2 sneaky mid-round Angels draft picks who could be hidden gems

The Angels' plan when they selected Tyler Bremner No. 2 overall was to be able to save enough money to sign their mid and late-round selections. They lost Ryan Prager after picking him the prior draft, despite going below-slot by selecting Christian Moore No. 8. Perry Minasian and his front office clearly wanted to get a transcendent player with that high of a draft pick, but the name of the game with a draft is quantity. Especially in a draft like this one, where it was not that top-heavy, the front office wanted to prioritize getting as many draftees as they could into their pipeline.

Many people did not like the Bremner selection at first, then started to cool on it. Only time will tell if that massive gamble will pay off, but having these two players in the farm system helps alleviate pain Angels fans might feel when they lost out on LSU's Kade Anderson.

2 sneaky mid-round Angels draft picks who could be hidden gems

Jake Munroe

With the 109th pick in the 4th round, the Angels went with Jake Munroe out of the University of Louisville. The corner infielder is 6'2" and 230 LBs, and the 21-year-old was on the All-Tournament Team for his stellar performance during the Cardinals' 2025 College World Series run.

Here's what ESPN's Kiley McDaniel had to say about Munroe: "Munroe graded out well defensively at third base and has the polish (pitch selection, ball flight) on top of fringe-to-average tools to be a big leaguer along the lines of Jared Triolo, which is a nice find in the fourth round." Some question whether Munroe will stay at the hot corner. He could move over to first one day.

Munroe is viewed as a pure hitter. He raked at John A. Logan College from 2023-2024, and then raked some more after transferring to Reid Detmers' alma mater. Munroe might have Jo Adell or Taylor Ward-type power, but he should live gap-to-gap and thrive due to great bat-to-ball skills.

CJ Gray

With the 140th pick in the 5th round, the Angels selected an 18-year-old from A.L. Brown HS in North Carolina. He was committed to NC State to pitch, due to being 6'2" and 205 LBs and touching 98 MPH. Gray throws turbo-sinkers, raw stuff and has immense potential. The ceiling is the roof, as Michael Jordan once said.

More from McDaniel:

"CJ Gray (fifth round). Gray popped onto the scene last summer with a dazzling performance, but scouts tempered their enthusiasm when he had trouble throwing strikes all spring. He finished the season better and showed well at the draft combine, giving teams a glimpse of what his plus athleticism could mean in terms of improvement in the next few years. He's a loose 6-foot-2 with a heater into the high-90s, a lower release height and an above-average slider with the makings of a changeup. If he can just keep throwing it over the plate, he has a big league future."

Kiley McDaniel

You gotta love the sound of selecting a pitcher who has immense stuff. Cleaning up a young pitcher's location is easier said than done, but it's a good problem to have. The youngster will have plenty of time and resources spent on him in order to develop more feel for the strike zone. When words and phrases like “explosive off the mound," "could have been a quarterback" and "great arm speed" are thrown around, you cannot help but swoon as a fan.

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