2 Angels players we'll be glad are gone in 2026 and 2 who never should’ve left

The Los Angeles Angels' 2026 roster won't look drastically different than the 2025 one. That's because there wasn't a ton of roster turnover, and many of the guys who have moved on were superfluous pieces to begin with.

There are certainly departures that hurt. Trading Taylor Ward stung, but that wasn't a voluntary departure, and it also brought back a sizeable return in Grayson Rodriguez.

No, instead, we're only looking at departing free agents here. These are all guys whom the club could have reunited with had they wanted to, but for one reason or another didn't. In some cases, we're very glad to see them walk out the door. In others, we're bummed that they'll be suiting up in new uniforms in 2026.

Two now former Angels players we're happy to say good riddance to

Luis Rengifo

Over the seven years Luis Rengifo spent in Anaheim, particularly the latter four, we saw a little bit of everything in terms of production. We saw a guy who looked like he had developed power, with 17 homers in 2022 and 16 dingers in 2023, both injury-shortened seasons, but we also saw it fall by the wayside. We saw a guy who seemed to develop plus contact skills, hitting .300 in 2024. Through it all, we saw a versatile switch-hitter who played multiple positions.

The thing is, with Rengifo, nothing ever truly stuck. His power would come and go. He'd hit .300 one year and then .238 the next. He stole 24 bases out of nowhere, but in only one other season did he reach 10. He can play a lot of positions, but he doesn't play any of them particularly well. The only thing he's actually been consistent at is posting bottom-of-the-barrel hard-hit and chase rates, making it a minor miracle that he'd been productive at all.

We aren't sad to see him go in favor of giving younger players the opportunity. We are, however, still mad that the Angels didn't capitalize on any of the numerous points that he carried significant trade value, and instead let him walk for nothing.

Chris Taylor

When the Angels scooped up the discarded Chris Taylor, they hoped they were pulling one over on the crosstown Dodgers. Instead, they learned the hard way what the Dodgers already knew.

Taylor was once a jack-of-all-trades utility dynamo, but those days were long gone by 2025. Instead, the Angels got the full modern-day Taylor experience, which included two left hand fractures, a 33.6% strikeout rate, and -0.4 fWAR when it was all said and done. Like Rengifo, we're not sure if there's a youngster who will provide a significantly better performance in 2026, but we are sure that the 35-year-old no longer has business on an MLB roster.

Two former Angels moving on to greener pastures that we're upset about

Kenley Jansen

Speaking of former Dodgers, the Angels did get the better of their Hollywood brethren on this one. Last offseason, the Dodgers needed to shore up the back-end of their bullpen, and instead of reuniting with their former superstar closer, they lavished Tanner Scott with a massive contract and gave 38-year-old Kirby Yates a fat one-year deal. Those both blew up in their face, though now the Halos will try to outsmart them again by bringing Yates in after that debacle. The then-37-year-old Jansen was an ageless wonder in Anaheim, however.

Jansen no longer posts unfathomable strikeout rates, and if he misses his spots, he can be homer-prone, but with a 2.59 ERA and 29 saves over 59 innings, he proved he could still get the job done. Now, he'll be getting the job done in Detroit with the Tigers, while the Angels will be hoping against hope that one of their many undesirable closer options can at least make it through the season healthy.

Luis Garcia

The Angels and Luis Garcia just can't quit each other, or so it seemed. The veteran right-hander logged his first tour in Anaheim in 2019. In 2024, he'd return to the Big A and post an exceptional first half that allowed the club to flip him at the deadline for Ryan Zeferjahn and Matthew Lugo, which still seems like a pretty savvy trade even if Zeferjahn took a step back in 2025 and Lugo hasn't broken out yet. Finally, the Angels were the third and final stop on his tour around the league last year.

It was only an 18-inning sample, but the 39-year-old was really good once he landed back with the Angels, posting a 2.00 ERA down the stretch. He doesn't have a ton of gas left in the tank, but he's still a reliable middle reliever, even at his advanced age. The $1.75 million the Mets gave him is chump change, and one has to wonder if he isn't a more stable option in the middle innings than whatever the Halos will end up running out there.