2 areas where the Angels need to invest this winter

Infield

Neto and Nolan Schanuel represent two core pieces in the infield, but they are not without flaws. They are young, up-and-coming players, but the Angels could use functional bench infielders to help alleviate their defensive woes. Of the 39 shortstops with at least 140 plate appearances, Neto's defensive fWAR of 1.4 ranks 28th. Of the 44 first basemen with at least 140 plate appearances, Schanuel's -10.1 defensive fWAR ranks 38th.

With Drury all but certainly casting off and Anthony Rendon being the most unreliable player in baseball, Minasian will surely round out the roster with versatile players who can play at least 2 infield positions.

Luis Rengifo is returning from a season-ending wrist injury, but he could be a trade chip. The utility man was improbably kept at the trade deadline, and his value subsequently dropped after going down for the season. The likely course of action will be Rengifo slotting in as the Angels' starting 2nd baseman, given his ability to slot in at 3 infield positions, bat lefty and righty, and his bat-to-ball skills. However, if Minasian can secure solid prospect depth this offseason, he could right the wrong of not trading Rengifo earlier.

Predicting who the Angels will target for infield depth is difficult, but Minasian has a penchant for acquiring veteran depth pieces. For example, Minasian has signed contracts or traded for players like Miguel Sanó, Gio Urshela, Ehire Adrianza, Jack López, Luis Guillorme, Keston Hiura, Niko Goodrum, Cole Tucker, Jake Lamb, Eduardo Escobar, Mike Moustakas, C.J. Cron, and Kevin Padlo.

It's a weak infield class of free agents comprised of a lot of players with mutual and club options. The semi-realistic marquee names, if they become available, at positions of interest are Gleyber Torres, Brandon Lowe, Ha-seong Kim, Justin Turner, Yoán Moncada, and J.D. Davis.

The Angels' second base fWAR currently ranks 29th, and at third base 27th. Minasian knows they need to bolster the infield, but a big splash is highly unlikely via free agency. Perhaps Christian Moore breaks camp with the big league team? Go ahead and pencil in Rendon, Neto, Rengifo, and Schanuel as the Opening Day infield for now, but Minasian has a lot of maneuvers at his disposal to either reshape or build around that core.