Angels announce 2020 roster: Five biggest takeaways

The Los Angeles Angels announced their 2020 roster on Thursday and there are some interesting things to note in the names included.

After all of the delays, negotiations, and the starts and stops, baseball is back. With two games set for tonight and the remainder of the league slated to start on Friday, teams (including the Angels) had to get their initial 30-man roster announced before the first pitch.

The Angels announced their roster through their PR team on Thursday afternoon, and for the most part, the names represented are fairly predictable.

However, a quick look shows some worthwhile talking points, with some names included, and some roles determined that we weren’t quite sure of. Additionally, there is at least one obvious name omitted.

It’s important to note that this initial roster is a 30-man roster. It will remain 30 players through the first two weeks of the season, before dropping to 28. The roster will then move to its final size of 26 two weeks after that. This was necessitated by the short camp and need to get everyone stretched out in a healthy way, while also evaluating players over the long term. When the roster sizes shrink, those players can be optioned back to the Long Beach camp, should they have options remaining.

Needless to say, this roster has a very unique, Joe Maddon stamp on it. A lot of emphasis has been placed on versatility, something that Maddon has valued in his previous stops in Tampa Bay and Chicago.

We’re going to take look at some of the key takeaways from the roster announcement, who made it, who didn’t, and what it all means for 2020.