The Los Angeles Angels are having one of their most active offseasons in recent memory, acquiring six new players to try and end a playoff drought for the Halos.
Though several of these moves are being dubbed “reclamation projects” due to the career falloffs of some of the signings, but the club is making moves, nonetheless.
Los Angeles made a huge trade at the beginning of the offseason that sent left fielder Taylor Ward to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for right-handed starter Grayson Rodriguez, bolstering a lackluster starting rotation.
Rodriguez has dealt with injuries over the past couple of seasons and even missed all of 2025, but when he’s on the mound, the sky-high potential is on full display. He should be a key piece of this rotation for years to come, if he can stay healthy.
Perhaps the best move the Angels made was restructuring the final year of disgruntled third baseman Anthony Rendon’s contract, ultimately deferring the final $38 million over several years and buying him out. He is expected to retire.
MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince questions if that restructured contract opens the door to more spending, which it could, since the team is more active than they have been in previous years. Castrovince listed the Angels as a team that has been busy while raising eyebrows at the same time this offseason.
“You can pedal all day on a stationary bike without getting anywhere, and maybe that’s what the Halos’ busy offseason amounts to. They’ve taken on a few reclamation projects, hoping the likes of Grayson Rodriguez, Vaughn Grissom, Jordan Romano, Kirby Yates and Alek Manoah can reach or return to their potential,” Castrovince wrote Wednesday. “Whether that’s enough for a team that’s lost 85 or more games in each of the past five seasons to make any meaningful rise in the win column remains to be seen.
“But you’ve got to give the Angels an A for effort, and maybe their most interesting move of all was the reported restructuring of the final year of the disastrous deal with the absent Anthony Rendon, whose $38 million owed in 2026 will instead be paid out over several years. Will that restructuring aid the aggressiveness of the Angels? Could they continue their active offseason by using some of that cash to make more tangible improvements to the roster?”
Angels fans have to be excited about the direction the team is heading in, albeit numerous “small” additions. I don’t expect the Angels to compete for a playoff spot in 2026, but nobody truly knows how a bunch of players with something to prove will perform, especially paired with the young players who played well for them last season.