Moore, 22, was only drafted last summer. On most clubs, that would make him a long shot to crack the major league roster, but the Angels have been very aggressive in promoting their top picks. First baseman Nolan Schanuel was drafted in July of 2023 and was up in the show by the middle of August, just over a month later. Shortstop Zach Neto was drafted in 2022 but was up in the majors less than a year later, getting promoted in mid-April 2023.

Fletcher adds that Moore was almost promoted in September of last year before hurting his knee, so a 2025 debut would appear to be firmly on the table. Selected eighth overall in last year’s draft, he had hit 61 home runs in 186 games over three years at the University of Tennessee, producing a line of .338/.447/.698.

After the draft, the Angels put him into two games at Single-A and then 23 contests at the Double-A level. He hit a combined .347/.400/.584 in those minor league contests. He only played one game in the month of September because of that aforementioned knee injury.

After he recovered, the Angels gave him some work at third base in the instructional league. During his time in Single-A and Double-A, he only played second base. That was his primary position at Tennessee as well, though he did see some limited time at shortstop and in the outfield. He played one game at third base in the Cape Cod League in 2022.

“He plays third base pretty good,” Washington said. “It’s wide open. It’s freelancing at third base. Second base, he’s got to make decisions. That’s what I want to see at second base, the type of decisions he makes. Third base, you do or don’t, you will or you won’t.”

Diversifying his defensive skill set would give Moore another path to the big leagues. The Angels project to have Luis Rengifo as their regular second baseman. He can play other spots but he’s been at the keystone most often. At third base, Anthony Rendon is going to be on the injured list for an extended period of time following hip surgery. The Angels signed Yoán Moncada to take over at the hot corner, though he has an extensive injury history of his own. He has only got into more than 104 games in a season three times in his nine-year career, the most recent instance being back in 2021.

If Moore looks capable of holding down third base and Moncada gets bit by the injury bug again, then perhaps the Angels will give Moore consideration there. Other options would include Kevin Newman or Scott Kingery, who are on the roster, as well as non-roster invitees like J.D. Davis or Tim Anderson. With Rengifo’s ability to move to third, those guys could potentially play second.

Even if Moore takes the third base job at some point this year, that will likely be a short-term proposition. Rengifo is slated for free agency at season’s end. Assuming the Halos still think the keystone is Moore’s long-term home, it should be available to him. Moncada is also on a one-year deal, so taking over third is also possible if they think he’s a better fit there. Rendon is under contract through 2026 but he hasn’t played more than 58 games in a season since 2019 and the Angels don’t seem committed to giving him playing time even when he recovers from his surgery.

Center field will primarily be filled by the Mickey Moniak/Jo Adell pairing. They’d projected as the right field tandem had Trout stayed up the middle. Moniak has been the primary fill-in when Trout has gone on the injured list in recent seasons. Adell only has 15 major league starts in center, but he told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that he’s excited about the opportunity to cover more ground.

Manager Ron Washington said this week that utilityman Luis Rengifo and non-roster invitee Tim Anderson will take some center field reps in camp as well (link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). That’s primarily a means of expanding their versatility rather than an indication that they’re in the mix for regular work on the grass. Anderson has been exclusively a middle infielder, primarily a shortstop, during his professional career. Rengifo has logged a few hundred innings in the corner outfield. His center field experience consists of 22 innings over four games in 2023.

Asked about how they’ll divvy up playing time, Washington indicated that it’ll mostly fall to Moniak and Adell but wouldn’t necessarily be a strict platoon. “I think we’ll just see. We know both of them can play it. And we’re going to really get a good look at Adell down here this spring, where he gets more reps out there. We know Moniak can play it, so we’ll just keep going in Spring Training and see where it shakes out,” the veteran skipper said (via Bollinger).

The lefty-hitting Moniak would get the bulk of playing time if they ran with a simple platoon. He’s probably the best defensive outfielder on the roster and has nearly 1500 career innings in center field. He’s coming off a subpar .219/.266/.380 offensive showing, though. Moniak has a .272 on-base percentage in 908 career plate appearances. The righty-hitting Adell has similar on-base concerns. He’s a career .211/.268/.381 hitter in more than 1000 trips to the plate. Adell popped 20 homers last season but did so with a .280 OBP that landed in the bottom 15 among players with at least 400 PAs.

Rengifo has a much stronger offensive track record. The switch-hitter put up a .300/.347/.417 slash with six homers and 24 stolen bases in 78 games last season. A wrist injury required season-ending surgery in early August, but that marked Rengifo’s second straight impressive year on a rate basis. The bat will keep him in the lineup. The Halos have never really settled on his defensive home, bouncing him around the infield.

Washington told Bollinger and other reporters that he considers third base to be Rengifo’s best position, but free agent signee Yoán Moncada is going to get a lot of run there. Rengifo projects as the season-opening second baseman, but it might not be long before Christian Moore pushes for that job.

