The Los Angeles Angels haven’t seen a winning season in a decade. Despite consistently being in the top half of the MLB in payroll, the Angels are never able to cement themselves as a .500 team, let alone as a contender.
After a decade of losing baseball, things don’t exactly look to be changing in the near future for the Halos. They have brought in Kurt Suzuki as their next manager, although his impact is completely up in the air, as it will be his first time as a club’s skipper. The Angels’ farm system ranks as one of the league’s worst, and its major league roster doesn’t do much to catch any eyes.
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They’ll make some moves this offseason, such as trading for starter Grayson Rodriguez and infielder Vaughn Grissom, and signing relievers Drew Pomeranz, Alek Manoah, and Jordan Romero. It doesn’t move the needle drastically, however. It’s nowhere near enough influx of talent to take a 72-win team to being a contender in the American League West.
The worst part of it all is that the higher-ups at the club seem to be okay with that. As the evidence of the past decade suggests, they’re okay with being mediocre at best and being the laughing stock of the league. They’ll spend some money to bring in some big names who are past their best days to put up a front of effort.
In reality, there’s no urgency in Anaheim. There’s been no meaningful positive change within the club for years on end. Owner Arte Moreno continues to be one of the worst in all of American sports, and the club has not done well to entice players to join them with their losing records and poor treatment of its players.
The Angels are seemingly perfectly okay with this. They aren’t desperate to rebrand themselves as a competitive team or change the narrative about them. This offseason is no different. It’s why they’re ranked just 22nd in Bleacher Report’s recent desperation meter article.
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“Among American League teams, only the White Sox have worse 2026 World Series odds [than the Angels], so it’s almost a ‘sure would be fantastic if things were different, but we know they probably won’t be’ sort of resigned desperation to win,” B/R’s Kerry Miller wrote.
With an aging Mike Trout, the Angels should feel a sense of urgency in bringing possibly the greatest talent the game has ever seen back to the playoffs, where he has only been once before. They will make moves and shake up the roster, but believing they’ll do anything close to enough to become a postseason team is more than wishful thinking. For now, the Angels are one of the AL’s worst teams, and they’ve proven to be okay with that.