The Angels didn’t play it safe with the No. 12 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. They went after upside, and they did it with a player who fits the organization’s new direction almost perfectly.
Los Angeles selected Jared Grindlinger, a 17-year-old two-way prospect from Huntington Beach High School, and announced him as an outfielder. That doesn’t close the book on his arm, though. Grindlinger’s pitching remains part of the conversation, even if the Angels made clear they see his best path forward with the bat.
That alone marks a real shift for a club that has leaned heavily toward college players in recent drafts, chasing prospects expected to move quickly. This time, John Mozeliak - who stepped into the Angels’ top baseball role only two weeks ago - backed the scouts and gave them room to swing big on a high-school talent with a much wider range of outcomes.
Grindlinger, who grew up in Huntington Beach and goes to Angels games, was all smiles in a post-draft Zoom chat. He’s a longtime Angels fan, and draft day played out at his uncle’s house, another devoted follower of the team. His uncle has seats on the third base side behind the Angels dugout and has taken his nephews to plenty of games over the years.
“The dream has always been to play professional ball so this is one step closer to my dream.”
“It has been fun,” the Angels first rounder said.
The local connection is a nice layer, but the pick was made because of what Grindlinger can do. At 6-foot-3, he brings the kind of physical projection scouts love, and there’s plenty to dream on whether he ends up on the grass or back on the mound.
As a pitcher, he can already run his fastball into the mid-90s and pairs it with advanced spin rates for his age. His senior season numbers were eye-catching: 57.1 innings, 66 strikeouts and a 0.85 ERA.
At the plate, the production was just as loud. Grindlinger hit .376 with 41 hits as a senior, and his contact ability is what pushed the Angels toward him as an outfielder. Scouts also see room for more power as he fills out, which only adds to the appeal.
The Angels believe the 17-year-old still has plenty of room to grow into his frame, and that extra size could matter on both sides of the ball. The timeline also works in their favor: getting him into pro ball this early could let him move through each level and still reach the majors at 22. It also gives the Angels time to develop him as a hitter first, while keeping the option to move him back to the mound if the bat doesn’t take off.
That’s the gamble here. High school players carry a much higher bust rate than college players, and this is a clear bet on talent over certainty. Mozeliak has to trust that the development plan will match the ambition of the pick.
The scouting department sounds like it has more freedom than it did before. In the Zoom session after the selection, head of scouting Tom Mcllvaine said Mozeliak has opened the door for him to run things his way.
“Since Mo has come in he's really empowered me to run the room the way I want to run the room,” said Mcllvaine noting that every GM is different. Mo prefers to let people do their jobs with little interference from above. That is a huge departure from the Angels culture of the past.
Mcllvaine said the Angels evaluated Grindlinger with Team USA, in Japan and plenty of times up close in Orange County. He believes Grindlinger could have gone in the first round as a pitcher, but the organization sees the greater upside with the bat.
“We want to develop the bat first,” Mcllvaine said noting that they have spoken with Gindlinger about their development plan.
The Angels are still leaving the door open for a two-way future. Asked about that possibility, Mcllvaine said:
“There is. He does two way now.
To do a two way it's a lot. So for us I want to make sure that the side we are drafting him for is right.”
For the Angels, this was more than just a flashy first-round name. It was a statement about how they want to build: trust the scouts, chase the ceiling, and take a real shot at turning raw talent into something bigger.
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