Angels Manager Hints at 2 Top Prospects Not Making Opening Day Roster

Second basemen Kyren Paris and Christian Moore landed invites to the Los Angeles Angels’s spring training. However, it does not seem like the infield pair will earn a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Paris and Moore, who are 23 and 22, respectively, are two of the Angels' highest-ranked prospects. Paris was ranked as the Angels’ No. 10 prospect in 2023, and Moore ranks as the Angels’ best prospect in 2025.

But Angels manager Ron Washington believes Paris and Moore need to gain more experience before they will be ready to be added to the roster.

“They have taken tremendous strides, but it’s the little things that you gather by playing the game that they have to get,” Washington said, via The Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher. “Decision making, that’s paramount.”

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Paris has some MLB experience, while Moore is yet to make his MLB debut. This season is Paris’ fifth spring training with the Angels since 2020, and he is now part of Los Angeles’ 40-man roster.

The Angels drafted Paris as the No. 55 overall pick in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He made his MLB debut on Sept. 1, 2023, and has made at least 15 MLB appearances each season since 2023.

Moore is expected to make his MLB debut this season. The Angels drafted Moore in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft, and he has already progressed to Double-A in the minor leagues.

“Those guys certainly are in our future, and they’re going to be good baseball players,” Washington said about Paris and Moore. “But they’ve just got to keep gaining experience by being on the field and having an opportunity to react to those things that we see them doing.”

Instead of Paris and Moore, shortstop Tim Anderson seems to be in a better position to earn an Opening Day roster spot. The two-time AL All-Star will turn 32 in June and has played in 99 MLB games or more for the past nine seasons.

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Although Anderson’s veteran experience will likely earn him a roster spot over Paris and Moore this time around, Washington is confident that the pair will soon develop into roster-ready players.

“I think they’re going to get it,” Washington said. “They work hard. They ask questions. They want to be good, but we got to understand too, they are young.”

For now, Paris and Moore seem to be heading back to the minor leagues for the regular season.

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