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.

9:28am: Yesterday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link) reported that the Angels seemed to be close to trading an outfielder. Nothing has come together yet but it’s possible that talks are still ongoing. It wasn’t specified which outfielder they were about to trade but Feinsand suggested that Taylor Ward would make sense since there have been rumors of other clubs being interested in him. However, Ward’s agent Joel Wolfe told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (X link) that he hadn’t heard anything about trade talks involving his client. That doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t discussions happening but members of the Atlanta beat like David O’Brien of The Athletic (X link) and Mark Bowman of MLB.com (X link) both report that, if there is an imminent Ward trade, it won’t be to Atlanta.

Ward has seemed like a logical trade candidate for a while now. As the Angels have struggled to compete in recent years, there has been natural speculation about the veteran players on the roster with shrinking windows of club control. Ward will be celebrating his 31st birthday this Saturday and can be retained via arbitration for two more seasons.

If the Angels were pivoting towards a sort of reset, it would make sense to trade Ward for younger and more controllable players. However, despite just losing 99 games in the most recent season, the Halos are clearly trying to contend in 2025. Both owner Arte Moreno and general manager Perry Minasian made it clear that was the plan for this winter and they have backed that up, acquiring Yusei Kikuchi, Jorge Soler, Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Hendricks and others already.

In that context, trading Ward becomes a bit more difficult to see. The outfield is already a fairly thin part of the roster, consisting of Ward, Mike Trout, Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak and perhaps Soler. Trout has become increasingly injury prone in recent years, having not played 120 games in a season since 2019. Soler is a poor defender and best suited to be the designated hitter more often than not. Adell and Moniak still have poor offensive track records overall.

Subtracting Ward from that group would make it even flimsier but clubs would certainly be interested if he were available. He has hit .259/.338/.440 over the past four years for a wRC+ of 118, indicating he’s been 18% better than the league average hitter in that time. His defense has also been graded around league average or above, allowing him to play at a pace of about two to four wins above replacement per year, according to FanGraphs.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Ward for a $9.2MM salary in 2025, a notable sum but still a bargain for a player like Ward. Free agent corner outfielders like Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernández are likely to command multi-year contracts with average annual values double that. Ward would be in line for a raise in 2026, his final season before free agency, but that figure would still be a good deal if he continues to produce at his usual rates.

A trade coming together would naturally depend on what other clubs are willing to offer. Perhaps the Angels get offered some big league pitching or infield help that they feel is worth taking, but they would then have to pivot to replacing Ward in the outfield mix. The Pirates and Royals were both connected to Ward at the trade deadline with Kansas City reportedly still interested in him as of last month, though the Angels haven’t let go of him yet.

Some fans might hear about the Angels potentially trading an outfielder and jump to Trout but it’s hard to imagine a trade like that coming out of the blue. He has a full no-trade clause and has repeatedly said that he wants to stay and win with the Angels. It’s possible that he changes his mind at some point but there’s hasn’t been any public suggestion that has happened.

His contract is also hard to move from a financial perspective. Trout is paid at superstar rates but hasn’t been able to provide that production in a while. He’s always good when he’s on the field but hasn’t been out there enough to accrue counting stats at his previous levels. He’s set to make $35.45MM annually for another six seasons. Even for a marquee name like Trout, that’s a lot of money for a guy who’s now 33 years old with mounting injury concerns.

Even if Trout wanted to be traded, it would be a tricky spot for the Halos since they would likely have to settle for a middling return on a franchise player or eat money just to get a notable package, which isn’t a great P.R. position either way.

It’s also possible Moniak or Adell are the ones being discussed, though neither would have huge value right now. Moniak has stepped to the plate 908 times in the majors thus far with a .230/.272/.402 batting line and 32.3% strikeout rate. Adell has hit .211/.268/.381 in his career with a 32.2% strikeout rate.

It’s possible to see some improvement from Adell in 2024, as he popped 24 home runs while lowering his strikeout rate to 27.9%. His overall production was still subpar but his .244 batting average on balls in play was well below league average. It’s possible he took a meaningful step forward this past year and will break out with better luck in 2025 but he’s floundered so many times that teams might be reluctant to bet on that.

Suarez, 26, signed with the Angels as an international free agent just over ten years ago. He has pitched for the big league club in each of the past six seasons. He was a solid contributor in 2021 and ’22, pitching a total of 207 1/3 innings over 45 games (34 starts) with a 3.86 ERA and 4.16 SIERA. However, he lost most of his 2023 season to a shoulder injury, and he was ultimately DFA’d this past June after a poor start to his 2024 campaign. Over 35 1/3 innings, the southpaw gave up 34 runs (32 earned) on 44 hits and 22 walks.

After clearing waivers, Suarez accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, where he has pitched to an unsightly 6.54 ERA and 5.10 FIP over 11 starts. While his results have been poor, he offers the Angels a much-needed fresh arm for the bullpen. Top prospect Caden Dana only recorded three outs in his second career start on Sunday, and the bullpen was forced to pitch the rest of the game. Crouse, who was recalled yesterday, tossed 1 1/3 innings in that 7-4 loss to the Rangers, walking two and striking out one.

