3 bold Angels' predictions for the 2025 season at the start of spring training

The entire Angels organization is now in Tempe, Arizona ready to kick things into overdrive and get prepped for the coming 2025 season. The Halos are hell-bent on righting the wrongs from 2024's debacle, and while legitimate questions linger, it's hard to dispute that this is a much-improved ball club versus last year's model.

While there are still questions to be answered regarding who exactly will make the opening-day roster, we're going to hit the fast-forward button and make some predictions as to what will happen once the games start counting.

This will be an exercise in optimism, yet the rose-colored glasses are warranted as there is a logical basis for what we project to happen. Of course, many variables will present themselves over the 162-game grind that are impossible to predict, but for now, we'll use the information we have to make our best-educated guesses on what will transpire over the coming months.

1. The Angels will finish the season with a top-15 offense in all of baseball

You heard that right, folks! The Angels, who were dreadful offensively for much of 2024 will have an average or better offensive performance in 2025. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how we came to that conclusion, we have to define what we mean by top-15 offense.

Rather than considering runs scored, home runs, batting average, or any other limiting stat we're instead going to be talking about this in terms of wRC+ which takes the entirety of offensive contributions into account and scales the result to 100 to determine what is considered "league-average."

For context, the Halos posted a team wRC+ of 90 last season, 10% below league average performance which ranked 25th in the league. The 15th-best team last year was the Athletics who posted a 101 wRC+, one-percent better than league average.

A big reason for the Angels' poor offensive showing last season was due to a lack of power, their .369 team slugging percentage ranked 28th in the league as was dragged down by injuries to key players, Mike Trout being chief among them.

Steamer projections for the Angels roster, paint a rosier picture for 2025, with 10 Halo hitters projected for a 100 wRC+ or better this year. Of course, that number includes Anthony Rendon, which was ridiculously optimistic to begin with and is now incredibly doubtful given the questions as to whether or not he'll even play again.

Speaking of growth, a large contingent of Angels' contributors are young players who are poised to take the next step in their development this season. Whether that's Logan O'Hoppe who hit to the tune of an impressive .800 OPS in the first half of 2024 before running out of gas and posting a .578 mark in the second half, Nolan Schanuel who, after being picked in the first round of the 2023 draft, has already completed his first full big league season while many of his draft classmates are still toiling away in the low minors, or Zach Neto who's impressive strides from 2023 to 2024 put him on a path to superstardom.

Beyond those three, there's Jo Adell who seemed to come on down the stretch after making a critical adjustment, and hotshot prospect Christian Moore who is poised to make his debut at some point this season, possibly as soon as opening day.

As for depth, when O'Hoppe struggled last season the Angels had to turn to Matt Thaiss and his 83 wRC+ to give him a breather. Now, they'll turn to Travis d'Arnaud, owner of a career 101 wRC+ mark. Instead of a parade of DHs who were among the worst in the league, the Angels will turn to Jorge Soler who is a legitimate 30-homer threat.

Lastly, their luck must change. It's insane to think that Mike Trout will play 150 games this season, but it's likely he will play significantly more than his career-low 29 games from last season. Yoán Moncada is in the fold now too, and the former top prospect will definitely show more signs of life than Rendon did at the hot corner last season.

The ingredients are all there for an average or better offense, and with a little luck, it's a good bet that this will be the Halos' most improved unit.

2. The Angels starting rotation will look drastically different by season's end

Right now, four out of the five spots in the Halos rotation are locked down. Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Soriano, Tyler Anderson, and Kyle Hendricks will lead the charge with an open competition featuring Reid Detmers and Jack Kochanowicz underway to claim the fifth spot.

The organization has assembled an impressive group of young arms that are knocking on the door of the big leagues. Caden Dana made his debut last season and is the team's top prospect, George Klassen and his 100mph fastball could be dominating big-league hitters at some point in 2025. Sam Aldegheri, acquired from the Phillies last season, has put together a solid minor league career and could be ready to contribute. Then there are bullpen/rotation swing options like Chase Silseth and Sam Bachman who could factor into the mix as well.

On the other hand, veteran Tyler Anderson has been a long-rumored trade chip and could be moved at some point. Fellow veteran Kyle Hendricks could get moved to long relief as his career winds down. Even Reid Detmers could lose his spot (if he were to earn one), if he struggles as he did while posting a 6.70 ERA last season.

The only locks, barring injury, are Kikuchi and Soriano at the top, while the rest will be a fluid situation. That could be either a good or bad thing for the Halos in 2025 but should bode well for the future as the veterans in their twilight years make way for the wave of the future in the rotation.

3. Zach Neto will become the Angels' best player

For years, Mike Trout has been the Angels' undisputed best player, despite recent injury woes and a couple of seasons sharing the spotlight with Shohei Ohtani. That narrative has persisted, and for good reason.

However, this year, he will be usurped as the universally recognized "best player" on the team by up-and-coming star, Zach Neto. Despite seemingly positive developments regarding his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery, Neto likely won't be ready by Opening Day, and without a clear timeline, it's hard to say he'll be the team leader in any counting stat or by total WAR accumulation.

Instead, we mean he will become the team's best player by the measure of impact he makes in the games he plays.

Neto, 24, made his debut in 2023 playing in 84 games, and then took a massive leap forward in 2024 his first season as a full-time big leaguer. Considering his age, potential, and overwhelming talent, it's likely he will take another significant step forward in 2025.

Taking a deeper look, Neto improved his offensive production from an 88 wRC+ in 2023 to a 114 mark in 2024, which means he was 26% better offensively from one year to the next. While it's no guarantee, a similar offensive leap this season would put him at a 140 wRC+, which would've tied Texas' star Corey Seager for 14th in baseball last year and been just one point below Dodger's phenom Mookie Betts.

It wasn't just with the bat that he improved last season, either. In 2023 he recorded 2 defensive runs saved over 84 games putting him on pace for about 4 over the course of a full season. Last year, he elevated his glove work to post 11 DRS in 155 games.

Not all young players have a linear progression in their development, and not all improvements are uniform from one year to the next. However, it can not be understated just how massive Neto's improvements were from 2023 to 2024, which gives optimism that he will again level up in 2025.

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