Predicting Angels' Actual Free-Agency Plan Might Be Impossible

The growing consensus among MLB insiders is that 70% to 80% of the 2026 offseason's free-agent shopping will take place before the end of November.

That's because a cliff looms on Dec. 1 when the current collective-bargaining agreement between the game's owners and players expires, with the likelihood of the owners declaring a lockout of the players at that time all but assured.

So, when free agency begins with the conclusion of the 2026 season - which could be as early as Wednesday if the Milwaukee Brewers close out the World Series on Tuesday night - expect a mad rush to get players signed before the uncertainty of a lockout becomes reality in five weeks.

That should be fine for 29 MLB teams, but whither the Los Angeles Angels?

They are the only franchise - maybe ever? - to enter such a precarious period without a manager or general manager in place, all while waiting for a new ownership group to take full control of the team, which won't happen until early 2027 in the best-case scenario.

That has made predictions of what the Angels may or may not be capable of doing - or are even able to do - in terms of free-agent hole-plugging fluctuate wildly.

One person who thinks the new Stan Korenke-led ownership team has the ability to quickly turn the Angels into winners is Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Tarik Skubal.

Yep, the same Tarik Skubal who just happens to be the most coveted starting pitcher to hit the open market since Gerrit Cole in 2019.

"You bring an owner that really cares about winning and is willing to do whatever it takes to win and invest, not only with players on the field but all the stuff behind the scenes, like clubhouse renovations," said Skubal in a Sept. 3 report from the Los Angeles Times via Yahoo Sports. "I'm sure there will be a lot of stuff there that changes to make it state-of-the-art, because all that stuff matters."

That was the main reason that Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report on Oct. 16 listed the Angels as one of five teams who stood the best chance of signing Skubal, writing, "It is...interesting that Skubal himself expects Kroenke to turn the Angels into coveted destination for free agents. Provided Skubal is willing to wait until the sale of the franchise is final, perhaps he'll be willing to put…er, accept money where his mouth is."

Jim Bowden of The Athletic is a little more circumspect of the Angels' intentions. In his list of Top 40 Free Agents and their prospective destinations, which was released on Tuesday, Skubal is, of course, in the No. 1 position with Bowden's "best team fits" the Dodgers, New York Mets and - you might want to be sitting down for this - the notoriously tight-fisted Chicago White Sox.

Bowden does link the Angels to five other players on his list.

The highest ranked (No. 8) is New York Yankees' second baseman Jazz Chisholm, who has been discussed by others as a possible future Angel, whether it be at second base or in centerfield with Mike Trout saying he'll move to left.

The most intriguing and the least well-known among Bowden's options for the Angels is right-handed Japanese pitcher Kaima Taira. Taira stands just 5-foot-8, but weighs around 225 pounds, a frame that has earned him the nickname "fire hydrant."

He can also put out fires on the mound as he led the Seibu Lions with 31 saves in 2025 before moving to the rotation and leading Japan's National Professional Baseball League with a 1.36 ERA this season. 

Rounding out Bowden's Angels' shopping list is Detroit Tigers' second baseman Gleyber Torres (No. 23), who had a career-high .364 OBP this year but played in only 96 games in an injury-plagued season; Alec Bohm (No. 24), who can play either first or third base and hit .274 with 14 home runs and 73 RBIs over the final 120 games for the Philadelphia Phillies; and Tyler Stephenson (No. 31), who would be an upgrade at catcher for the Angels after he hit 15 HRs and drove in 54 runs with a .241 average and .727 OPS for the Cincinnati Reds in 2026.