Adell, 25, landed on the 10-day IL over the weekend with a left oblique strain. By moving him to the 60-day IL with just three weeks left to go in the regular season, the Angels have officially ended his 2024 campaign. The former top prospect seemed to be enjoying a long-awaited breakout over the first eight weeks of the season, but he had since fallen back to earth. Over his last 90 games, Adell was batting .190 with a .611 OPS and 70 wRC+. He will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this coming offseason.

It’s not yet clear how long either Pillar or Adell is expected to be out, but absences of any significance are likely to spell the end of the season for the hitters with just three weeks left in the 2024 campaign and the Angels set to miss the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season. If Pillar doesn’t return this season, it’s possible that means he’s already played his final MLB game given that he acknowledged back in July that he’s likely to retire following this season.

The 35-year-old veteran has enjoyed his best offensive season in a 162-game campaign since 2015 by measure of wRC+ as he’s hit a decent .242/.298/.392 in 93 games between the White Sox and Angels this year, including a fantastic 145 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. In addition to Pillar’s excellent numbers against southpaws, he’s played solid defense at all three outfield spots and chipped in ten steals in 13 attempts on the basepaths. Should Pillar not return to the field this season and decide to retire, he’ll finish his 12-year career with a .256/.294/.408 slash line with 1042 hits, 113 homers, and 106 steals.

As for Adell, the 25-year-old was a big league regular for the first time since he made his debut back in 2020 this year, acting as the Halos’ everyday right fielder. Unfortunately, the tenth overall pick of the 2017 draft and former top prospect left much to be desired with his performance in that first taste of regular playing time. The youngster got off to a hot start early in the season with a .234/.301/.516 slash line in his first 43 games year, but in 87 games since then he’s hit a paltry .195/.270/.350 with as many home runs (10) in his final 307 trips to the plate as he had in his first 144 plate appearances this year. While his overall wRC+ of 89 is an improvement over his career 70 wRC+ entering the year, it’s still both a major disappointment for a player who was once a consensus top-5 prospect in the game and a far cry from the production expected from an everyday corner outfielder.

Replacing Adell and Pillar on Anaheim’s big league roster are Adams and Teodosio. The Angels’ first-round pick in the 2018 draft, Adams made his big league debut last year with a 17-game cup of coffee where he hit just .128/.125/.128 with a 40% strikeout rate in 40 trips to the plate. Following that lackluster debut, Adams has struggled at the Triple-A level this year with a .261/.333/.386 line in 549 trips to the plate, good for a wRC+ of just 81 in the Pacific Coast League this year. Despite that lackluster production in the minors this year, the 24-year-old will now get another taste of big league action down the stretch in hopes of establishing himself as a potential big league option for the Halos in 2025.

As for Teodosio, the 25-year-old Clemson product signed with the club as a undrafted free agent back in 2021 and worked his way up the minor league ladder to reach the Triple-A level this year. In 114 games at the level this season, Teodosio has slashed .276/.339/.418 with an 89 wRC+ with similar overall numbers to those of Adams, though he’s managed to separate himself a bit with an excellent 40-for-44 record on the basepaths. With Teodosio now poised to make his big league debut when he first makes it into a game, he’ll join Adams in the club’s outfield down the stretch alongside Taylor Ward and Mickey Moniak in hopes of making enough of an impression to be looked at as an option in the outfield headed into next year.

Making room for Teodosio on the 40-man roster is Soriano, whose season is now over after being transferred to the 60-day IL. As noted by Sam Blum of The Athletic, Angels brass indicated that Soriano has not suffered a setback and is dealing with the same arm fatigue issue that initially sent him to the IL in mid-August. The 25-year-old hurler moved to the rotation in 2024 after pitching in relief during his rookie season last year. With a 3.42 ERA and 3.82 FIP in 113 innings of work, Soriano generally impressed with his work out of the rotation this year and appears likely to head into Spring Training next year with the inside track toward a 2025 rotation job.

Adell had been on the IL with an oblique strain since the All-Star break. After a particularly disappointing 2022 season, the former top prospect spent the first half of the 2023 campaign at Triple-A, where he posted a .956 OPS and a 121 wRC+. He earned the call back to the big leagues in early July following Mike Trout’s hamate fracture, but he only managed to play four games before landing on the IL himself. With 12 games left on the schedule, he will have a brief opportunity to impress the Angels brass before the offseason.

Paris felt soreness in his left thumb ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Tigers, and it has since been diagnosed as a torn ligament. With so little time remaining in the season, his placement on the 60-day IL is hardly more than a formality; the Angels will have to add him back to the 40-man roster during the offseason.

However, the season-ending injury comes as particularly disappointing news for Paris, who was enjoying his first taste of big league action at just 21 years old. Selected out of high school in the second round of the 2019 draft, he has quickly risen through the ranks in the Angels system. After a strong 2023 campaign at Double-A with the Rocket City Trash Pandas, he bypassed Triple-A and earned a major league call-up when rosters expanded on September 1. While the youngster struggled to adjust to big league pitching (he slashed .100/.200/.100 in 15 games), he showed off his versatility across the diamond, taking reps at shortstop, second base, and center field. Paris currently ranks as the no. 5 prospect in the organization, per MLB Pipeline. He will retain his prospect status next season. 

