Despite years of basement-dwelling finishes, poor drafting and aggressive rushing of prospects have left Anaheim with a barren pipeline, offering little hope for a franchise turnaround.
The Los Angeles Angels haven’t seen a winning season since the 2015 campaign. With consistent losing records and high picks in the MLB Draft, you’d expect the Angels to have built up a strong farm system during that time.
That’s far from the reality for the Halos, however, as they’ve continuously been one of the worst-drafting clubs in baseball and haven’t had many impactful international signings (with the huge exception being Shohei Ohtani). Meanwhile, other teams across the league have maintained a strong or at least respectable farm system while continuing to put out a competitive big league roster.
With Bleacher Report’s newest rankings of each MLB team’s farm system, that reality is only thrown in Angels fans’ faces once again. Coming in as the 28th-ranked farm system in baseball, the bleak future of an already bleak organization is only thrown in fans' faces yet again.
The only Angels prospect to crack the top 50 of Bleacher Report’s top 100 prospect list was right-handed pitcher Tyler Bremner – the Angels’ first-round selection at No. 2 overall last summer.
Born in SoCal, Bremner played only one season at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a full-time starter before the Angels took a chance and drafted him with the second overall pick. Starting the year in High-A, Bremner has recorded a 1.50 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 18 innings. With the Angels’ position as the worst team in baseball, the 22-year-old’s potential major league debut is becoming increasingly more likely by the season’s end.
Outside of Bremner, there isn’t tons to be excited about in the Angels’ organization. Outfielder Nelson Rada, pitchers George Klassen, Johnny Slawinski, Trey Gregory-Alford, and shortstop Joswa Lugo are some prospects to watch for in the Angels’ system, but none of whom are ranked in the top 100.
The lack of richness in the Angels’ farm system is a reminder of a lackluster scouting department and improper development within the franchise. The Halos have a history of rushing their young talents up to the major leagues before they get the chance to make any meaningful changes to their game.
For example, former first-round selections Zach Neto played just 48 minor league games before going up, and Nolan Schanuel played just 22 games before his debut. When you rush guys up to the big leagues, it greatly hinders their chances at making substantial changes from their college-level games and, therefore, limits their potential in the major leagues.
Luckily for the Angels, Neto has become a star, but others like Schanuel, Sam Bachman, and Christian Moore have had their development hindered by such an approach. The front office hasn't yet seemed to catch on that it hasn't worked in terms of major league success or possessing a deep pool of prospects.
For now, they look comfortable with having the worst major league team in baseball, as well as having one of the worst farm systems. It begs the question of when this era of failure will finally come to an end in Anaheim.
