Bremner Named Angels' 2027 Rookie Of The Year Favorite

After a surprisingly active 2026 trade deadline in which the Los Angeles Angels finally dealt some of their most marketable major-league assets - pitchers Jose Soriano and Ryan Zeferjahn, and outfielder Jo Adell - for a bucketful of projectable prospects, the franchise's farm system is as strong as it's been in the past decade-plus.

That makes the task of selecting one of the Angels' farmhands as the most likely to grab 2027 AL Rookie of the Year honors much more difficult.

That's also the task that MLB.com prospect gurus Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo gave themselves on Tuesday when they sought to identify one rookie from each team that would have the highest likelihood of taking home some ROY hardware at the conclusion of the 2027 season.

With the influx of talent the system has experienced recently, it is with a small bit of irony that Callis and Mayo identified right-handed starting pitcher Tyler Bremner as the Angels' "most likely to," due to the fact that he is actually a recent Angels' draft pick - No. 2 overall in 2025 out of UC-Santa Barbara - and not some outsider.

"Bremner's stuff is so advanced and he was only slowed by illness and the ensuing fatigue during his first full season," the duo wrote. "He reached Double-A anyway, and a full offseason to work on strength could have him ready to jump into the Angels' rotation in a hurry."

Indeed, those illness issues saw Bremner make only 19 starts in 2026, 14 at High-A Tri-City and five at Double-A Rocket City, where he was a member of the team that won the Southern League championship in September.

In those 19 starts, Bremner was dominant at times with 100 strikeouts in 72.2 innings pitched for a rate of 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Overall, he had a 4-6 record with a 4.33 ERA and 1.27 WHIP.

That showing, along with his college pedigree - 21-9 record, 3.58 ERA and 295 strikeouts in 222.1 innings (12.0 K/9) - in three seasons at UCSB have Bremner ranked as the game's No. 42 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline and No. 2 in the Angels' system.

Of course, No. 1 (and No. 34 overall) is shortstop Arjun Nimmala, who Los Angeles acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in the Soriano trade.

However, while there are openings in the rotation that Bremner can slide into, Nimmala is currently blocked at short by incumbent Zach Neto, though a move away from Anaheim has been a popular projection for Neto in a slew of offseason trade rumors, which could open the door for a Nimmala debut sometime in 2027.

One final Angel that could conceivably make noise as a rookie is outfielder Nelson Rada, LA's No. 6 prospect. With Mike Trout reportedly sliding over to left in 2027, Rada, who the Angels signed as an international free agent in January 2022, could make a run at filling the new void in center.

He hit .278 with three home runs and 45 RBIs in 128 games at Triple-A Salt Lake in 2026, but his carrying tool is his speed. The 43 bases he stole for Salt Lake give him 214 in five minor-league seasons.