Adams, the Angels no. 15 prospect according MLB Pipeline, has appeared in 17 games at the MLB level, slashing .128/.125/.128 in 40 trips to the plate. He will be replaced on the active roster by Stefanic, who has been on fire this season at Triple-A, posting a .930 OPS and a 139 wRC+. With Adell returning and Paris headed to the IL, it’s no surprise the Angels have swapped out Adams, an outfielder, for Stefanic, an infielder.

• The Angels selected outfielder Jordyn Adams onto the big league roster while transferring Jo Adell and Sam Bachman to the 60-day injured list. The 17th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Adams is set for his major league debut. The 23-year-old outfielder is hitting .264/.351/.466 through 389 plate appearances with Triple-A Salt Lake. Strikeout issues have knocked down his former top prospect stock, but he’s capable of playing center field and has stolen 37 bases in 42 attempts this year.
• The Pirates selected infielder Vinny Capra. Pittsburgh acquired the 27-year-old for catcher Tyler Heineman in a minor swap with the Blue Jays at the end of April. His big league experience consists of eight games with Toronto last season. The right-handed hitter owns a massive .350/.457/.485 showing with more walks than strikeouts over 34 games at Triple-A Indianapolis for the Bucs.
• The Mets selected Rafael Ortega. Signed to a minor league deal in mid-June, the lefty-hitting outfielder returns to the big leagues for a seventh season. Ortega hit .265/.344/.408 for the Cubs between 2021-22. He owns a .228/.352/.388 line between two Triple-A affiliates this season. The 32-year-old will be eligible for arbitration after the season if he finished the year on the MLB roster.

Injured List Transactions

• Rockies reinstated Tyler Kinley from 60-day IL
• Yankees transferred Jose Trevino to 60-day IL
• Blue Jays reinstated Hyun Jin Ryu from 60-day IL, transferred Otto Lopez to 60-day IL

In corresponding moves, the Halos placed Anthony Rendon, Jo Adell and Sam Bachman on the IL. All three placements are retroactive to July 11. The position players will be eligible to return a week from now, while Bachman is out until at least July 26. In a final transaction, infielder David Fletcher has already cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster to clear a spot for Cabbage.

On the positive side, Cabbage gets his first MLB look. The left-handed hitter was a fourth round selection of the Twins out of a Tennessee high school back in 2015. He played in the Minnesota system through 2021, topping out at Double-A. After becoming a minor league free agent, he joined the Halos.

Cabbage has spent the entire season at Triple-A Salt Lake. He has demonstrated interesting physical tools, connecting on 23 home runs and stealing 24 bases in 84 games. Even in the Pacific Coast League, his .287/.358/.576 batting line is better than average. He and Adell share the league lead in homers, and he’s fifth among 68 PCL hitters (minimum 200 plate appearances) in slugging.

He’ll add a left-handed power bat to Phil Nevin’s bench. Cabbage has gone down on strikes at a lofty 31.3% clip in Triple-A and has posted elevated strikeout totals throughout his career. The swing-and-miss has kept him from reaching the majors before his 26th birthday, but the huge power production in the upper minors earns him a look.

Cabbage is the latest member of an Angels’ infield that has gone through numerous recent iterations. Injuries to Neto, Gio Urshela and Rendon led the club to acquire Mike Moustakas and Eduardo Escobar. Neto is back at shortstop tonight after a month-long absence because of an oblique strain. That pushes Andrew Velazquez to the bench, while Luis Rengifo draws in at third base.

Rendon is dealing with a left shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg a week ago. He told reporters the injury hasn’t healed as hoped and declined to answer when asked if he was engaged in any baseball activities (via Sam Blum of the Athletic). Adell has a left oblique strain. Bachman has inflammation in his throwing shoulder; Nevin told reporters he’ll be shut down for a brief period but isn’t expected to require a long-term absence (relayed by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).

Neto’s return squeezed Fletcher off the roster for the second time this season. The Halos also ran him through waivers in April. They re-selected his contract in late June but sent him back down after 11 games. Fletcher has gotten into 19 MLB contests on the season, hitting .213/.245/.298. He’s been far better in Salt Lake, putting up a .383/.431/.478 slash with more walks than strikeouts over 197 plate appearances.

Fletcher is making $6MM this season and under contract for the same amount through 2025. The $24MM extension he’d signed two years ago has given him ample financial security but ensured the Angels can send him through waivers without losing him. No other team is going to assume that money on a claim.

The latest demotion is timed so that the Halos can keep Fletcher in the organization as a non-roster player. He entered the season 61 days shy of the five-year MLB service threshold. He has picked up around 39 more days this year. Players with over five years of service time can decline a minor league assignment while retaining their entire contract; those with between three and five years would need to forfeit their guaranteed money to do so. Fletcher certainly isn’t going to pass on the money remaining on his deal, so the preemptive outright before he gets to five service years will keep him in Salt Lake.

July 4: The Angels announced that Mike Trout has been placed on the injured list with a left hamate fracture. Right-hander Víctor Mederos was also optioned to Double-A Rocket City. In corresponding moves, outfielder Jo Adell and right-hander Gerardo Reyes were recalled.

