The Angels may be out of the postseason picture, but this last week still matters plenty inside the clubhouse. For a young roster trying to sort itself out for 2027, these games against the A’s and Mariners are turning into one final tryout, and three players in particular are feeling the heat.
Grayson Rodriguez, Vaughn Grissom and Luke Murphy are all fighting for their baseball futures, with manager Kurt Suzuki and the front office evaluating who belongs in the long-term plan under incoming owner Stan Kroenke. Some pieces are already set. These three are not.
Rodriguez arrived in the Taylor Ward deal as a high-risk, high-upside swing, the kind of move that made sense for a club looking for talent with room to grow. Injuries had already wiped out more than a full season when the Angels got him, and his time in Los Angeles has delivered both promise and frustration.
He missed the first six weeks, then made his debut against the Dodgers and got rocked for seven runs in 3.2 innings. Later in the summer, he showed the other side of the coin with a seven-inning, two-run outing against Baltimore, only to follow that kind of start with a four-inning, six-run disaster against Detroit.
The stuff is still good enough that Rodriguez has an option year left and would likely be kept around as AAA depth. But he was brought in by a previous regime, owns an ERA+ of 68, and has been the one pitcher on the staff who has not made a major jump since Mike Maddux was fired.
Grissom’s case is different, and in some ways more urgent. He has been given nearly 400 at-bats this season, enough time to prove what kind of player he is.
There have been flashes, including a 3-hit, 4-RBI night against the Yankees, but the overall line is hard to ignore: a .237 average, 12 home runs, a .304 on-base percentage and a .383 slugging percentage. By wRC+, he has been 7% worse than the average MLB hitter.
The glove hasn’t rescued him either. Grissom has graded out as a negative defender everywhere he has played, including -4 defensive runs saved at second base in just 38 games and -3 DRS in 50 games at first base.
That leaves the Angels with a player who has been below average at the plate and well below average in the field. He still has the appeal of multi-position versatility, but right now he is trying to prove he can be more than a utility option and force his way into the everyday lineup for 2027.
The pressure on Grissom is also the most immediate. He has no options left, so the Angels either keep him on the active roster or put him on waivers.
Murphy’s situation is a little different, but no less important. The rookie reliever has been one of the more interesting bullpen developments since his contract was selected from AA Rocket City in late July.
A former Vanderbilt closer, he has finally flashed the strikeout ability that made him stand out in the minors, but the results in the majors have been rough. In 17.1 innings, Murphy has struck out 18 batters, yet he has also allowed 12 earned runs and 14 runs overall.
His 1.615 WHIP tells the rest of the story: 18 hits and 10 walks have made life difficult.
Bullpen jobs can change fast from one year to the next, and Murphy is already 25, which puts him past the point of being treated like a true prospect. Suzuki is using these final pressure-packed innings to see what the young arms can handle. Murphy’s finish will go a long way toward deciding whether he heads into the offseason with a leg up on a bullpen spot or starts 2027 in Salt Lake City.
All three players came from the Perry Minasian-led front office, so the new executives do not have any built-in reason to protect them. If the week goes poorly, Rodriguez and Murphy are likely headed for AAA, while Grissom could end up on waivers.
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The Athletics piled up nine runs over the final three innings and finished the comeback with back-to-back go-ahead two-run homers from Carlos Cortes and Zack Gelof in the eighth. Even a run in the ninth could not stop the bleed for Los Angeles, leaving the Angels with a familiar worry: a game that looked secure until the late innings turned it into another frustrating bullpen story. [Read more 🡒]