The Los Angeles Angels have been lacking in star power for some time, and we all know they’re not going to sign or trade for their next star. This was a team that used to feature multi-positional super Shohei Ohtani when he first came over to MLB from Japan, along with current DH Mike Trout before he lost most of his vaunted athleticism.
There’s a new prospect on the horizon, however, and he could actually start in center this season. His name is Nelson Rada, and the 20-year old outfielder is the Angels’ 7th-ranked prospect, accordion to MLB Pipeline via a piece in an MLB.com piece written by Rhett Bollinger.
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It sounds far fetched, but Rada’s numbers back up the possibility. His slash line during his brief stint at Triple A Salt Lake was an impressive .323/.433/.416 with a homer, six doubles, three triples, 20 stolen bases and 17 RBIs in 42 games.
Rada will come to camp competing for a roster spot, but he offers a tantalizing skill set that goes beyond the numbers. He has on-base skills, the ability to steal bases and provide defense in center, and the Angels badly need all three of those skills.
“He’ll be in big league camp and I’m not ruling anything out,” general manager Perry Minasian told reporters. “They don’t check IDs in the dugout. If you can play and you’re going to help us win games, we’ll take a look.”
Rada is a native of Venezuela who joined the Angels organization as part of the 2022 international signing class, and the Angels thought enough of him to give Rada a $1.85 million bonus. He got a look last year in spring training that year, and Rada hit .333 with six RBIs in 11 games, plus he had five stolen bases in 12 Cactus League games last spring.
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The outfielder isn’t considered a burner, but according to his scouting report he gets good jumps and has a natural feel for the game. That’s why he’s considered a premium defender, and Rada does have enough speed to have stolen 171 career stolen bases in the minors, including 54 across Double A and Triple A last year.
He did slump in winter ball a bit, slashing 229/.339/.271 with three stolen bases and five walks in 24 games while playing against competition that was nearly a decade older on average. At 5’9” 185 pounds he’s nothing to hit a lot of homers, but he also lowered his strikeout rate to 19.9 percent in 2025.
Rada is coming along at the right time, too. Minasian has been talking about playing Trout part-time in center, which feels like a bad mistake waiting to happen given all the Angels have done to help keep him healthy.
Another issue that has to be mentioned in any conversation about Rada is the Angels tendency to rush prospects to the majors. Hopefully new manager Kurt Suzuki will be allowed to make the call here, even though the rookie manager is on a one-year deal with incentives, which would give him plenty of reasons to keep Rada around.