The club has yet to provide any kind of estimate timeline on Trout but an absence from a hamate fracture is typically measured in weeks. For example, Mariners outfielder Taylor Trammell was diagnosed with a hamate fracture in February with a provided seven-week timeline for his recovery and he began a rehab assignment two months later. Andrew Benintendi suffered the same injury at the start of September while with the Yankees last year and never returned, despite the Yanks making it to the ALCS and playing until October 23. Each player and injury is different, but it seems reasonable to expect Trout will be out of action for roughly six to eight weeks.

Obviously, this is a tremendous blow for the Angels on a number of fronts. Trout has been one of the better players in baseball for over a decade now, having already won three Most Valuable Player awards and a litany of other accolades. He’s hit .301/.412/.582 in his career for a wRC+ of 170 while stealing 206 bases and providing excellent center field defense. He’s been a bit below that this year, but even his relative “down” year still has him at .263/.369/.493 and a 137 wRC+.

Losing one of the best players in the world for an extended stretch of time would be rough news for any club, but it will be particularly noteworthy for this Angels squad. Despite a roster featuring superstars like Trout, Shohei Ohtani and others in recent years, they have frequently been felled by injuries and a lack of depth. They haven’t had a winning record since 2015, haven’t made the playoffs since 2014 and haven’t won a postseason game since 2009.

The 2023 season has already been in the spotlight since Ohtani is in his final year of club control before he qualifies for free agency. The club has been acting aggressively to try to win this year, both to take advantage of Ohtani’s production while they still have him and to convince him to stay by constructing a winning roster around him. They spent their offseason acquiring complementary players like Brandon Drury, Hunter Renfroe and Carlos Estévez. They aggressively promoted prospects like Zach Neto, Ben Joyce and Sam Bachman. Due to a recent rash of injuries to infielders like Neto, Drury, Gio Urshela and Anthony Rendon, they went out and traded for veterans Eduardo Escobar and Mike Moustakas.

Currently, the club is 45-42, three games back of the Yankees for the final Wild Card spot in the American League, with the Blue Jays in between them. They certainly have a shot to break their postseason drought, but their odds will certainly go down without Trout. Some fans of other clubs may start salivating at the idea of the club deciding to blow it all up and trade Ohtani, but given the way the Angels have behaved this year, it seems more likely that they will be aggressive in adding to the roster to make up for Trout’s absence.

For now, they will likely use Mickey Moniak in center. He’s having a breakout year at the plate, hitting .307/.336/.658 through 119 plate appearances for a 168 wRC+. He’s mostly played the corners in deference to Trout but has solid defensive marks in center. That will create challenges though, as the left-handed hitting Moniak has largely been shielded from lefties, having just 10 trips to the plate this year without the platoon advantage. Adell hits from the right side and could take the short side of the platoon but he’s struggled in the big leagues overall. In 561 plate appearances dating back to 2020, he’s hit just .215/.261/.362. He’s performing better in Triple-A this year but that’s nothing new for him.

However it plays out, the Angels are in a challenging spot for now and will be a fascinating club to watch. With less than a month until the August 1 deadline and the team just outside the postseason picture, each game will continue to take on increased significance as things progress.

Reyes, 30, was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and has been pitching for Triple-A Salt Lake so far this year. He has a 4.64 ERA through 21 1/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, striking out 32% of batters faced but walking 11%.

He has a bit of major league experience, including two games with the Angels last year as well as 27 with the 2019 Padres, undergoing Tommy John surgery in between those campaigns. He has a 7.39 career ERA at the moment, though a .329 batting average on balls in play and 54.7% strand rate point to a bit of bad luck. His 29.5% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate have led to more palatable advanced metrics like a 4.17 FIP and 3.86 SIERA.

Now back on the 40-man roster, Reyes still has an option year and could provide a depth arm with some roster flexibility going forward. He also has less than a year of service time and can be cheaply retained for future seasons if he can continue to hang onto his roster spot.

Joyce was removed from last night’s game due to right hand irritation and will now sit out at least two weeks. He underwent an MRI today, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, and more information on his status should be forthcoming in the near future. Joyce was just added to the club’s roster a couple of weeks ago and is known for his elite velocity. His fastball has averaged an incredible 101.5 mph so far in his short big league career. He has a 4.50 ERA through his first four innings, striking out 23.8% of opponents but walking 19%.

As for Stassi, this move is little more than a formality to open a roster spot since he has already been on the injured list for more than 60 days. He began the season on the IL due to a hip strain and has also been dealing with an undisclosed family situation. Since 60 days have already passed since his initial IL placement, he’s eligible to be reinstated at anytime. However, he hasn’t begun a rehab assignment and there hasn’t been any reporting that suggests he’s close to starting one.

Five Big Hype Prospects

Jo Adell, 24, OF, LAA (AAA)
42 PA, 7 HR, .353/476/1.088

We’ve been here before with Adell, a prospect who isn’t technically a prospect anymore. Over the last three seasons, Adell has amassed 561 plate appearances at Triple-A. In that time, he’s hit 43 home runs. Though he’s yet to make an impact at the Major League level, his batted ball characteristics are encouraging. Adell enjoys above-average exit velocities. He’s battled inconsistency with his launch angle in the Majors, an issue that hasn’t been as apparent in the minors. Optimists, myself included, still believe he can make the adjustments necessary to make a splash on the big stage. Presently, he has one single, four doubles, and seven home runs.

