The Angels certainly needed some upgrades after a dismal 63-99 season, and while the team shouldn't be done adding they've made four significant moves that impact the major-league roster.
Each of these players is more or less a direct replacement for a member of the 2024 team who has since departed. As such, it's important to ask with each move did the Angels get better, stay the same, or get worse with each of the new faces they've added?
Is Yusei Kikuchi an upgrade over Patrick Sandoval?
Patrick Sandoval 2024 stats: 16 starts, 79.2 innings pitched, 5.08 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 1.2 fWAR
Yusei Kikuchi 2024 stats: 32 starts, 175.2 innings pitched, 4.05 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 3.5 fWAR
On the surface this is an easy one, Kikuchi was brought in to replace Sandoval as the top lefty-starter in the rotation, a role the former Angel would have been unlikely to fulfill after sustaining an elbow injury that required surgery last year. His availability for the 2025 season will be limited and could be non-existent, making Kikuchi the winner by default.
That said, there's a bit more than meets the eye. Sandoval was a surprise non-tender earlier in the offseason, a move that has proven to be very controversial. Despite a bloated ERA and his injury, many believe he is still a quality pitcher, even though his contributions in 2025 may be minimal.
Kikuchi on the basis of availability is poised to fill the innings that Sandoval could not, but his 2024 season was not as rosy as the final numbers look. Prior to being traded to the Houston Astros, Kikuchi had put together a line that was similar to Sandoval's, making 22 starts north of the border and tossing 115.2 innings to the tune of a 4.75 ERA.
He was markedly better after the tweaks he made with the Astros posting a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts and 60 innings. That's the pitcher the Halos hope that they're getting, but only time will tell.
For their careers, Sandoval has actually outperformed Kikuchi. For his career, Sandoval owns a 4.01 ERA and 3.96 FIP versus Kikuchi's career marks of a 4.57 ERA and 4.53 FIP.
Contractually, Sandoval was much cheaper too as he was still under team control while Kikuchi signed for three years and $63 million. One could argue that Kikuchi is on the upswing while Sandoval has hit a wall, but that would mostly be betting on Kikuchi's small sample size with the Astros and would seem unlikely due to age as Sandoval is just entering his prime at 28 while Kikuchi will turn 34 in June.
At the end of the day, what matters is who can fill the role best in 2025, and almost by default, the answer is Kikuchi due to health. Sandoval's uncertain status for 2025 made him an unreliable option to fill this role, and while you can quibble and say he shouldn't have been non-tendered you'd be hard-pressed to argue that he is a better option for 2025 than Kikuchi.
Verdict – Yusei Kikuchi