This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ANAHEIM -- It’s starting to become clear what the Angels’ strategy is this offseason.
They’ve gone after players with an element of risk but also with some upside.
Right-handers Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah didn’t pitch in the Majors in 2025. Utility player Vaughn Grissom spent ’25 in Triple-A for the Red Sox. Right-handed reliever Jordan Romano had an 8.23 ERA with the Phillies last year. Lefty Drew Pomeranz had a strong year with the Cubs, but it was his first in the big leagues since 2021.
All, however, have had previous success.
Rodriguez, a 2018 first-round Draft pick, has a 4.11 ERA in two MLB seasons. Manoah has a 3.34 ERA in 420 career innings and was an All-Star with the Blue Jays in ’22. Grissom is a former top prospect who was traded straight up for ace Chris Sale from Atlanta to Boston before the ’24 season. Pomeranz was an All-Star with the Padres in '16 and won a World Series ring with the Red Sox in ’18. Romano has 113 career saves and was an All-Star with the Blue Jays in ’22 and ’23.
“We won 73 games, right?” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said. “So we need upside and to be able to add what we've added so far, spending limited dollars. We have a lot of holes, and we need to fill those holes. And we’re filling those holes with some significant upside that raises the ceiling of the club if they do hit. And we still have opportunity to do a lot of things.”
As Minasian noted, there is risk involved but the actual cost hasn’t added up to much this offseason. The Angels saved roughly $13 million to $14 million by acquiring Rodriguez for outfielder Taylor Ward. They signed Pomeranz for $4 million, Romano for $2 million and Manoah for $1.95 million. Grissom, who is out of Minor League options and isn’t eligible for salary arbitration, was acquired in a trade for Minor League outfielder Isaiah Jackson.
“Have we done a lot of things that have an element of risk to them this offseason? Yes,” Minasian said. “With that being said, we believe there's a major reward on a lot of these guys. They've done it in the past, and they're motivated to do it again, so we'll see how it all plays out.”
The Angels still have plenty of needs, including another starting pitcher, more bullpen help, a third baseman and a center fielder. Minasian said they still don’t have a set closer and could acquire one this offseason or they could let their relievers compete for the role in Spring Training.
The Angels’ strategy has allowed them to make a potential major splash in free agency, as their payroll is roughly $35 million under last year’s mark, per FanGraphs.com. There’s also a chance they could defer the $38 million left on third baseman Anthony Rendon’s final year of his contract, though there are hurdles to clear with MLB and the union.
The Angels mostly have stuck to mid-tier free agents under Minasian. The biggest contract they’ve handed out under his regime is the three-year, $63 million deal lefty Yusei Kikuchi signed last year. But this offseason, the plan appears to be to try to find as many fliers with upside as possible while making one big addition to the roster.
It’s unclear whether it will be a starting pitcher or a position player, but the Angels do have the flexibility to make a substantial move.
The top free agents include starting pitchers Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suárez, Zac Gallen and Michael King; center fielder Cody Bellinger; and third basemen Alex Bregman, Eugenio Suárez and Munetaka Murakami.
“There's definitely areas to improve, whether it's the rotation, whether it's the lineup,” Minasian said. “We’ve talked about third base. We’ve talked about center field. We’ve talked about even the bullpen, the rotation. We’ve been somewhat active adding a lot of arms so far, and we're going to continue to do that. And on the position-player side, we're trying to make that group as good as we can.”