What Kind of Team the Angels are Trying to be in 2026

By average age, the Angels will not be among the MLB's youngest teams. That is largely due to a bullpen that is stocked full of veterans on one year deals. But get away from that unit and the youth movement in Anaheim is clear.

After years of overlooking prospect development and trying to win via free agency, the Angels are building a young, flexible team for 2026. Whether this will lead to improvement in the standings remains to be seen, but this team should be far more interesting to watch than other recent editions.

Mike Trout will be the oldest position player on the team.

As odd as it sounds, Trout is the elder statesman of the Angels. For many of us it seems unreal that Trout has played 15 years at the MLB level but he has. However, he's only 34 years old.

For most of Trout's career 34 would not have put him at the top of the list. Even if you go by Albert Pujol's stated age he paced the club at 40 and over. 34 is fairly young to be the oldest position player on the team.

Designated hitter Jorge Soler is even younger than Trout. If Adam Frazier makes the squad he's also younger than Trout by a few months. Nobody else's age even starts with a 3.

The infield is yound and mostly homegrown.

On Opening Day Zach Neto will be 25 years old. That's the same age as utility players Oswald Peraza and Vauhn Grissom. Peraza is looking great in camp right now and should secure an Opening Day roster spot.

That trio is a year older than Nolan Schanuel, who turned 24 on Valentine's Day. If Christian Moore rejoins the Angels big league club he's only 23.

Neto and Schanuel were first round draft picks. Peraza and Grissom were brought in via trade. The former for cash and the latter for a prospect. The only free agent guaranteed a roster spot is Yoan Moncada and he's only 30 years old.

Jo Adell and Josh Lowe are prime and flexible.

Josh Lowe is 28 years old and has MLB experience at all three outfield positions. The lefty is best suited for a corner but can cover center field from time to time.

The same bio line applies to Jo Adell except for the fact he'll turn 27 about a week into the regular season. Adell broke out with a huge power year last year. Some of the data behind that suggests he could again be a power bat for the Angels.

Both are in their athletic prime and capable of giving the Angels production all around the infield.

And there's more youth potentially on the way.

As of now, I expect Christian Moore to start the season in AAA while Adam Frazier holds down the keystone. Given Frazier's age and one year contract, the Angels are hoping Moore can live up to his first round billing and force his way to the big leagues sooner rather than later.

Nelson Rada had another strong Spring Training campaign and is the center fielder and leadoff hitter of the future. The kid won't even be able to legally buy a beer until late August.

Kyren Paris and Denzer Guzman have already gotten cups of coffee at the MLB level. Both will start this season in AAA with eyes on returning to Anaheim.

The Angels won't admit this is a rebuild, but the team is chock full of guys who are in their 20s. Some of them will work out and be part of a new core. Some will not. The fun in watching the Angels this season won't be in the won/loss column but in identifying which players are worth keeping for 2027 and beyond.