Last-minute housekeeping just brought clarity to Angels Opening Day roster

Opening Day is less than a week away, and the Los Angeles Angels still need to trim their roster down to 26 players. While they've yet to formally announce who's making the trip from Arizona to LA, some last-minute roster cuts will give Angels fans plenty of hints heading into the weekend.

Obviously the biggest questions throughout camp over the last few weeks have centered around the Angels' starting rotation. The top-3 spots (Jose Soriano, Yusei Kikucki, and Reid Detmers) have been set in stone, but it's been a dog fight for the final two slots in the rotation.

Angels' Opening Day roster is becoming clearer after latest cuts

According to Angels insider Rhett Bollinger, both Jack Kochanowicz and Ryan Johnson have been informed that they'll break camp with the big league ball club. There is a caveat, however, as they've not yet been assigned a role heading into Opening Day.

The reason for that should be somewhat obvious to most Angels fans, and it hinges on the health of LA's biggest offseason acquisition, Grayson Rodriguez. Manager Kurt Suzuki recently revealed that Rodriguez was dealing with arm fatigue, but the right-hander has yet to be ruled out for the start of the season.

Rodriguez sounds unconcerned, but after missing all of last year due to injury, you can't blame the Halos for being overly cautious — especially this early in the season. He'll throw a bullpen session on Saturday, and the results will undoubtedly help Suzuki decide his roster fate before Opening Day.

Alek Manoah, a player who's fallen on tough times over the past couple of weeks, will likely be left off the roster, but not necessarily due to poor performance. While Los Angeles has every reason to option Manoah — if not just DFA him — the hulking right-hander is dealing with a fingernail issue and might wind up on the 15-day IL to begin the season.

The Angels also informed veteran infielder Chris Taylor that he was not going to be part of the Opening Day roster. This should not come as a surprise, as the former Los Angeles Dodgers star failed to stand out in camp despite a .243/.391/.432 slash line in 15 Cactus League contests.

The Halos also reassigned a lot of young talent to minor league camp. Pitchers Mitch Farris, Shaun Anderson, George Klassen, Nick Sandlin, infielders Trey Mancini, Yolmer Sánchez, and Donovan Walton, and catcher Sebastián Rivero were all removed from big-league camp.