Spencer Jones, 21, OF, NYY (A+)
15 PA, 1 HR, .462/.533/.846

A hulking outfielder with mammoth power, Jones will inevitably be compared to Aaron Judge. The left-handed hitting slugger also has surprising mobility as evidenced by 10 steals in 95 Low-A plate appearances last season. He’s expected to stick in center field despite his size. Scouts fret about his hit tool – much as they once did with Judge. It’s also fair to note that Jones only began to play like a true prospect partway through his draft season. We’re working with a short track record of success. In the low minors, he’s managed a swinging strike rate around 12 percent, a figure similar to that managed by Judge last season and better than most power-over-contact sluggers.

Jordan Lawlar, 20, SS, ARI (AA)
13 PA, 1 HR, 2 SB, .300/.462/.600

Considered one of the best athletes in the minors, Lawlar could surge to top overall prospect status later this summer. The only drawback with Lawlar is a below-average hit tool which could affect his consistency at the dish. Otherwise, he’s a disciplined batter with burgeoning power and above-average speed. He’s defensively adept. Few prospects are as blue chip as Lawlar. He has a chance to force the Diamondbacks hand this season, much as Corbin Carroll did in 2022. Worth noting, his home venue with Double-A Amarillo is considered one of the friendliest for hitters.

Elijah Green, 19, OF, WSH (A)
13 PA, 2 SB, .500/.548/.583

Green is the sort of prospect fantasy baseball fans love – a legitimate 30/30 threat with room to exceed even those heady aspirations. Over his brief pro career, a span of just 65 plate appearances, he’s made the most of his contact. He’s also susceptible to strikeouts, an issue that has plagued him since he gained prospect fame as a high school junior. Despite more than ample speed to remain in center field, early reports suggest he’ll be better suited to an outfield corner due to poor reads and inefficient routes. Time and effort could salve those concerns. Even if he lands in a corner, his power is more than ample. Now we wait to learn if he makes enough contact. The downside might look something like an outfielder version of Patrick Wisdom.

Jackson Holliday, 19, SS, BAL (A)
15 PA, .462/.533/.692

A left-handed hitter, Holliday has the talent and baseball acumen to carve out a long career. While I usually go out of my way to describe how a prospect might fail – public analysis is susceptible to unfettered optimism – there isn’t much to say about Holliday. If things go his way, he could finish 2023 at Double-A with a chance to debut in mid-2024. The Orioles have taken a more temperate approach with their other recent top prospects. Those players, like Gunnar Henderson, required considerable development before they truly looked like Major League players. Holliday seemingly doesn’t require a breakout or new skills development. He’s in want of experience and age-related strength.

Three More

Matt Liberatore, STL (23): Profiled last week, Liberatore’s second turn of the season was a near-mirror replica of his first start. In both cases, he pitched five innings allowing a pair of walks with seven strikeouts. The Cardinals are experiencing some difficulties with their starting pitchers so we might see Liberatore soon.

Chase Silseth, LAA (22): Silseth, like Liberatore, was profiled last week and held opponents scoreless for a second consecutive appearance. Overall, he’s pitched 11 innings with only three hits allowed, three walks, and 13 strikeouts. The Angels are accustomed to running a six-man rotation in the Shohei Ohtani era and could call upon Silseth.

Hao-Yu Lee, PHI (20): Lee has demonstrated discipline, feel for contact, and pull-oriented power. He doesn’t appear on Top 100 prospect lists mainly due to his size and modest mobility. Lee was developed as a utility fielder but could settle permanently at second base this season. He should reach the upper minors by mid-season.

Velazquez was the Halos’ primary shortstop last year, picking up 100 starts at the position after being claimed off waivers from the Yankees over the 2021-22 offseason. A glove-first infielder, he rated highly over his 906 shortstop innings but provided almost nothing at the plate. The switch-hitter posted a .196/.236/.304 line while striking out in 34.1% of his 349 plate appearances. Los Angeles brought in Brandon Drury via free agency and Gio Urshela in a trade with Minnesota to upgrade the infield.

While neither Drury nor Urshela will necessarily see much action at shortstop, they provide general infield depth that could push David Fletcher or Luis Rengifo to shortstop more frequently. That relegated Velazquez back to Triple-A for now.

Adell and Moniak are each one-time top prospects who have struggled in multiple big league looks. The former played in a career-high 88 MLB games last season but only managed a .224/.264/.373 line with a massive 37.5% strikeout rate. He also struck out at a concerning 31.1% clip over 40 Triple-A contests but paired that with a strong 11.1% walk rate and 13 home runs in 180 trips to the plate.

Moniak came over from the Phillies in a deadline trade that sent Noah Syndergaard to Philadelphia. The former first overall pick managed only a .200/.226/.417 line over his first 60 plate appearances with the Halos. He’s a career .157/.218/.268 hitter over parts of three MLB seasons.

Both Adell and Moniak have one minor league option year remaining. If they spend 20+ days in the minors this season, they’ll exhaust that final year and be out of options next spring. That puts pressure on both players to take a significant step forward in 2023 if they’re to carve out long-term roles in Anaheim.

