Angels GM Perry Minasian spoke to reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) today about the club’s disappointing 2025 season, as well plans for the future of the club. Much of the conversation was focused on the decision to move on from both manager Ron Washington and interim manager Ray Montgomery in the dugout and search for a new skipper to lead the club. While Minasian didn’t tip his hand much on the club’s managerial search beyond noting that they’d like to find a new voice in the dugout sooner rather than later, he did make a number of intriguing comments about the state of the team headed into the offseason.
With Kyle Hendricks and Tyler Anderson both headed into free agency this offseason while Anaheim’s array of young pitching arms have yet to establish themselves as viable regular starters, Minasian suggested that there are three pitchers he has penciled into next year’s rotation: Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Soriano, and Reid Detmers. Kikuchi and Soriano are hardly surprising as both veterans turned in perfectly solid season in the rotation and remain under control for next year. Detmers, by contrast, is something of a surprise given his rocky tenure in the organization. The lefty was once among the game’s very best pitching prospects and pitched quite well in the rotation from 2022 to ’23 after a shaky debut in 2021.
Things changed last year when he was torched to the tune of a 6.70 ERA in 17 starts and spent much of the season in the minors. This year, Detmers pitched out of the bullpen and enjoyed a solid enough season where he posted a 3.96 ERA with a 3.12 FIP across 63 2/3 innings of work. While that role of single-inning reliever mostly worked out for the lefty, the Angels will now have him try his hand at starting once again. Minasian suggested he’s “earned” a spot in the rotation and that Detmers was “a different guy” last time he pitched as a starter for the club. While it may seem unorthodox to put Detmers back into a role he struggled in after he found success in the bullpen, it’s worth noting that the Angels did the same thing with Soriano to some success. The right-hander hadn’t made even 10 starts at any level since his stint at Single-A in 2019 when the club decided to put him in last year’s rotation, and he’s turned out quite well in that role.
With Detmers and Soriano joining Kikuchi in the rotation next year, that leaves two spots left unsettled. Caden Dana, Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri, and Jack Kochanowicz all pitched as starters in the majors for the club this year and remain young and at least somewhat intriguing, but none posted an ERA lower than 6.40 at the big league level this season and all four can be optioned to the minors, making them perhaps best served as depth options to protect against injury. Perhaps the club could invest in the rotation via free agency this winter, but the club’s budget remains a mystery. When asked by reporters about the club’s payroll flexibility this winter, Minasian said (as relayed by Sam Blum of The Athletic) that he and owner Arte Moreno “haven’t gotten into” the details about the club’s budget for next year.
It stands to reason at least some money will be available given that RosterResource projects the club for just $129MM in salary for next year, more than $75MM below where they were this year. Of course, arbitration salaries for both pricey veterans like Taylor Ward as well as first-time eligible players like Logan O’Hoppe and Zach Neto could make up some of that difference in a hurry, so it’s unclear whether or not Anaheim will be able to shop at the top of the market for arms like Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, and Zac Gallen. This year’s crop of starting pitchers is somewhat thin after that top layer, but there are some solid back-of-the-rotation types like Zack Littell and Adrian Houser available as well.
Turning towards the positional side of things, Minasian made clear that the club plans to try and upgrade both center field and third base this winter. That’s not necessarily a surprise given Bryce Teodosio’s lackluster performance at the plate, Yoan Moncada’s impending free agency, and the fact that (according to Fletcher) Anthony Rendon hasn’t yet resumed baseball activities after undergoing surgery earlier this year. Minasian suggested the club also hopes to get more left-handed in the lineup and that Christian Moore would be in competition for a spot in the lineup, which would logically mean there’s room for an addition at second base as well. Aside from simply reuniting with Moncada or Luis Rengifo, the pickings in free agency for left-handed or switch-hitting infielders are somewhat slim. Jorge Polanco would be the cream of the crop if he can return to playing the field regularly, with Adam Frazier, Cavan Biggio, and Willi Castro joining Moncada and Rengifo among the next tier of options.
The idea of making a splash by adding a lefty-swinging center fielder is far more plausible with both Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger likely ticketed for free agency coming off strong seasons, not to mention the availability of Cedric Mullins. Adding one of those three players (or someone similar) becomes harder to imagine when you consider the state of the club’s outfield mix, however. Minasian suggested that the Angels hope to get Mike Trout back into the outfield next year, but that would be a corner outfield capacity rather than moving him back to center.
Jorge Soler is under contract for next year and would be ticketed for regular at-bats at DH, and Minasian suggested that Jo Adell is an option in center field but the club would prefer to leave him in a corner. Taylor Ward enjoyed his best season since 2022 this year while playing exclusively left field. Given that logjam of right-handed outfield bats, it stands to reason that an addition to the outfield mix would either need to be a complementary player who shares time with Adell in center or be paired with a move to deal away one of the team’s other outfielders, though Trout obviously isn’t going anywhere and Soler likely has little value after an injury-marred season. Making a trade to clear room to bring in a free agent center fielder would likely stretch the club’s budget, of course, but perhaps the trade return for someone like Ward or Adell could address a need elsewhere on the roster to lighten that blow.