Grading the Angels' performance at the 2024 Winter Meetings

It might not seem like it, given how active Perry Minasian has been so far, but the offseason is a marathon not a sprint. The Winter Meetings have come and gone, but the major league roster is still the same. No Max Fried, no Nathan Eovaldi, no trade for Andrés Giménez. The moves made were minor, as in minor league signings, but there was one earth-shattering bit of news that emerged.

Angels' Winter Meetings Grade: C

Minasian said he was laying the groundwork for future moves at the Winter Meetings. So while the Angels' time in Dallas feels incomplete, they are ultimately a means to an end. In terms of roster building do not look at this as a final product, rather a fluid project of courting free agents, pitching the organization to their agents, and engaging in trade talks. Perhaps they gloated over their new facilities and labs? Let's just hope the organization is modernized enough to help alleviate their tarnished reputation in the industry.

Great work by the Angels securing the number two pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. The karma was off the charts. Seriously though, this was massive. If the Angels went the way the Marlins or Rockies did --dropping down the draft order despite being one of the worst teams in the league last season -- the Winter Meetings would have felt like a monumental failure. Securing the number two pick in the draft had nothing to do with performance, it was pure luck/a gift bestowed by the Baseball Gods, but it is how the fans will remember those Dallas days of December, 2024.

Garrett McDaniels will be a fun sub-plot of Spring Training. The Angels' selected McDaniels in the MLB portion of the Rule-5 Draft, taking him away from the Dodgers. He will be seriously considered for the major league roster in 2025 given his stuff, impressive results during his MiLB career, and the fact that if he does not make the active roster... the Dodgers will likely purchase him back. McDaniels is young and green, but perhaps the lefty will turn some heads during Spring Training and steal a spot in the bullpen. The current bullpen with McDaniels would look like this: Joyce, Burke, Zeferjahn, Quijada, Silseth, Bachman or Crouse, Suarez, and McDaniels. Daniel, Dashwood, Caceres, and either Bachman or Crouse to MiLB, with Stephenson starting the season on the IL.

Inactivity at the Winter Meetings is not bad activity. Angels fans should know that better than anybody. Giving Fried over $200 million would have been a disaster for the Angels. However, labeling the Angels' as inactive does not feel accurate since Minasian is clearly talking with agents, GMs, and players non-stop, then subsequently assessing who the best roster fits are. Coming out of the Winter Meetings it's clear that they interested in marquee names like Nolan Arenado, Alec Bohm, Eugenio Suárez, and...Gleyber Torres.

If the Angels emerge from the Winter Meetings a step closer to signing Torres, who represents a big fork in the road for this organization, then the experience is positive overall. Keep in mind: Luis Rengifo is on an expiring deal, and the Angels need to give Christian Moore time to get his feet wet before eventually giving him extended looks in the bigs at 2B/3B.

Let's focus on Torres, rather than a trade for Arenado, Bohm, or Suárez, because the other teams that have been reportedly interested in Torres are the Nationals (who want to move him to third base), and the Blue Jays (who just traded for Giménez, so they would also want to move Torres to third). Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman have noted that Torres resisted a move to third base last year. The market might shape up in a way that's beneficial for the Angels if the Yankees are fine cutting bait with Torres. Torres might soften his stance on staying on the East Coast if the Angels submit a competitive financial offer and allow him to stay at second full-time. If Minasian deems Torres a good enough character-guy (there are some questions with Torres' attitude), it sure seems like he could pull off this signing. Whether signing Torres over trading for Suárez, Arenado, or Bohm is the best route...well, let's save that discussion for later.

The Angels are making positive steps, let's focus on those and not a potential overpay that could have occurred. There is a real scenario where they pull themselves out of the basement of the American League next season, with their aggressive yet pragmatic approach to free agency and trades.

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