Shedding Salary
The most realistic way that the Angels can increase their spending power this winter, is to rid themselves of the salaries of Jorge Soler and Robert Stephenson, owed $16 million and $11 million respectively. If the Angels can free up that $27 million, then suddenly there are many more opportunities on the table.
When evaluating Soler’s market, I searched for teams that might want a pure DH, and there aren’t a lot of great fits. When looking at teams with poor DH production in 2025, it’s a lot of teams that either don’t spend money, already have DHs under contract, or have recently rostered Jorge Soler. Atlanta seems like a good fit for example, but can they really trade for Soler a third time?
The best option might be handing Soler and a prospect over to a team like the Nationals, who are a team that can spend money, but probably aren’t ready yet to commit to major long-term deals. Josh Bell served as their primary DH in 2025 (98 games at the position) and is now a pending free agent. Dealing Soler to the Nationals lets Washington replace Bell’s production for a year, and pick up some minor prospect capital in the process.
For the sake of this exercise, I’d deal them Soler and Dario Laverde. Laverde is a bat first catcher, ranked 19th in the Angels org per Pipeline, who stalled this year in the pitcher friendly environment of the Tri-City Dust Devils. Still only 20, the Nationals may think that a new environment and another year of development might be enough for Laverde to conquer High A in his repeat year. The Nationals don’t have a need for a catcher, but we aren’t asking too much of them in this scenario.
Robert Stephenson is much trickier to speculate on because his injury status is unknown. For the sake of this exercise, I’m going to assume that the Angels can’t deal him. Assuming only Soler is dealt, and Stephenson remains, that leaves us with $46 million to work with.
I’m now going to take a look at needs, one at a time, from most to least important.
Starting Pitching
Starting pitching is without a doubt the Angels biggest need. They finished 28th in ERA in 2025, and are set to lose two reliable starters in Tyler Anderson and Kyle Hendricks to free agency. The plan at the moment is to move Reid Detmers into the rotation, which leaves the Angels with Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Soriano, Reid Detmers, and some close, but not quite ready yet prospects, most notably Caden Dana, Sam Aldegheri, Tyler Bremner, Ryan Johnson, George Klassen, and Mitch Farris.
Ideally, they’d need to sign two guys, at least one a reliable starter on good money, and the other at worst a proven yet unspectacular name on a one-year deal. I’m also only looking at names with reasonable floors, as I don’t think they can afford to take the risk to try and rehab somebody like Nestor Cortes or Walker Buehler.
Shane Bieber
Bieber is the only marquee name I considered here, but he ticks a lot of boxes. He is a local kid, he doesn’t have a qualifying offer attached, and his value is lower coming off Tommy John surgery.
If the Angels are going to hand out $25 million AAV to a pitcher, then I really think that Bieber is the only name that makes sense.
Merrill Kelly
Merrill Kelly at 37 has been a reliable yet unremarkable starter for the past seven seasons, and with his age might sign for a discount relative to his production over a two-year deal. If the Angels could sign him for 2/25m, then there’s not many guys out there that would give them better production for an AAV of $12.5 million. Kelly is probably the fit that makes the most sense here, but there are a lot of teams who will be interested in his pitching.
Adrian Houser
A trend we’ve seen with Perry Minasian, is that he likes signing pitchers who have recently been “fixed”. You look at Kikuchi in Houston, Anderson in LA, and Stephenson in Tampa Bay, and they were all “fixed” by smart orgs.
Now, I wouldn’t give enough credit just yet to put the White Sox in the same category as those teams I just mentioned, but Houser is this year’s FA who was recently “fixed”. This season, all of his pitches went up two ticks of velocity, which is incredibly rare at 32, and it turned a career 4.21 ERA guy into somebody who had a 2.10 ERA in 68.2 innings before being dealt to Tampa Bay.
We’ve seen Perry take these risks before, and a 3/30m deal would be great value if you feel like his performance in Chicago was sustainable.
Robert Suarez
This is a creative approach that I feel the Angels won’t take, but Suarez ticks all the boxes for a reliever-to-starter conversion. He has great stuff that could survive the loss of velocity, and multiple pitches that he can control. There’s an element of risk here, but Suarez represents the opportunity to get a below-market rate on a good starter.
Tyler Anderson
Tyler Anderson isn’t the most interesting choice, but he proved himself over the past three seasons to be a reliable innings eater. Turning 36 this year, he’ll be a bit cheaper than he was when he signed with the Angels back in 2022. There are worse options to bring back for a year to bridge the gap to our young prospects. If Kyle Hendricks isn’t retiring, then he’d be a consideration for the same reason.
Aaron Civale
Aaron Civale is a guy who I think is undervalued due to the lack of continuity that he has had over the past three seasons. In this time, he has pitched for five teams, and has been serviceable with a 4.20 ERA and a 2.99 K/BB ratio. I think there’s a solid starter here who just needs a team to believe in him, and the hope is that his production will tick upwards once he stops hearing a different message every six months. He has good stuff and could be worth the risk on a three-year deal.
Third Base
With Moncada and Rengifo departing as free agents, the Angels are left with Anthony Rendon, who due to persistent injuries and declining performance, likely won’t be available in 2026, and Denzer Guzman, who has potential, but shouldn’t be an opening day starter. To cut it short, the Angels absolutely have to go out and get somebody to play third base on opening day.
Munetaka Murakami
There’s really only one name you can start with here, and it’s the Japanese slugger who most of us have never seen play. If you can believe that Murakami can actually play third base, then he might be our best option here.
