Harrison Bader Fits Perfectly on the Angels

Center field is an area of the club GM Perry Minasian has stated he is looking to improve. In looking at the Angels depth chart, that will likely require a free agent signing.

20 year old Nelson Rada is flashing good leather and getting on base at a solid clip in AAA but could likely use a full year at that level to complete his development. Outside of Rada, the only other in house option is Matthew Lugo who has yet to succeed in his MLB opportunities.

Bryce Teodosio was brilliant defensively in 2025 but looked overmatched at the plate. As a fourth outfielder, Teodosio's elite defense and speed on the basepaths could be a major asset. But for a club with the second lowest on base percentage in all of MLB last season, the need for a respectable bat is obvious.

Minasian has hinted at using face of the franchise Mike Trout in center field at times this season but given Trout's injury history

Among the free agent options, Harrison Bader is the best fit for a plug and play centerfielder.

This year's free agent crop is not deep when it comes to center fielders. Cody Bellinger can technically play the position but is better suited to a corner outfield spot at this time. Chas McCormick was good in 2023 but is steeply declining and put up a WAR of negative 1 last year. Garrett Hampson is simply not an upgrade over Teodosio.

So that leaves Harrison Bader as the best of the bunch. He is coming off a career best year at the plate that is unlikely to be duplicated and his offense has been below average for his career, but not by much. When measured by FanGraphs wRC+, a metric that includes baserunning as well as hitting and on base percentage, Bader is 4% worst than league average for his career. That makes him a 45% better offensive player than Bryce Teodosio.

It is defense, however, that is Bader's calling card. The Fielding Bible ranks Bader as an elite defender in both center field and left field. Had he played a full season at center he would have rated top 5 overall. In left he would have been the second best in MLB.

The Angels pitching is often maligned, but they get no help from the defense.

In every team category Angels pitchers rated in the bottom half of baseball last season. However, they did not get any help from the defense. The Angels had the third worst team defense per The Fielding Bible. A great way to improve the pitching is to improve the defense behind it. Adding Harrison Bader would do just this.

Angels pitchers and Angels fans would greatly enjoy seeing defense like this on a nightly basis.