Angels latest move hints at dangerous overconfidence in patched-together bullpen

While the Los Angeles Angels have not done nearly enough this offseason to garner any amount of respect across the league, they have made several signings to their bullpen. Their first signing of the offseason was a promising arm to add to their relief group, and they’ve continued their construction of a makeshift bullpen by taking a gamble on Aneurys Zabala.

Along the way, to give Los Angeles credit, they added stability to the bullpen with the additions of Drew Pomeranz, Jordan Romano, and Kirby Yates.

Yet, for some reason, they traded away their best in-house reliever, Brock Burke, because of these signings. While the trade that sent out Burke for outfielder Josh Lowe is seen as a smart move for the Angels, they have seemingly overestimated just how good this bullpen is in the process.

Angels grossly overestimated bullpen talent in Burke trade

It is true that of the three veterans they signed, all have been All-Star pitchers in their careers. Yates has even found himself on multiple Cy Young ballots throughout his career, but there is a reason that these three veterans were all able to be signed for roughly the same amount of money that the Angels saved in the Taylor Ward for Grayson Rodriguez trade, which was about $12 million.

Pomeranz was nearly out of the league before his exceptional season with the Chicago Cubs last season. And while his 2.17 ERA was great and Halo fans would love to see it replicated in 2026, there are also clear signs of major regression. Baseball Savant shows that the southpaw's hard hit percentage, barrel rate, chase percentage, whiff percentage, and ground ball percentage were all below average last season. With a 3.36 FIP as well, there is reason to believe Pomeranz is set to take a step back in 2026.

Signed at nearly the same time was Jordan Romano, for whom there is no need to do any sort of advanced stats digging. He posted an 8.23 ERA in 2025 and has not been a good pitcher since 2023. The Philadelphia Phillies took a shot on him last year, and the Angels are doing the same now. He is a long shot, but that has been the mantra of Perry Minasian's entire time as general manager of the Angels.

Yates falls into this category as well, but had more recent success in 2024. Nevertheless, he was a failed signing for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Even with an ERA north of five last season, there were some encouraging signs in his limited usage. His whiff rate and strikeout percentage both were elite, but he was hit incredibly hard and high when batters did make contact.

Overall, this trio of signings all possess reasons to believe they will not be steady contributors for the 2026 Angels, like Burke showed he could be. They also have reasons to believe in their potential to excel in Anaheim, and that potential was enough for Minasian to pull the trigger on a Burke trade.