract through 2027 should be more than enough to bridge the gap for the up-and-coming prospects.

Kyle Hendricks Signing

We’re now entering the part of the Angels’ offseason that makes us scratch our heads. Hendricks, an 11-year veteran who just wrapped up a long stint on the Cubs, was the Angels’ first major pitching acquisition of the offseason.

The right-hander turned in a solid showing in 2023 after two seasons of mediocrity, only to follow that up with easily his worst season as a professional in 2024. That’s the last sample the Angels had seen from him prior to inking Hendricks to a one-year, $2.5 million pact.

In nearly every way you look at it, Hendricks’ best days are way, way behind him. He’s made 30 or more starts just one time since 2019 and has gradually begun to strike less batters out while walking more and allowing more hits as the years go by.

In 2024, the right-hander posted a 5.92 ERA, 4.98 FIP and 67 ERA+ through 24 starts and five relief outings. He was demoted to the Cubs’ bullpen for a stretch in May and June but eventually made his return to the starting rotation, only to post a 4.73 ERA through 17 starts upon returning to starting.

The Hendricks signing made no sense right off the bat, and is likely going to be one the Angels regret. There was an obvious need for starting pitching, but the fact that Hendricks was one of their earliest targets is more than a little bit confusing.

Kevin Newman Signing

With the news that Zach Neto may miss some time to kick off the 2025 campaign, it was only a matter of time before the Angels found an external candidate that can play shortstop. Less than a week later, slick-fielding Kevin Newman was joining the club on a one-year pact with a club option for a second season.

Newman, 31, can bounce around the infield and has a decent-but-not-great bat to go along with his defensive chops. There’s not much to rely on offensively, but he’s an excellent fielder at multiple spots around the infield, including shortstop.

This past season, the journeyman made it into 111 games for the Diamondbacks, hitting .278 with three home runs, 28 RBI and a 91 OPS+. Defensively, he was worth 1.4 dWAR while playing all four spots around the infield, predominantly at second base and shortstop.

Newman finished the year with a 91st percentile ranking in Outs Above Average, but he was in just the 27th percentile in Arm Strength. This doesn’t scream “everyday shortstop”, but his range makes him a solid fit at the position, at least until Neto makes his return.

Yusei Kikuchi Signing

Far and away the biggest and most impactful acquisition of the offseason so far for these Angels is the three-year deal they landed Kikuchi on. The left-hander look so-so for the Blue Jays through the first half of this past season but he hit the turbo in the second-half for the Astros and got paid for that alone.

After being traded from Toronto to Houston at the deadline, Kikuchi turned in 10 outstanding starts for the Angels’ AL West rivals. He posted a 2.70 ERA and 147 ERA+ through 60 innings, striking out over 11 batters per nine innings and allowing over three hits less per-nine than he did in Toronto earlier in the year.

In swiping Kikuchi out from under the Astros, the Angels may have pulled off a major heist here if he can continue to build off of the momentum he showed this past year. He’ll immediately slot in near the top of the Angels’ rotation alongside Jose Soriano and Tyler Anderson.

But Is It Enough?

The Kikuchi signing alone is enough to show that the Angels mean business. Outside of his acquisition, it feels like the organization has been going for more quantity than quality, which doesn’t bode well for ending that dreadful playoff drought.

When putting each move alongside the other, the Angels have essentially done the following: added a proven home run hitter, brought aboard two versatile infielders, added the backup catcher they’ve needed and addressed two holes in their starting rotation.

The quality of the vast majority of these players isn’t quite where Angels fans would like it to be, which is understandable. An early-offseason splash in the form of signing Kevin Newman and Kyle Hendricks isn’t quite the knock-your-socks-off type of move that’d get people excited.

As of right now, no, these moves are nowhere close to enough. The Angels have the payroll capacity to keep going, and they’re going to need to do just that if there’s going to be any hope.

For the vast majority of this past season, the AL West was wide open. No team had what it took to pull far ahead of the others in the standings, but the Astros and Mariners were the two that finally took charge as the season wore on.

The Rangers are not done putting a contending team out there either. The Angels have their work cut out for them, but this gap is far from insurmountable.

What Remains on the To-Do List?

Three things stand out above the rest on the Angels’ remaining to-do list this winter.

First and foremost, they’ve got to move on from and replace Anthony Rendon at third base. The sad truth here is that the Angels could bring 48-year-old Troy Glaus, who played third base for them from 1998-2005, out of retirement and he’d likely outperform Rendon.

Rendon has been under contract with the Angels since 2020 and has yet to play in over 57 games for the Halos. He’s been an “okay” contributor when he’s taken the field (outside of his 2024 showing), but that’s been the exact issue. He’s still locked up through the 2026 season, but the Angels’ best move here is to cut bait.

Second, the club needs to address the bullpen, which is the only spot on their roster that’s been untouched so far. Carlos Estevez and Jeff Hoffman both make all the sense in the world to be brought in on a multi-year pact.

The third and final move to be made here is the largest by far. Using any of their prospects to make the deal work, the Angels need to swing big and trade for Garrett Crochet from the White Sox.

This is an extremely bold move to ask for, but the Angels have refused to embrace a rebuild for years now, and they don’t seem to be changing their stance on that anytime soon. If that’s truly the case and they’d like to contend next year, there’s no need to function as a prospect-hugging organization.

Any prospects of value need to be on the table in talks with Chicago. Like I said previously, the Angels need to push the pedal to the metal and prove that they mean business and that they’re here to stay.