Last year’s eighth overall pick, Moore is a bat-first second baseman who hit 34 homers during his draft year at Tennessee. He raked at a .347/.400/.584 clip in 25 games between High-A and Double-A after the draft. While Moore is unlikely to break camp with that little professional experience, the Angels have pushed their top college draftees extremely quickly. Nolan Schanuel was up within a couple months of being drafted. Zach Neto debuted midway through April the year after his selection.

If Moore follows a similar timeline, Rengifo’s center field work this spring could be significant. Depending on Moncada’s performance, third base and center field would be the easiest places to move Rengifo to open the keystone midseason. Rengifo is making $5.95MM for his final arbitration year. He’d be one of the Halos’ better deadline trade chips if they don’t stick in the playoff race.

Moore, 21, has spent the past three years putting up huge numbers at Tennessee. He hit 61 home runs in 186 games over those three campaigns and slashed a combined .338/.447/.698. That includes 34 home runs in 2024 alone, with a monster line of .375/.451/.797 this year.

His power is considered better than his hitting ability, but he made some positive strides in that department lately. He struck out at a 24.3% clip last year but dropped that all the way to 14.5% this year. Defensively, he has played all three outfield spots and the three infield positions to the left of first base, but he’s spent the majority of his time at second base.

Despite the concerning elements of his game, the power is strong enough for him to have been placed highly on pre-draft rankings, though not as high as where he was ultimately selected. Keith Law of The Athletic had him in the #37 slot, FanGraphs at #23, MLB Pipeline at #13, while both Baseball America and ESPN had him at #12. Law expressed skepticism that Moore’s power would hold up with a wooden bat and also suggested his limited defensive abilities would eventually push him to left field. BA expressed optimism that his improved contact would play well with his natural power.

Though Moore was taken eighth overall, his bonus actually falls between the slot value of the 14th and 15th pick, which aligns more closely to his pre-draft rankings. By signing Moore to an underslot deal, the Halos will have some money to work with in signing players taken in later rounds.

How Moore fits into the club’s future will depend on his ultimate defensive home. Players like Luis Rengifo and Brandon Drury have seen most of the playing time at second base in recent years but Drury is an impending free agent while Rengifo is a trade candidate with one arbitration season remaining.

The first-round picks…

1. Cleveland Guardians: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
2. Cincinnati Reds: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
3. Colorado Rockies: Charlie Condon, OF/3B, Georgia
4. Oakland Athletics: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
5. Chicago White Sox: Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
6. Kansas City Royals: Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
7. St. Louis Cardinals: JJ Wetherholt, 2B/SS, West Virginia
8. Los Angeles Angels: Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee
9. Pittsburgh Pirates: Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Jackson Prep High School (MS)
10. Washington Nationals: Seaver King, SS/3B/OF, Wake Forest
11. Detroit Tigers: Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake High School (CA)
12. Boston Red Sox: Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
13. San Francisco Giants: James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State
14. Chicago Cubs: Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State
15. Seattle Mariners: Jurrangelo Cijntje, LHP/RHP, Mississippi State
16. Miami Marlins: PJ Morlando, OF, Summerville High School (SC)
17. Milwaukee Brewers: Braylon Payne, OF, Elkins High School (TX)
18. Tampa Bay Rays: Theo Gillen, OF/MI, Westlake High School (TX)
19. New York Mets: Carson Benge, OF, Oklahoma State
20. Toronto Blue Jays: Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina
21. Minnesota Twins: Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State
22. Baltimore Orioles: Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
23. Los Angeles Dodgers: Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee High School (FL)
24. Atlanta Braves: Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguero High School (AZ)
25. San Diego Padres: Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City High School (OK)
26. New York Yankees: Ben Hess, RHP, Alabama
27. Philadelphia Phillies: Dante Nori, OF, Northville High School (MI)
28. Houston Astros: Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston
29. Arizona Diamondbacks: Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View High School (AR)
30. Texas Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford

All 30 teams will have picks in the first round this year, though the Mets, Padres, and Yankees all had their first-round selections dropped back by 10 slots.  These three teams surpassed the third luxury tax tier ($273MM) in 2023, and thus their punishment included a 10-space drop in their opening draft choice.

The 2024 draft will take place over three days, consisting of 20 rounds of selections.  Rounds 3-10 will take place on Monday, rounds 11-20 will take place on Tuesday, and the draft’s first 74 picks will come off the board tonight.  Those 74 picks consist of the first two proper rounds, the two Competitive Balance Rounds, two sets of compensatory rounds (giving picks to teams who lost qualifying offer-rejecting free agents), and two Prospect Promotion Incentive picks.

The two PPI selections will go to the Diamondbacks at 31st overall and the Orioles at 32nd overall, awarded since Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson fit all of the criteria for their teams to receive the bonus picks.  Carroll and Henderson won Rookie of the Year honors, both young stars were included on their respective teams’ Opening Day rosters, and were rated as top-100 prospects in at least two of three sets of preseason prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and ESPN.