3 glaring obstacles standing between the Angels and contention in 2027

The stars are starting to align for the Los Angeles Angels. The AL West was woefully mediocre this season, and the deterioration of the top contenders is only going to continue. The Mariners are expected to lose a key bat in Randy Arozarena. The Astros will have a whole new regime, and their crumbling core will be yet another year older. The Rangers are running in place. The Athletics have proven that they can't hang.

On top of that, the Angels have Stan Kroenke's deep pockets set to take control of the franchise. Finally, they'll be able to spend with the big boys, but they'll also have an owner who knows how to invest in the infrastructure — ranging from player development to scouting to facilities and technology — that winning clubs rely on.

However, the move from the cellar to the penthouse won't come overnight for the Halos. Los Angeles has everything it needs for a bright future, but the organization must eliminate these three obstacles first.

The Angels need to rectify these three crucial issues before they can truly be ready to contend

Lack of depth

The Angels have long relied upon journeyman, has-beens, and never-weres to fill holes on the roster. Injuries are a part of the game, and when they've struck, Anaheim has been besieged by the kind of players that make you scratch your head and say, "who?"

We're talking about guys like Donovan Walton, who made his way to the big league club after Yoan Moncada's annual coalescence on the IL, and despite being 32 years old, had never played more than 25 MLB games in a single season prior to this year. On the pitching side, the poster child for this has been Shaun Anderson, who's been a human boomerang, signing seven minor league contracts with the club over 16 months.

The infusion of top-end talent will help. Take Denzer Guzman for example. The 22-year-old was a mid-ranked prospect in a bottom ranked system. While he found some early success, he finished the year with -0.1 fWAR over 87 games, despite assuming a starting role. In reality, he's probably best suited as a bench player, but until the Halos add better talent across the board, a guy like him is going to start.

The last part of the equation here is the minor league system. Years of mismanagement left the farm barren, and while John Mozeliak did yeoman's work revitalizing the pipeline via the draft and his trade deadline moves, most of the talent is at the lower levels. While we usually focus on the minors to provide the stars of the future, it's nearly as important to compile the kinds of players who can come up from Triple-A and hold down the fort for a few weeks in the event of injury. Los Angeles doesn't have that yet.

They need a bullpen

This isn't "the Angels need a closer" or "the Angels need high-leverage relievers." No, Los Angeles pretty much needs an entire bullpen. Samy Natera Jr. and Jose Fermin look like a couple of intriguing bright spots, but are they closer and setup man? Seventh and eighth inning guys? Or simply decent middle relievers? Ryan Watson flashed, but the ceiling is limited there. Ben Joyce throws hard, but can he stay healthy and productive?

There is no one out in the 'pen whom you can point to and know what role he'll play and have a reasonable belief that he'll be solid given what's expected of him. That's a problem, and until it's addressed, the Angels will blow winnable games.

A lack of a true superstar

The Dodgers have Shohei Ohtani. The Yankees have Aaron Judge. The Rays have Junior Caminero. The Guardians have Jose Ramirez. Every top contender has an offensive centerpiece. That brings about a harsh reality for Los Angeles.

Mike Trout has a superstar name, but he no longer provides superstar-caliber performance. The 35-year-old had his healthiest season in ages, playing 142 games, but while his .802 OPS was solid, it's a far cry from his peak.

The best candidate on the roster to be the centerpiece is Zach Neto, but with that come a couple of issues. First, there's a chance that the 25-year-old is traded this offseason. Even if he does stick around, though, there's a bigger issue.

Neto has been consistent, posting wRC+ marks of 117 in both 2024 and 2025, followed by a 116 performance this year. That's good, but not superstar-worthy. The problem is that when Neto improves in one area, it's almost always offset by him falling back elsewhere. For example, he entered 2026 with a subpar career walk rate of 6.2%, and while he raised that to a career-best 9.9% rate this year, it came at the cost of a career-worst 30.5% strikeout rate.

The youngster put up a career-best 3.9 fWAR this year. That's good, but it's not great. If the Angels keep Neto, it's most likely that he's a Robin and not a Batman, which means finding a true superstar is the single greatest obstacle standing between the Angels and legitimate contention.

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