1 arbitration raise the Angels definitely cannot afford this offseason

The Angels have far too many players on their 40-man roster. They currently sit at 50 plus four impending free agents in Brandon Drury, Kevin Pillar, Matt Moore, and Hunter Strickland (Strickland is by far the logical player from that group to return). Patrick Sandoval will remain on the 60-Day Injured List for most of 2025 while he recovers from Tommy John surgery. It looks likely that these players will also be remaining on the 60-Day IL for the beginning of the season: Robert Stephenson, José Marte, Andrew Wantz. That's 41 players on the 40-man roster before any potential trades or free agency signings that the Angels vowed to provide this offseason.

General Manager, Perry Minasian, should have plenty of ways to clear spots, whether it is non-tendering arbitration-eligible players, designating younger players for assignment, or outright releasing players. The Athletic's Sam Blum reported after the season: "It is likely the Angels will tender contracts to Griffin Canning, Patrick Sandoval and José Suarez, three arbitration-eligible pitchers who struggled in 2024. Sandoval will likely miss most of 2025 after having Tommy John surgery. That said, those decisions have not fully been made yet."

The Angels might not want to risk designating certain young players for assignment and losing them in waivers in order to clear 40-man spots. In particular: Niko Kavadas, Sam Aldegheri, Sam Bachman, Jordyn Adams, Víctor Mederos, Davis Daniel, and obviously Caden Dana.

The Angels have plenty of players they could release in order to retain their whopping 12 arbitration-eligible players. The issue is that the arb players are far more expensive, even if they are better right now than players like Michael Stefanic, Jack López, Kyren Paris, Eric Wagaman, Charles Leblanc, Gustavo Campero, and Bryce Teodosio.

Given these salary figures, and an expectation that Arte Moreno is going to open his wallet this offseason, this player could be on his way out.

Griffin Canning

Griffin Canning is a great story of resilience, given his injury-riddled past. Canning pitched 171.2 innings this season, and the Angels do desperately need players who can eat innings for them this season. He also was a finalist for a Gold Glove, which would be his second if he won.

Despite all those innings Canning ate up in 2024, FanGraphs assigned his value at approximately $1.7 million. A $5.1 million (or $5.4 million according to Spotrac) contract figure for Canning is just too much for a player who led the league with 99 earned runs. Of the pitchers to throw at least 170 innings last season, Canning's 0.2 fWAR was the worst in the league. His 6.82 K/9 was second worst, his 3.46 BB/9 was fourth worst, his 1.97 K:BB was second worst to Tyler Anderson, and K-BB% was the worst. He is a starter whose best trait is eating innings, but if his vast injury history returns then he can neither eat innings or pitch efficiently.