Angels miss out on duo of All Star free agents as Padres make huge splash

After a quiet first half of the month including a Winter Meetings that saw the Angels only make a small trade, Perry Minasian locked in earlier this week to bolster the bullpen with a duo of veteran pitchers in Drew Pomeranz and Jordan Romano. The fan base was reasonably excited about the front office's first big signing of the offseason (although, still fairly cheap as the combined total of the deals is $6 million), and more moves were expected. A lot of top free agents are still on the board, but two star players that had been linked to the Angels were taken off the market on Thursday, with the San Diego Padres making their first big splash of December.

Michael King is, arguably, the most effective starting pitcher to have hit the market this offseason. While Dylan Cease and Framber Valdez may be more reliable, the pure stats show that when he pitches, King is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Since becoming a full time starter with the Padres, King has posted an ERA+ of 134, striking out 277 batters in 247 innings. He missed a lot of time in 2025, making his 3-year, $75 million deal a potential steal for the Padres while also having some risk.

Sung-Mon Song was an All Star infielder in the KBO in 2024, and landed in San Diego as well on Thursday. Though mostly a third baseman, Song can play all over the infield and gives the Padres a lot of versatility to give their older infielders Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts potential half-days off at DH throughout the season. The Angels were one of the final teams in on Song per sources.

While Song and King would have been fantastic additions in Anaheim, they do not make or break this offseason. King is a legitimate ace when healthy, but with Grayson Rodriguez already in tow there are enough health concerns in the Angels' rotation. And while Song would have been a nice infielder to have, the Angels may just been in on some higher profile third baseman in free agency or even via trade.

Seeing two free agents the team was linked to head to San Diego is tough, but Minasian still has almost all of the payroll he entered the offseason with to use. And some of the best free agents are still on the board, including Valdez and Japanese ace Tatsuya Imai. The opportunity to go for a star is still there, Minasian just needs to find the right fit and strike.