3 best remaining free-agent second base targets the Angels could pursue

When Ken Rosenthal reported that he believes that the Angels are in play to pick off several free agents, he certainly meant players more substantial than Tim Anderson and J.D. Davis, right? This is a team that still has several holes on the roster, one of the most prominent being in the infield. Luis Rengifo is versatile, but it's clear that his skills best translate to third base. Plus, if he puts down roots at the hot corner we all get the added bonus of forgetting that Anthony Rendon exists.

That would shift the hole to second base, and while top prospect Christian Moore might prove to be the best option there in spring training it wouldn't hurt to add some viable competition for him. After all, the youngster has just 25 games of professional experience under his belt.

There are three remaining free-agent second baseman who could at worst provide some competency at the keystone position. None of these guys are stars, but they at least bring big-league experience and perhaps a little more to the table.

Ha-seong Kim should be the Angels' first choice

The Korean-born star had some trouble adapting to major league pitching when he arrived stateside. After clubbing 30 homers in his final season in the KBO, he arrived in San Diego and posted a very lackluster 71 wRC+.

In the three seasons since, he's gotten his feet under him. While he might not be quite the fearsome hitter he was in Asia, from 2022 through 2024 he's posted wRC+ marks of 105, 110, and 101 respectively. He shows solid plate discipline with a career walk rate of 10.4% and enough pop to be respectable. His 2024 line of .233/.330/.370 won't jump off the page, but it was essentially league-average performance.

Where he really shines is with the glove. Last season, playing exclusively shortstop for the Padres, he recorded 2 outs above average. In 2023, he spent time at second, short, and third recording 9 OAA total with 7 coming at second.

While good glovework matters for every team, it might be even more important for the Angels who lack strikeout artists in the rotation and rely on ground balls to be effective. Tightening up the defense up the middle while adding a competent bat seems like a home run of a signing.

Sounds perfect, right? Well, almost. There's one issue that muddies the fit for the Halos a bit. Kim suffered a shoulder injury last August and underwent surgery in October that will hold him out until the end of April or the beginning of May at the earliest.

With rising star shortstop Zach Neto undergoing his own shoulder surgery back in November and having a questionable timetable for his return, it would be a tough pill to swallow for the Halos to be without both halves of their double-play combo to start the season.

Still, Kim who has posted fWARs between 2.6 and 4.2 in each of the last three seasons is a superb option, and one whose price tag should continue to fall the longer he remains unsigned.

Former Mariner Jorge Polanco is a flawed yet intriguing option for the Angels

From 2019 until 2021, the now 31-year-old Jorge Polanco seemed to be on a superstar trajectory, 2020's COVID-shortened season not withstanding. With the Minnesota Twins in 2019, the then 25-year-old Polanco broke out to the tune of a .295/.356/.485 line with 22 dingers and a 120 wRC+ en route to a 3.3 fWAR season.

The abbreviated 2020 season was a poor showing for him, but that can be excused by the small sample and unusualness of it all, especially when he returned to form in 2021 crushing 33 long balls while slashing .269/.323/.503 posting a 124 wRC+ and 4.0 fWAR.

A variety of injuries limited Polanco to 104 games in 2022 and just 80 games in 2023, and while he was still productive with the bat he failed to reach his past heights even in the abbreviated playing time.

Polanco found himself traded to the Seattle Mariners and completed his 2024 campaign in the Pacific Northwest, where he put together the worst season of his career since 2017. He hit an anemic .213/.296/.355 which was good for a poor wRC+ of 92. Never known for his glove, he became a butcher in the field recording -10 OAA further tanking his value to produce just 0.3 fWAR.

Injuries again played a role, and he underwent offseason knee surgery though he is expected back in time to participate in spring training. While the injuries could explain some of his offensive decline, as well as an unfavorable ballpark in Seattle, his strikeout rate has steadily climbed from a very solid 16.5% in 2019 to an almost untenable 29.2% in 2024.

Red flags abound with Polanco, and while he doesn't have the defensive chops to fall back on if he repeats 2024's performance, he has enough of a track record of offensive performance to squint and see some value as a bounce-back candidate.

Brendan Rodgers was once a top prospect, but hasn't done much since to make the Angels believe he could be the answer

A former top prospect for the Colorado Rockies, Brendan Rodgers was once ranked their number one prospect and number 31 overall by FanGraphs, yet has struggled to find his footing since graduating from prospect status in 2020.

Despite playing half his home games in the gravity-defying city known as Denver, Colorado, Rodgers struggles to hit for power and has never posted a wRC+ higher than 98 in his career. His last two seasons were his worst two offensively, slashing .258/.313/.388 for a 78 wRC+ in 2023 and .267/.314/.407 for an 88 wRC+ in 2024. His glove work is also below average, posting -3 OAA last season. All told, he just hasn't been a valuable player posting 0.2 fWAR in 2023 and 0.8 fWAR in 2024.

While all of the options left are flawed, Rodgers doesn't have a track record that highlights a standout skill as Kim and Polanco do. Instead, the entirety of his appeal is that he will be cheap, and one can hope that maybe a change of scenery helps him unlock some of that potential that once made him so highly regarded.

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