The Angels are heading into an offseason full of uncertainty, and that makes 2027 feel like the real checkpoint for a few players who may stick around through the winter. With the franchise’s ownership change not expected to close until the first quarter of 2027 and the threat of a lockout hanging over the sport once the CBA expires on December 1, Los Angeles could spend another year in a holding pattern before the next big reset.
That means some players will survive the offseason, but they won’t exactly be safe. They’ll be back, yet firmly on notice that 2027 is the year when the Angels’ direction - and their own future in Anaheim - starts to come into focus.
Ryan Johnson is one of those names. Los Angeles does at least have two rotation building blocks in Reid Detmers and Walbert Urena, but the staff still needs more if the club wants to become a real contender.
Johnson, 24, is supposed to be part of that answer, even if his path has already been bumpy. His development was badly mishandled by the Perry Minasian regime, and his 2026 season reflected that mess: a brutal 6.75 ERA in the first half, followed by a better 4.19 mark after the All-Star break.
Injuries have also complicated his young career, and fair or not, he still carries the baggage of being the compensation the Halos got after losing Shohei Ohtani. He’s going to be under pressure from multiple directions, too, with high-upside arms like George Klassen and Tyler Bremner eventually pushing for rotation spots and the new leadership likely more willing to spend on top-end starting pitching.
If Johnson wants to remain in the mix, he’ll have to earn it.
Moises Ballesteros is in a different kind of spot. He’s only 22 and just finished his first MLB season with meaningful playing time, but his fit on the roster is already murky.
Officially, he’s a catcher, yet there are real questions about whether he can handle the position defensively. He caught only 29 games last season and struggled doing it.
The Angels also added Jacob Cozart at the deadline, and Cozart brings better defensive tools that could make him the eventual answer behind the plate. That leaves Ballesteros searching for a home, possibly at first base or DH.
The problem there is that Mike Trout has asked for more time in left field and at designated hitter in 2027, and as he gets older he’ll need more DH days anyway. So Ballesteros may be staring at the cold corner as his best path forward, and that only works if the bat comes around.
He hit just .215/.281/.331 in 2026, and that won’t cut it if he’s going to hold a job.
Zach Neto is the most established of the group, but he’s also the one whose next step matters most. He’s been one of the few bright spots on a string of rough Angels teams, yet the leap from very good to true star has not happened.
Over the last three seasons, he’s put up wRC+ marks of 117, 117, and 116. That kind of steadiness has value, but the Angels need more than steady.
They need a centerpiece. Neto did show some growth in 2026 by pushing his walk rate from 6% in 2025 to 9.9%, but the tradeoff was a jump in strikeout rate from 26.9% to 30.5%, which wiped out much of the benefit.
His defense has also remained an issue.
There’s been some buzz that the Angels could still listen to trade offers for Neto, but unless someone overwhelms them, the likeliest outcome is that he stays and gets 2027 to prove he can be the player the organization builds around. If that doesn’t happen, the Angels could still shop him at the deadline and expect a return not far off from what they’d get by moving him this winter.
In Other News...
The Angels Figure Who Helped Build 2002 Core Is Being Remembered
Bob Fontaine Jr., the longtime Angels scouting director from 1987 to 1999, died in Arizona at the age of 73, and his name is surfacing again for the role he played in building pieces of the club that would later win the 2002 World Series. Fontaines career stretched well beyond Anaheim, but for Angels fans, his imprint is tied to the patient work of identifying talent and helping lay the foundation for a championship core.
The Angels joined other voices around baseball in paying tribute to Fontaines influence on player development and scouting, a reminder that much of a title run begins long before October. His legacy now sits in the quieter, less visible part of the franchises history, in the evaluations and decisions that helped shape a roster that would eventually reach the sports biggest stage. [Read more 🡒]
Angels May Be Reaching A Tough Truth About Nolan Schanuel
Nolan Schanuel has settled in as the Angels first baseman since late 2023, and his 2026 season was easily his strongest yet. He gave the club a steady left-handed bat, hit for average, reached base at a solid clip and turned in a 2.1 bWAR season in 107 games, the kind of production that still matters in a lineup looking for stability.
Even so, the fit at first base can be tricky because Schanuels game is built more around contact than impact. He struck out at a low rate and kept the ball in play, but he also finished with only seven home runs, and that kind of power shortage is hard to ignore at a position where big extra-base production is usually expected. With three years of team control left, the Angels do not have to make any immediate decisions, but they may eventually have to decide whether his steady approach is enough or whether they need to look for more punch at first. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Fans Have Seen This Costly Front Office Pattern Before
The Angels have spent enough time living with front office decisions that looked sensible on paper and turned costly in practice. Robert Stephenson arrived on a three-year deal with the hope of stabilizing the bullpen, but injuries quickly swallowed much of that plan, while the organization has also had to answer for trades involving Josh Lowe and Grayson Rodriguez that never delivered the kind of return the club needed.
For a team that finished with 100 losses, those misfires loom larger than ever because they were not isolated mistakes, but part of a pattern fans have seen before. The frustration now is not just about one bad season, but about how quickly the Angels keep finding themselves paying for moves that fail to help when the roster most needs it. [Read more 🡒]