Angels are forcing a conversation that seemed impossible a month ago

The Los Angeles Angels are, well, kind of good. Despite all the gloom and doom predictions surrounding the Halos during the offseason, through the first few weeks of the 2026 season, this team is beginning to make believers out of some the most skeptical fans. Will the Angels' early-season success help GM Perry Minasian to keep his job?

Minasian entered the 2026 campaign as a lame duck. His contract expires at the end of the season, and a large majority of his moves this winter seemed very short-sighted. Outside of trading for former Baltimore Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez, all of the Angels' offseason transactions centered around one-year deals for players who were past their prime.

Could Angels GM Perry Minasian actually keep his job now?

But so far, so good for the Halos' head honcho. The Angels head into play this weekend with a resurgent Mike Trout who looks like the player who won three MVP Awards earlier in his career. José Soriano has been the best starting pitcher in baseball, and could give the Halos their first Cy Young Award winner in over 20 years. The bullpen is still a work in progress, but LA is hovering around .500 and near the top of the AL West standings.

First-year manager Kurt Suzuki is getting his sea-legs, and his two lieutenants have done a tremendous job through the first few weeks of the season. Most outsiders assumed that Mike Maddux would have a positive influence on the pitching staff, but Brady Anderson's impact to start the season cannot go unnoticed either.

Everyone assumed the Halos would hit homers — that's what they do. The Angels are scoring runs in bunches, and are among the top-5 in baseball in hits, home runs, RBI, slugging percentage, and OPS. Unfortunately, they're also among the top-5 in strikeouts — a familiar flaw.

One stat that really sticks out, however, has been the number of walks the Angels have drawn this season. In 2025, the Halos ranked 22nd walks (484), but so far this season, LA has recorded the most free passes in all of baseball. That's no small feat for a team who's used to a free-swinging, undisciplined approach at the plate.

The naysayers will tell you that this will all come crumbling down in June, and Arte Moreno will open the flood gates for the upcoming fire sale ahead of the MLB trade deadline. That may be true. But one look at the list of teams the Angels have faced this season should give the fans in Anaheim confidence that the team's early-season success is not a mirage.

It's far too early to claim that Minasian's job is safe, but if the Angels continue to play like they have to open the year, it's going to difficult for Moreno to justify kicking his GM to the curb (at least before the season ends).

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