MLB insider gives Angels little chance to acquire best free agent of 2025

Every offseason, the Angels and the entire world of Major League Baseball hyper focuses on one free agent. Twitter rumors swirl, flight are tracked to and from every city with the dream of signing whichever superstar is a free agent. In 2023, it was Shohei Ohtani who after flirting with the Toronto Blue Jays defeated them in the World Series two years later as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2024, fresh off of a World Series appearance with the Yankees, Juan Soto stayed in New York... joining the Mets on a record-breaking deal. Now, the baseball world watches Kyle Tucker's every move

While Tucker may not be in the same echelon of Ohtani and Soto - who are indisputably top five players in baseball - he is an incredible free agent. This caliber of talent is not meant to reach free agency, but after the Houston Astros failed to reach an agreement on an extension, they shipped Tucker to the Chicago Cubs who hoped to do the same. Despite Tucker consistently preaching his openness to extension negotiations, nothing ever came to fruition between him and Chicago. Now, he hits the open market.

The Athletic published a tiers list to showcase every single MLB team's chances at landing Tucker, written by Patrick Mooney, Will Sammon, Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal. The Angels were listed in the 10th tier level, titled "Don't see it happening", alongside the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers. All of these teams (outside of the Reds) have the capability to sign big name free agents, but The Athletics lists reasons as to why the teams may not pursue Tucker... and took a shot at the Halos in the process.

The Athletic writes, "This varied group of teams falls under different categories: concentrating more on pitching, scaling back payroll, prioritizing the future … and whatever it is the Angels are doing." While all three of those reasons could be applied to the Angels and owner Arte Moreno, they threw an extra diss at the Halos, making them seem even more unlikely than the other teams to reach a deal with Tucker. Moreno has been known to throw big money at free agent hitters, but The Athletic is not buying their potential fit for Tucker. And given the Angels' corner outfield spots already clogged with so much talent they're considering a trade, maybe The Athletic is right.

To make matters worse for the Angels and their fans, the very first tier features one team and one team only - the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They write, "With an endless appetite for winning more championships, the free-spending Dodgers are seen as a frontrunner for Tucker, who would not have to be the superstar on a team aiming for a three-peat". And hey, maybe if they do sign Tucker they can avoid getting swept by the Angels twice again in 2026.