All the Angels Roster Moves That Went Down Today

Not a ton of surprises here outside of perhaps Klassen. Earlier in camp the righty was throwing gas but he's been less impressive his last two times out. My prediction of him making the Opening Day roster will not come true. Not the first or last prediction I will miss.

Of this group, Sandlin is likely the first to matriculate to the Major Leagues. He has a solid track record as a reliever and is recovering from an injury that shortened his 2024 season. The good news is he's pitched in two Cactus League games and should be available to the team very early in the season.

Trey Mancini is the best human interest story in camp and sat down for an amazing interview with Angels On SI. After getting extremely limited looks in camp he'll hope some regular playing time will give him a chance to shine.

Chris Taylor did not make the team and opted out of his contract.

Not a big suprise here. Taylor had a really nice Spring Training run slashing .243/.391/.432 in 15 games. He typically played against AA and AAA level competition, though, and has been horrible with the bat at the MLB level for two seasons.

The versatile Taylor is well liked in the baseball world and is known for being very kind in his charity work. It looks like it is time for him to move on from baseball.

Ryan Johnson and Jack Kochanowicz will make the Opening Day roster.

Both Johnson and Kochanowicz have made the best of their Cactus League opportunities. And both will be rewarded for their efforts.

Last weekend Johnson shut down the A's MLB lineup. In that game he pitched four scoreless innings with four strikeouts and no walks. Overall he has pitched 11.2 Cactus League innings, struck out 14 hitters and only walked two. Johnson has picked up a lot of horizontal break on his splitter and is getting a 40% whiff rate on it this Spring.

While Johnson has bullpen experience it is hard to envision Kochanowicz as anything than a starter. He's started two Cactus League games and pitched to a 2.08 ERA in 8.2 innings. A lack of strikeouts really hurt him last season but he's recorded 5 against 1 walk this Spring.

Grayson Rodriguez, Alek Manoah, and Anthony Rendon are still on the roster.

Rodriguez has hit or miss in the Cactus League as he works his way back from an injury truncated 2025. He's dealing with a dead arm, which is common in camp, and his status for Opening Day is in doubt. An injury to him creates two holes in the rotation and that might explain Johnson and Kochanowicz.

Alek Manoah, however, has been horrible in Cactus League play and is nowhere near ready to face MLB hitters. His struggles have led to a wide open battle for the fifth starter's spot and highlighted just how thin the Angels rotation depth his. I've advocated for adding an outside arm or two and even looked into a few who might be available this week.

The curious case of Anthony Rendon continues. He's not going to play this season and has restructured his salary to get paid over the next five years. There's thought the Angels need to keep him on the roster until they can put him on the injured list to ensure he stays on the team's insurance as he rehabs from a game related injury.