The club’s general manager Perry Minasian spoke about the situation yesterday, with Sam Blum of The Athletic and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register each relaying some of his comments. “Those jobs are solidified,” Minasian said, implying that Adell and Moniak are likely to begin the season in the minors. “Those are obviously young players who are very talented that haven’t necessarily turned the corner yet that have been putting in a significant amount of work this offseason to do that,” Minasian said. “They’re both young. I think we forget about how young these two players are.”

The two players have followed similar trajectories thus far. Adell, 24 in April, was the first round draft pick of the Angels in 2017, selected 10th overall. Moniak, 25 in May, was selected first overall the year prior by the Phillies. He came over to the Angels in the Noah Syndergaard trade at last year’s deadline. Both players made quick charges through the minors to reach the majors in 2020, when Adell was just 21 and Moniak just 22. Since then, however, each player has struggled mightily. Adell currently has a batting line of .215/.259/.356 over 557 major league plate appearances. He’s also struck out in 34.8% of those trips to the plate. Moniak’s struggles have been even greater, as he’s struck out at a 39.5% rate while hitting .157/.218/.268.

There is an air of urgency around the Angels this year, with Shohei Ohtani slated for free agency at the end of the schedule. As such, the club isn’t relying on a breakout from Moniak or Adell, having acquired Renfroe and Phillips to push the younger players down the depth charts. Each of them has just one option year remaining, which perhaps makes this sort of a make-or-break year for them. Renfroe is set to reach free agency after 2023, which could provide an opportunity for one of the youngsters to find a future job if they succeed in turning a corner this year. However, they might have to be patient since the path has been blocked for now.

Minasian also provided some health updates on some other Angels, including Griffin Canning and Chris Rodriguez. Both of those pitchers missed the 2022 season entirely, with Rodriguez rehabbing from November 2021 shoulder surgery and Canning fighting lingering back issues. Both players have now begun throwing off a mound. “If both those guys are healthy entering spring training, they’ll be exciting to watch,” Minasian said. “Right now they are on schedule to be with us in spring training and we’ll see where they’re at.”

Canning posted a 3.99 ERA over 11 starts in the shortened 2020 season while striking out 23.5% of batters faced. However, he saw that balloon to 5.60 the following year while his strikeout rate dipped to 22.4%. Rodriguez was a starter in the minors but worked primarily out of the bullpen when he made his MLB debut in 2021. He registered a 3.64 ERA in his first 29 2/3 innings but has been dealing with the shoulder issue since then.

The Angels shouldn’t be reliant on either Canning or Rodriguez, at least to start 2023. They have a rotation consisting of Ohtani, Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, José Suarez and Reid Detmers. The club has ran out a six-man rotation in recent years to reduce the workload on Ohtani but have at least considered going to a five-man this season. If they want a sixth starter, they have some candidates for the final spot, such as Chase Silseth and Tucker Davidson. However, injuries and lackluster depth have been an achilles heel of the Angels in recent years, meaning the health of Canning and Rodriguez could be an important factor for them as the campaign goes along. That makes it at least somewhat encouraging that the players are on track for now.

The same goes on the position player side, as Minasian says that both first baseman Jared Walsh and shortstop Andrew Velazquez are on schedule for spring. Walsh was great in 2020 and 2021 but slumped badly last year and eventually required surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. He hit .215/.269/.374 last year after batting .280/.338/.531 over the two prior campaigns. Velazquez, known primarily for his glovework, was sidelined by knee surgery late last year. Both players could play key roles on the 2023 Angels club if they are healthy, but the club has taken measures to provide safety nets. They’ve added utility players Brandon Drury and Gio Urshela to their infield mix this winter, joining David Fletcher, Luis Rengifo and Anthony Rendon. Should Walsh or Velazquez not be available, the club will still have plenty of options to fill out the lineup, but it sounds like both players are on schedule to get back on track.

Minasian also addressed one other spot on the roster with Spring Training now just over a month away. Ohtani might not be with the team when camp opens, but not because of injury. He is going to be playing for Japan in this year’s World Baseball Classic, with that team playing their first game March 9. At this point, it’s still unclear if Ohtani will report to camp with the Angels before then or simply meet up with them after the WBC.

It’s the third early strike of the offseason for the Halos, who’ve already signed starter Tyler Anderson to a three-year free agent deal and acquired infielder Gio Urshela in a trade with the Twins. Now, they take a step towards fixing an outfield that had a major question mark alongside Mike Trout and Taylor Ward.

Renfroe should solidify the corner outfield spot opposite Ward. He’s been an above-average hitter in each of the past two seasons, with strikingly similar production for the Red Sox in 2021 and Brewers this year. The former first-rounder has combined for 60 home runs over the last two seasons, following up a 31-homer showing with the Sox with 29 more in Milwaukee. He had an identical .315 on-base percentage in each year but more than offset that modest number with big power production.

The right-handed hitter has hit between .255 and .260 in each of the last two years while slugging around .500 both seasons. He has a cumulative .257/.315/.496 line in just under 1100 plate appearances going back to the start of 2021. His 22.9% strikeout rate is right around average, while he’s walked at a slightly below-average 7.6% clip. He’s a lower-OBP slugger who has particularly decimated left-handed opposition. Renfroe carries a .269/.357/.508 line over that stretch while holding the platoon advantage. He’s had starker on-base concerns but hit for enough power to remain a decent option against right-handed pitching (.252/.292/.491).

