Angels Off Season Moves That Already Look Smart - And Dumb

You can't win them all. When you are the general manager with more roster holes to fill than money to fill them, you have to make a lot of small moves and hope they pan out.

Oct 22, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian speaks during a press conference at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | William Liang-Imagn Images

You can't win them all. When you are the general manager with more roster holes to fill than money to fill them, you have to make a lot of small moves and hope they pan out. In the case of Angels GM Perry Minasian, some of his off season moves are looking really smart right now. And then there's the starting rotation.

Let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from Perry's off season.

Filling second base was really smart.

Just how bad the Angels were at second base last season can not be undersold. By WAR, they received the third worst value of any team in the majors. The Angels WAR at second was the same as future Sentator John Blutarsky's grade point average: zero point zero.

Striking out and playing bad defense were the two consistent themes of the Angels who played the keystone last year, but Perry filled that void with veteran Adam Frazier on a low cost deal. In fact, Frazier was signed to a minor league deal and played his way onto the team.

A high contact hitter, Frazier carries a decent glove and put up 1.4 bWAR in 134 games. That's not Al Star level production but filling a glaring hole at minimal cost is a smart move by Minasian.

Brent Suter was really smart.

Last year the Angels bullpen was pretty bad outside of a handful of guys. While Kenley Jansen was a great anchor at the back end the team often blew leads before he could factor into games.

Signed to a one year $1.25 million deal, Suter can go multiple innings, limit walks, and help absorb the 6th and 7th inning workload. He's not going to blow anybody away, but a career 3.57 ERA in nearly 600 innings pitched shows the type of reliability that was missing in the Angels bullpen.

Alek Manoah was really dumb.

Mar 17, 2026; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Alek Manoah against the Chicago Cubs during a spring training game at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

I can give Minasian a pass on bringing in Grayson Rodriguez but not Alek Manoah. Penciling in the injured and ineffective Manoah for the fifth starter's job was even more mind numbing.

Manoah's recent production did not warrant a seven digit contract and inside route to a starting job. He pitched a whopping 38 innings across 4 minor league levels last year and has been in the minors most of the last 3 years. Yes, he was a beast in 2022 but that is a lifetime ago in baseball years and he immediately struggled in Angels camp.

Counting on Manoah to be anything other than the injured minor leaguer he is at this point in his career created a hole in the back end of the rotation and a fun roster battle to follow. The team has filled the back end of the rotation with Ryan Johnson and Jack Kochanowicz meaning this year's opening staff is relying in multiple unproven arms.

Jeimer Candelario was smart.

Yoan Moncada generally misses about half of the season and Nolan Schanuel has yet to develop much power. Brought in on a minor league deal, Candelario's right handed power gives the Angels coverage at both corner infield spots.

He will make the Opening Day roster and start on the bench but don't be surprised to see him play against lefties and get significant time covering for an injured Moncada. Depth continues to be a major issue for the Angels but landing Candelerio at league minumum was a very smart way to help address that deficiency.