2 Angels prospects who will make the Opening Day roster and 1 who won't

Christian Moore will claim the opening-day second base job

The most glaring hole remaining on the roster resides in the infield. Depending on where you slot Luis Rengifo, it's either at second or third base. Given the in-house options to fill that hole, it makes the most sense to play Rengifo at third, meaning the second base job is up for grabs. Despite the recent signing of former All-Star Tim Anderson to a minor league deal the remaining starting spot in the infield is still wide open. Anderson, after all, was worth -1.4 fWAR in just 65 games for the Miami Marlins last season.

Enter top prospect, Christian Moore. Last year's first-round pick doesn't have much experience in pro ball, but in his 25 career pro games he's torn the cover off the ball to the tune of a .347/.400/.584 line. He's fresh off a distinguished career at the University of Tennessee, where he became both the school's single-season and career home run record holder.

Moore now stands poised to follow in the footsteps of the Halos' first-round picks from 2022 and 2023, Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel, both of whom arrived in the big leagues shortly after being drafted. Neto played in 48 minor league games, only 4 of which came at AAA, before making his way to the majors while Schanuel's ascension was even more rapid with just 22 games of minor league experience and not a single one coming in AAA.

Both Neto and Schanuel had shorter big-league stints before being anointed starters, but given the level of Moore's competition for the second base job – Scott Kingery whose last taste of big-league action came in one game back in 2022, and the aforementioned Anderson – it becomes clear that the 22-year-old is the best option to be the opening-day starter at second. The only other potential fit at second would be Kevin Newman who has value as a utility man, but will be called upon to cover for Neto while the star shortstop recovers from surgery. As a result, he's not really in the running for the opening-day second base job.

At this point in the offseason, the free-agent pool has also dried up so it's highly unlikely any more competition is brought in leading to the eventuality that Moore will be the starting second baseman once the regular season kicks off.