That power production is Renfroe’s calling card, but he’s also a viable defender. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him right around league average in right field in each of the last three seasons. Statcast’s range-based metric has Renfroe a few runs below average annually, but he compensates for his fringy athleticism with top-tier arm strength. He’s picked up double-digit assists in each of the last two years, and he leads all MLB outfielders with 27 baserunners cut down in that time.

Renfroe’s excellent arm strength has kept him primarily in right field over the past few years, although he did log a number of innings in left earlier in his career. If he steps into right field at Angel Stadium, that’d push Ward over to left field. Former top prospect Jo Adell now looks as if he’ll be relegated to fourth outfield/bench duty after beginning his career with a .215/.259/.356 showing in roughly one full season’s worth of games. Adell is still just 23 years old and coming off a solid year in Triple-A Salt Lake, but the Angels don’t appear prepared to count on him for a regular role as they look to vault their way into the playoff picture in 2023.

As with last week’s Urshela trade, the Renfroe acquisition is about deepening the lineup with a productive but not elite veteran for a season. Renfroe turns 31 in January and is in his final season of club control. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for an $11.2MM salary, and he’ll be a free agent at the end of the year. That’s a reasonable sum for a player of this caliber, but one moderately expensive season of arbitration control over a lower-OBP corner slugger isn’t teeming with trade value. Renfroe is the second player of that ilk dealt in as many weeks.

The Blue Jays sent Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners for reliever Erik Swanson and pitching prospect Adam Macko. That trade came as a surprise to a number of Toronto fans, but each of Swanson and Macko are arguably more appealing players than any of the trio of pitchers Milwaukee received in this swap. Hernández is a better hitter than Renfroe is, but the gap between the former’s .282/.332/.508 line over the past two seasons and the latter’s production isn’t all that dramatic. Nevertheless, Renfroe has had a hard time sticking in any one spot as his price tag has escalated throughout his arbitration seasons. The Halos will be his fifth team in as many years, as he’s successively played for the Padres, Rays, Red Sox and Brewers going back to 2019.

Adding his projected arbitration salary pushes the Halos’ estimated 2023 payroll up to around $192MM, per Roster Resource. That’d be the highest mark in franchise history, narrowly topping their approximate $189MM figure from this past season. They’re up to roughly $206MM in luxury tax commitments, around $27MM shy of the $233MM base threshold. The franchise’s spending capacity this winter has been in question with owner Arte Moreno exploring a sale of the franchise. There’s still no indication the club is willing to approach luxury tax territory, but the acquisitions of Anderson, Urshela and Renfroe have tacked on an estimated $31.9MM in 2023 spending. The latter two players represent one-year investments, but it seems Moreno is affording general manager Perry Minasian and his group some leeway to add to the roster in advance of the club’s final season of control over defending AL MVP runner-up Shohei Ohtani.

The Brewers add a trio of pitchers, two of whom already have big league experience. Junk is a former 22nd-round pick of the Yankees. He went to the Halos in the 2021 deadline deal that sent southpaw Andrew Heaney to the Bronx. The right-hander has pitched in seven MLB games over the past two seasons, starting six. He’s allowed a 4.74 ERA through 24 2/3 innings, striking out a below-average 19.4% of opponents but posting a sterling 4.4% walk rate.

Junk, 27 in January, leans primarily on a low-80s slider which prospect evaluators suggest could be an above-average pitch. He has decent spin on his 92-93 MPH four-seam but hasn’t cemented himself on a big league staff to this point. He spent most of this year on optional assignment to Salt Lake, where he posted a 4.64 ERA through 73 2/3 innings as a starter in a hitter-friendly environment. His 22.1% strikeout percentage was a touch below average, but he only walked 5.8% of opponents. The Seattle University product still has a pair of minor league option years remaining and can bounce between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville as rotation or middle relief depth.

Peguero, on the other hand, is a pure reliever. The righty debuted with three appearances as a COVID replacement late in the 2021 season. He earned a permanent 40-man roster spot last offseason and appeared in 13 games this year. Tasked with low-leverage innings, Peguero put up a 7.27 ERA across 17 1/3 innings. He only struck out 15.6% of opponents but got swinging strikes on a more impressive 12% of his total pitches. The Dominican Republic native induced grounders on roughly half the batted balls he surrendered in the majors.

He also had an excellent year in Salt Lake, where he tossed 44 1/3 frames of 2.84 ERA ball. Peguero fanned 27.5% of batters faced against a quality 7.1% walk rate and racked up grounders at a huge 57.5% clip. Like Junk, Peguero leaned primarily on a slider during his MLB look, although he throws much harder. Peguero’s slider checked in at 91 MPH on average while his fastball sat just north of 96. He turns 26 in March and also has two options remaining, so the Brewers can deploy him as an up-and-down middle reliever while hoping he can translate his Triple-A success against big league opponents.

Seminaris went in the fifth round in the 2020 draft out of Long Beach State. A 6’0″ southpaw, he wasn’t ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Anaheim system at Baseball America. He traversed three minor league levels this year, showing well at High-A against younger competition but struggling as he climbed the minor league ladder. Altogether, he worked 101 2/3 frames of 3.54 ERA ball with a 22.1% strikeout rate and an 8.7% walk percentage. He’s not on the 40-man roster but will have to be added by the end of the 2023 season or be exposed in the Rule 5 draft.

