The Angels’ latest Gold Glove showing is another ugly snapshot of how this roster has been built. When MLB unveiled the 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove finalists, Los Angeles had just one name in the mix: José Soriano.
That lone finalist says a lot. The Angels finished 28th in outs above average at minus-42 this season, which tracks with where they usually land in the sport’s more trusted defensive numbers, including defensive runs saved and defensive wins above replacement.
The bigger issue is that the organization’s defensive pipeline never seems to move the needle. The Angels have done a decent job developing hitters and pitchers, but the glove work hasn’t followed. Too often, the players they acquire with at least some defensive value wind up offering little in the field and not enough at the plate to make the tradeoff worthwhile.
The recent Gold Glove history makes the pattern hard to miss. Griffin Canning was the Angels’ last Gold Glove winner in 2020, and the last position player from the club to win it was Andrelton Simmons in 2018.
Luis Rengifo was a finalist among American League second basemen after 2025. Canning and Jo Adell were finalists after 2024.
The Angels had no finalists after 2023. Rengifo and Brandon Marsh were finalists after 2022.
None of those players are still with the club, including Soriano, the Angels’ only nominee after 2026.
The current roster doesn’t offer much relief. Mike Trout spent this season in center field and was average at best there.
Zach Neto doesn’t look like a long-term shortstop. Nolan Schanuel has minimal feel at first base.
And the rest of the group often feels like a carousel of platoon pieces who aren’t sturdy enough defensively and aren’t productive enough with the bat to justify a DH spot, especially Vaughn Grissom, Yoan Moncada and Jose Siri.
The team also gave away too many outs. The Angels committed 91 errors this season, fifth-most in the American League. Since 2020, they’ve piled up 588 errors, ninth-most in MLB over that stretch.
Coming off the first 100-loss season in franchise history, cleaning up the defense would be a modest place to start.
In Other News...
Angels Still Have One Costly Problem To Fix This Winter
After a 100-loss season, the Angels enter the winter with one of the clearest needs in the sport: better infield help. Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel give the club young pieces to build around, but the group around them still needs more steadiness, especially on the defensive side. For a team trying to stop the bleeding, the infield cannot be a place where development and survival are asked to overlap too much.
That is why the free-agent market has become so important for Los Angeles, with Jazz Chisholm Jr., Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ramon Urias among the names being tied to the club as possible answers. Each brings a different kind of fit, from athletic upside to veteran reliability, and Urias in particular comes with the added wrinkle of an injury-shortened season that makes it harder to know how much weight to put on his recent numbers. The Angels do not need a splash so much as they need stability, and this winter will tell whether they are willing to buy it. [Read more 🡒]
Jose Soriano Gives Angels Fans One More Reason To Revisit That Trade
Jose Soriano spent part of the 2026 season becoming a reminder of what the Angels once had in their rotation, and now he has added another layer to that conversation. The right-hander, dealt from Los Angeles to Toronto at the trade deadline, has been named one of the three American League finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award at pitcher, a nod to the kind of athleticism and clean work on the mound that often gets overlooked when teams talk trade returns.
Sorianos case is built on more than reputation. He handled his fielding chances without an error across 32 starts, adding 21 assists along the way, and he also did a strong job controlling the running game with a caught-stealing rate well above the league average. Tanner Bibee and Jacob deGrom are the other finalists, leaving Soriano in distinguished company and giving Angels fans one more reason to revisit the deal that sent him north. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Face A Bigger Center Field Question Than Fans Expected
Mike Trouts long-term positional shift has quietly pushed the Angels into a more complicated center-field conversation than many expected. With Trout headed toward a corner-outfield role, the team has to start thinking ahead about who can handle the middle of the outfield, and the answer may not be a single everyday player so much as a committee built around fit, defense and balance.
One possibility is a platoon that pairs Wade Meckler with Tyrone Taylor, a combination that could cover the position in different ways while helping the rest of the roster. Meckler brings one set of offensive traits, Taylor another, and together they could give the Angels a steadier presence in center while also strengthening the overall run prevention picture. [Read more 🡒]