Angels Passed Up Drafting 4 of Top 10 Prospects On New Top 100 List

The Angels' front office doesn't put much stock into prospect ranking lists. Most such lists have been unkind to the Angels for years; ESPN, for example, has ranked their farm system between 25th and 30th every year since the end of the 2021 season.

The Angels' goal with each recent draft has not been to build organizational depth, but rather to identify amateur players who have the best chance of accelerating quickly, then promoting them to the majors faster than their peers. In effect, the Angels aren't playing the long game. Where 29 other teams are zigging, the Angels zag.

Evaluating this strategy — and the Angels' ability to execute it — has been challenging.

For example, Nolan Schanuel, the Angels' first pick (11th overall) in 2023, has been worth 3.3 WAR according to Baseball Reference. Only two players drafted before him (Wyatt Langford and Paul Skenes), and one player taken later in the draft (Kevin McGonigle), have more. Regardless of what happens next, Schanuel wasn't a bad pick.

None of that necessarily makes Schanuel a good pick. Many players in his draft class are still making meaningful developments in the minor leagues, and could supersede his production after they reach the big leagues. It's too soon to say. The same can be said of the Angels' 2024 (Christian Moore) and 2025 (Tyler Bremner) first-round picks.

What we do know: the Angels have drafted relatively high in the first round every year this decade. Not since 2019 have the Angels drafted lower than 13th overall. Many of the best players in each draft class have been available to them.

That's why it was quite a surprise to see the Angels could have drafted four of the Top 10 prospects listed on Just Baseball's updated midseason rankings: Colt Emerson (No. 2), Ryan Sloan (No. 5), Seth Hernandez (No. 6) and Kade Anderson (No. 10).

Just Baseball's Top 10 MLB Prospects pic.twitter.com/2NpxI2POHa
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 3, 2026

In reality, not all four of them could be Angels, since both Anderson and Hernandez were part of the 2025 draft class. The Angels only could have picked one player instead of Bremner, whom they chose second overall last July.

Two others in Just Baseball's Top 10 — Twins outfielder Walker Jenkins and Tigers outfielder Max Clark — were taken ahead of Schanuel. The fact that neither has reached the majors, and Schanuel has, might be considered a successful execution of the strategy.

Even if the strategy is not the problem, the prospect lists aren't entirely worth ignoring. Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin, for example, was the consensus No. 1 prospect entering the 2026 season. He was promoted to the big leagues in April, and has an above-average .729 OPS through his first 51 games in Pittsburgh.

The Angels could have chosen Griffin with the No. 8 overall pick in 2024, but they took Moore instead. Seven other players chosen after Moore have reached MLB and accrued more WAR than the second baseman, who batted .198 in 53 games with the Angels last year.

Emerson, Sloan, Hernandez and Anderson haven't reached the big leagues yet, but at least one outlet thinks their future is brighter than any Angels minor leaguer. At some point, the Angels might not be able to ignore the prospect lists anymore.

Add us as a preferred source on Google