While Milwaukee clearly likes all three mid-20’s hurlers, they’re each flexible depth options. Surely, a key motivator in the deal was reallocating Renfroe’s hefty arbitration projection. Slashing payroll wasn’t the sole impetus for the trade — the Brewers could’ve simply non-tendered Renfroe last week if they were committed to getting his money off the books — but GM Matt Arnold and his staff elected to clear some payroll room while bringing in a few depth arms of note.

The Brewers are projected for a salary around $115MM at Roster Resource thanks largely to an arbitration class that still includes Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Willy Adames, among others. That’s about $17MM shy of this year’s Opening Day mark, and more roster shuffling figures to be on the horizon. Dealing a complementary player like Renfroe doesn’t suggest the Brewers are about to flip any of Burnes, Woodruff or Adames, but Milwaukee could consider moving second baseman Kolten Wong or a depth starter like Adrian Houser or Eric Lauer. They’ve already drawn some interest from the Mariners on Wong and are sure to contemplate a number of ways to try to balance the present and the future.

Milwaukee could now dip into the lower tiers of the free agent corner outfield market to backfill for Renfroe’s absence, with Tyrone Taylor standing as the current favorite for playing time alongside Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell in the outfield. Highly-touted young players like Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer could play their way into the mix midseason, but it’d be a surprise if the Brewers didn’t add at least one veteran outfielder before Opening Day.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Harrison, 26, was signed by the Angels to a minor league deal in April. He hit .213/.305/.368 for a wRC+ of just 67, but did steal 2o bases in 50 games. He was selected to the big league club about three weeks ago but has been used sparingly, getting into just nine games and stepping up to the plate just 14 times.

Once considered one of the top prospects in the sport, Harrison was part of the return the Marlins received in the Christian Yelich trade. Unfortunately, a propensity for strikeouts has prevented him from truly becoming a useful player thus far. He struck out in 35% of his plate appearances in Triple-A this year and then 57.1% in that limited MLB showing.

Since he’s out of options, the only way for the Angels to get him off the roster was to designate him for assignment. The Angels will have a week to trade him, pass him through waivers or release him. Should he clear waivers, he would have the ability to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

As for Adell, this is the latest step in what has become a pattern for him wherein he mashes in the minors but struggles in the majors, before getting sent down and starting the process over again. He got his first call-up in 2020 but hit just .161/.212/.266 for a wRC+ of 27. Optioned to Triple-A to start the 2021 campaign, he hit .289/.342/.592 for a 122 wRC+. He got recalled in August but produced a tepid line of .246/.295/.408 in the majors, wRC+ of 90. Here in 2022, he made the Opening Day roster but hit .215/.227/.400 through the beginning of May and got optioned. Outside of a six-day stretch in June, he’s been in Triple-A since then, hitting .239/.333/.587 for a wRC+ of 116.

The recall of Adell seems to at least be partially motivated by the fact that Mike Trout is dealing with back spasms. Before tonight’s game, he told reporters, including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, that he has been experiencing discomfort for over a week and that it got worse last night. He is out of tonight’s lineup, though he says he doesn’t expect to go on the IL and should be fine to participate in next week’s All-Star game.

One of the game’s top prospects, Adell was first optioned to Triple-A in early May, and then called up again last week when Taylor Ward was placed on the 10-day IL.  Adell posted a .902 OPS over 21 plate appearances during this latest stint, a positive showing considering how overmatched Adell has looked against MLB pitching since debuting back in 2020.

To that end, it is a little surprising to see Adell on the way back to the minors, yet it could simply be a case of roster construction.  Ward has been recovering well from his hamstring strain and is aiming to return on Tuesday, while Mike Trout was back in the lineup today after missing three games with a sore groin.  With less of a need in the outfield and with Shohei Ohtani monopolizing the DH spot, there isn’t a real everyday spot for Adell, and the Angels would prefer to see him get regular action in Triple-A rather than playing only sparingly in Los Angeles.

Thomas had his contract selected three days ago in another flurry of moves from the Angels, and the outfielder ended up appearing in one game during his cup of coffee on the active roster.  The 29-year-old inked a minor league deal with Anaheim during the winter.  Thomas has posted some big numbers at the Triple-A level for the Mariners’ and Angels’ affiliates in 2021-22, but that performance has only earned him five MLB games (the first five of his pro career).  Primarily a corner outfielder with some experience in center, Thomas could possibly get the attention of another team in greater need of depth on the grass.

Today is Daniel’s 25th birthday, and he’ll receive an unforgettable gift in the form of his first call to the big leagues.  A seventh-round pick for the Angels in the 2019 draft, Daniel has a 3.84 ERA over 161 2/3 innings in the minors, starting 31 of his 32 career games.  This includes a 3.64 ERA over 47 Triple-A innings this season, though Daniel has a modest 19.3% strikeout rate.

Daniel could now be lined up for a start in the Angels’ six-man rotation, though it remains to be seen exactly how the Angels may reshuffle their pitching order with an off-day coming on Monday.  An extra arm will be needed in some fashion, as the Halos have a doubleheader coming up on June 18.