The Los Angeles Angels are riding the longest active playoff drought in Major League Baseball. Let that sink in.
Longer than the Pirates, Rockies, and White Sox-teams that have practically made losing part of their brand at times. The Halos haven’t sniffed October baseball since 2014, and after back-to-back last-place finishes in the AL West, there’s little to suggest that 2026 will be the year that changes.
This isn’t just a case of bad luck or a couple of down years. It’s been a decade of missed opportunities, mismanagement, and misfires. And while fans have been quick to point the finger at owner Arte Moreno-and yes, there’s plenty of blame to go around there-the issues run deeper than just the man signing the checks.
Moreno has been at the helm since 2003, and to be fair, the early years weren’t all doom and gloom. From 2004 through 2014, the Angels posted nine winning seasons in 11 years.
But ever since that last postseason appearance, it’s been a slow, frustrating unraveling. Now, if this organization wants to get back to relevance-and not just relevance, but actual competitiveness in a division that’s only getting tougher-they’ve got to make some serious changes.
Here are three things the Angels must do to turn the ship around:
1. Move on from Perry Minasian
Perry Minasian took over as general manager in November 2020, inheriting a team with two generational talents in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. That’s the kind of foundation most GMs dream about. But what’s followed has been a puzzling mix of passivity and missed chances.
Yes, Trout’s injuries have been a major setback. No, that’s not on Minasian.
But what is on him is the failure to build around those stars. Instead of aggressively supplementing the roster or swinging big in free agency, Minasian has often opted for half-measures-minor additions that haven’t moved the needle.
And once Ohtani left, the front office seemed to shrink even further into its shell.
The Angels haven’t acted like a team with urgency. Valuable veterans have stayed past their trade-by dates.
Free-agent windows have come and gone with little more than mid-tier signings. It’s not that every move has to be a blockbuster, but there’s been a noticeable reluctance to take real risks.
And while some of Minasian’s predecessors made mistakes, at least they took swings. That kind of boldness is missing now.
Sure, Moreno’s reputation as a hands-on owner complicates things. But great GMs find ways to work within those constraints. Minasian hasn’t shown he’s that guy.
2. Rebuild the Player Development Pipeline
If you want to know why the Angels haven’t been able to sustain success, look no further than their player development system. It’s not just underperforming-it’s underfunded, under-resourced, and often mismanaged.
Start with the infrastructure. Compared to other clubs, the Angels lag behind in investing in the tools that fuel modern player development-analytics, tech, scouting, and facilities. That’s a major red flag in today’s game, where even small-market teams are finding ways to punch above their weight by maximizing talent from within.
Then there’s the way they handle their prospects. The Angels have a habit of rushing players to the big leagues before they’re fully ready.
We’ve seen it with guys like Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel, and Christian Moore-players who may have the tools but haven’t been given time to refine them. And it’s even more glaring with pitchers like Caden Dana and Sam Aldegheri, who were treated less like future rotation pieces and more like bullpen stopgaps.
That kind of mismanagement doesn’t just hurt development-it tanks trade value. When you mishandle young arms or push position players too fast, you’re not just hurting their growth, you’re also limiting your flexibility as a franchise. Until the Angels commit to a smarter, more patient approach to development, they’ll keep spinning their wheels.
3. Embrace the Market-and Build the Brand
The Angels might share the “Los Angeles” name with the Dodgers, but let’s be real: they’ve always been Orange County’s team. And that’s not a bad thing. Orange County is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S., and when you factor in the pockets of LA fans who prefer the Halos, the potential fan base is massive.
The problem? The Angels haven’t fully capitalized on that market power.
Branding has been inconsistent over the years-from the California Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to the current iteration-and the franchise has struggled to create a clear identity. That’s a missed opportunity in a region that’s hungry for a winner and filled with fans who want something to rally around.
The Angels had a golden opportunity to expand their brand globally when they signed Shohei Ohtani. They could’ve leaned into the Asian market, built out international partnerships, and turned Ohtani into the face of a global brand. Instead, they played it safe-too safe-and let that chance slip through their fingers.
But all isn’t lost. The market is still there.
The fan base is still there. What’s missing is momentum.
If the Angels can fix their front office and player development pipeline, they’ll finally have a product worth selling. And once that happens, they need to lean all the way in-think Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays-level ambition.
Because make no mistake: the Angels have the potential to be a financial and competitive powerhouse. They just have to stop getting in their own way.
Bottom line: The Angels’ playoff drought isn’t just a symptom of bad luck-it’s the result of years of missteps, missed chances, and a lack of organizational alignment. But the path forward is clear.
Clean house at the top. Rebuild the farm from the ground up.
And finally, act like the big-market franchise they actually are.
The clock’s ticking. And fans have waited long enough.