There are enough holes in his offensive profile that you might get him for similar to the 5/90m deal that Masataka Yoshida signed for, which represents significant upside given the age of Murakami. He is going to be incredibly sought after, so it’ll be difficult getting him to agree to sign in Anaheim.
Kazuma Okamoto
Okamoto is the other Japanese third baseman being posted this winter. He doesn’t have as much pure power as Murakami, and at age 29 offers a lot less upside. He does have some positives compared to Murakami, such as his better defense and contact rates, and the fact that he would require less development. However, he should still sign for a discount when compared to the offers Murakami is set to receive given his perceived lack of upside, and for that reason he might be the Angels' preferred target
Eugenio Suarez
Suarez seems like an obvious regression candidate, especially in Anaheim, but, excluding Bregman, who I don’t consider a possible option, he is at the top of what’s a pretty weak domestic free agency class for third baseman. I don’t like the fit here at all, but the Angels can’t afford to be picky in a weak market. The main question here is if there’s a deal that makes sense. If the number gets to around $15 AAV, then I’d be interested, but it would be hard for the Angels to justify spending significantly more.
Yoan Moncada
Bringing back Moncada might seem like an obvious move, but without the versatility of Rengifo on the roster I’m not sure you can afford to bring back a guy who is probably going to miss half the season at best. If Moncada pulls a hamstring in spring training, who is starting for this team? You’d have to bring in a reliable utility guy for the bench such as Willi Castro who you’re okay with starting when Moncada misses time. If the Angels miss out on the top of the market, they may have no other choice, but to bring back Moncada.
Closer
Currently, I have Ben Joyce, Robert Stephenson, Chase Silseth, Brock Burke, Jose Fermin, and Ryan Zeferjahn as our bullpen, with Carson Fulmer in long relief, and a big question mark over the closer position. With Kenley Jansen departing in Free Agency, I don’t see an obvious answer as to who is closing. Joyce and Stephenson are both too injury prone, Detmers is set to join the rotation, and others like Zeferjahn, Silseth, and Fermin are too young and inconsistent. Maybe the answer is Brock Burke, but left-handed closers are rare, and I don’t think Burke has proven himself enough to sway the Angels from going with an outside hire. However, I think Burke gives the Angels some flexibility here to do nothing if the right signings pop up elsewhere.
Kenley Jansen
Kenley Jansen coming back to Anaheim would be considered the betting favorite here, and the only reason it won’t happen is if the Angels think the money is better off spent elsewhere. The Angels definitely aren’t going to spend more than the 10m they paid Jansen last year, so the only other options worth considering are names who would sign for significantly less.
Devin Williams
There’s no way Williams signs for less than $10 million per year, right? Williams' year in the Bronx was a complete disaster, but there’s a lot of evidence suggesting that it was mostly poor luck that led to his 4.79 ERA. That said, how many playoff contenders are desperate enough to hand over the closing role to Devin Williams? If he is set on closing, then he’ll have a small market, and might be better off signing a one year deal to rehabilitate his value. It’s unlikely, but maybe there’s a number here where Devin Williams to the Angels makes sense.
Kirby Yates
Yates was one of the best closers in 2024, finishing 8th in the AL Cy Young with a 1.17 ERA. He signed a one year deal with the Dodgers for $13 million this past offseason, and after a disastrous year, his next deal figures to be for significantly less. Like Devin Williams, if you think of his 2025 year as an aberration, then Yates represents great value on a guy who has shown that he can be a reliable closer.
Seranthony Dominguez
Dominguez represents another path the Angels could take, which is taking a reliable setup man, and making him their closer. You’d get a bit of a discount, as you’re not quite paying a closer’s price tag, but whether that’s enough to justify not bringing back Kenley Jansen is yet to be seen.
Fourth Outfielder
If you’ve been following along, adding up potential numbers in your head, then by now you’re probably well above the $46 million target that I set for myself. For this reason, we’re sticking with Bryce Teodosio in center field. Yes, Teodosio can’t hit, but because of his glove, he was worth 0.6 fWAR over 50 games. That means over a full season, he’d have been worth more fWAR than any Angels position player not named Zach Neto or Taylor Ward. The Angels also have the depth just in case Teodosio doesn’t work out, as they can instead opt to go with Kyren Paris, Matthew Lugo, or even Nelson Rada, who is the long-term answer at the position.
That said, as we’ve traded away Soler, I think the Angels need to add a fourth outfielder here to at least compete with those guys previously mentioned and provide depth behind Ward and Adell. The Angels had a lot of trouble with this position in 2025, with guys like Gustavo Campero and Lamonte Wade Jr. struggling in Anaheim.
I won’t do write ups on individual players here, because the goal is to spend as little money as possible, but the names you’re looking at are guys like Austin Slater, Chris Taylor, and Lane Thomas.
Beyond that, you’re mostly looking at minor league deals, and maybe some bottom-of-the-market relievers to fill out your bullpen such as Andrew Chafin. There isn’t enough money left at this point to make any significant improvements to the roster.
The End Result
I’ve prepared three scenarios as to what a potential offseason could look like for the Angels, and I think they do a good job at showcasing the names that I feel are the most realistic and also illustrating what this upcoming offseason could look like. I've stuck to $46 million in each column, but have omitted these figures as I don't want that to be the focus of this conversation. I’ve also prepared a table of what the roster would look like under Option 1.
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