The Angels have spent the better part of a decade living in constant motion, and this season has only added to the churn. There’s an interim general manager in place, the club is in the middle of an ownership change, the entire MLB pitching department was dismissed midseason, and the manager looks like a lame duck. Even getting to 60 wins has been a grind, and the trade deadline sent away multiple players who were supposed to be part of the long-term core.
In a setting like that, keeping some continuity beyond Mike Trout matters more than ever. Right now, though, the Angels are doing a whole lot of waiting when it comes to their best young piece.
Zach Neto’s future needs to become an offseason priority. The shortstop keeps showing up on lists of players who could be moved before next season begins, but his production makes the case for the opposite.
Neto leads the Angels in hits with 142, doubles with 29, triples with 5, home runs with 26, runs scored with 96, RBI with 74 and stolen bases with 21. He has already set career highs in hits, runs scored, triples and walks, with 58 walks.
He needs one more home run to set a career best there, and four more RBI to do the same.
The numbers go beyond this season. Neto already has 84 career home runs, which ranks 25th in Angels history, and 200 career extra-base hits, good for 26th all-time in the franchise record book.
At 25 years old, he has also piled up 60 extra-base hits this season, making him one of only nine Angels players ever to reach that mark at age 25 or younger. The others on that list are Mike Trout, Troy Glaus, Mark Trumbo, Darin Erstad, Jim Edmonds, Tim Salmon, Devon White and Wally Joyner.
And there’s a bigger opportunity here for the Angels than just locking up a productive shortstop. Their division is wide open in the near future.
The Astros and Rangers are battling for the top spot in the American League West, the Mariners are described as a mess in 2026, and the Athletics are playing in a minor-league ballpark while their core comes with durability questions. A Neto extension would send a clear message that the Angels intend to stop drifting and start acting like a team ready to seize the division and finally end the postseason drought.
In Other News...
Angels Offseason Reset Is Putting Part Of This Roster On Notice
The Angels offseason reset is already starting to take shape, and it comes with a clear message for a few players on the current roster. Under new leadership and with ownership looking for a different direction, the club is expected to spend the winter reshaping parts of the roster rather than simply running it back, which puts some fringe names in a difficult spot heading into the next phase of the calendar.
Jose Siri, Oswald Peraza, Sam Bachman and Sammy Peralta are among the players whose standing appears especially shaky after uneven results and limited traction this year. None of that guarantees a clean break, but it does mean the Angels will enter the offseason with more questions than certainties, and the way they sort through those spots should say a lot about how aggressive they plan to be in reworking the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Ended Their Home Schedule With A Frustrating Statement
The Angels wrapped up their home schedule with a night they would rather forget, getting blanked 8-0 by the Twins while managing only one hit and striking out 11 times. It was the kind of finish that left little to soften the blow, even before Minnesota started stacking on runs with timely contact and a big swing in the late innings.
Kurt Suzuki and Ryan Johnson both pointed to the pitching side of the performance after the game, with Johnson charged with three earned runs over 4 2/3 innings despite six strikeouts and no walks. The Twins kept extending the gap as the game went on, then put it further out of reach with Alan Rodens three-run home run in the seventh, a final reminder of how quickly a close game can get away from a club already under pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Take Another Injury Hit With Two Roster Pieces Suddenly In Doubt
The Angels injury list got a little longer at the worst possible time, with first baseman Nolan Schanuel and infielder Kyren Paris both being shut down for the rest of the season. Schanuel aggravated a right intercostal strain during a rehab game, while Paris is dealing with a fractured right index finger, leaving the club even thinner as it heads into its final two series.
There was at least a small bit of relief on another front, since relief pitcher Natera will not need surgery despite the concern around his injury. But for a team already trying to get through the final stretch, losing two roster pieces at once only adds to the uncertainty around how the Angels will piece together the end of the season. [Read more 🡒]