In 2016, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim dropped “Anaheim” from their name. Over the ensuing nine seasons, the team has enjoyed zero winning seasons. ZERO! The curse of Anaheim is real. Will the streak continue for a 10th year, or will a healthy Mike Trout guide the Angels to a .501 record in 2025. Here’s Nick Wright’s season preview.
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2024
2024 was one big disaster for the Halos (another one I hear you say) as the team finished with a record of 63-99 to sit at the bottom of the AL West. The one saving grace for the Angels was just avoiding a 100-loss season, maintaining their record as the only Major League team not to have had one.
As it is, though, injuries scuppered any outside possibility of success as a team, with Mike Trout missing most of the year, and rotation and lineup cobbled together for large chunks of the season. It was the first under Ron Washington and the Halos did see some improvements in their new young talented core, with Zach Neto and Logan O’Hoppe particularly impressing.
BIG OFFSEASON NEWS
The Angels burst out of the gate early in the offseason with a trade for Jorge Soler, and signing Travis d’Arnaud, Yusei Kikuchi and Kyle Hendricks, but didn’t make any significant additions, with a bloated payroll that continues to allow Anthony Rendon to rob the franchise.
Yoan Moncada and Kenley Jansen are the other two names, brought in this spring, who you’d expect to see making an impact for the Angels this season. As of writing, the 2025 roster will only have eight names on Opening Day from the 2024 Opening Day roster, which shows you how Perry Minasian has been trying to retool and churn the roster, hoping for more success this year.
ONE TO WATCH
It’s hard not to pick the guy throwing 105 here! Ben Joyce should be a mainstay at the back end of the Angels’ bullpen for many years to come, as he throws absolute gas and continues to improve his command. He has had a great spring, touching 104 mph and striking out guys for fun. He has a fantastic mentor in Kenley Jansen to learn from this year, but expect him to be lighting up radar guns at a ballpark near you soon.
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
You are really testing me asking for five here…
- Mike Trout is currently healthy and is now playing right field! It’s always a pleasure watching him play baseball and we should remain optimistic that the position change takes some of the strain off him and we can see a return to MVP form.
- The Angels’ young core – Zach Neto, Logan O’Hoppe, Nolan Schanuel, Jose Soriano, Ben Joyce. There is a lot of talent in this group who should continue to get better this year. The Angels have been aggressive with their promotions and it’s worked out. Expect to see Christian Moore added to the list sooner rather than later.
- There are now only two more years of Anthony Rendon’s contract… and we don’t expect him to play at all this year.
- The Angels’ bullpen should be very good. It was an upper-tier group in the second half of last season, and Perry has done a great job putting together an excellent set of arms. Is it 2002 all over again?
- There’s always reason for optimism when you play half your games in the beautiful setting of Southern California.
2025 PREDICTION
I think the Angels will likely struggle again this year. The rotation is very questionable, and there have not been any significant additions to the team that finished with 63 wins. I think if the team stays healthy and we see improvements again from the young players, we could see a 70-72 win team, but there is still a long way to go before this team is back in any sort of playoff contention. I predict a 65-97 season.
Featured image photo of Zach Neto by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images
Article by Nick Wright. Nick is the sleep-deprived dynamo behind LA Angels UK – active on all social media platforms – and the Halfway Around The Halo podcast. I don’t know how he finds the time, but Nick is also one of the irrepressible forces behind the UK MLB Clubhouse. Watch out for the range of fan events they are organising this season.
