3 Angels players who won't be on the roster by June 1st

Midway through the month of May, the Los Angeles Angels have remained painfully average. At 22-21 the Halos are still in the thick of both the division and Wild Card races, but find themselves on the outside looking in.

The Angels have had to already make some roster changes in the month of May. Ryan Tepera is gone, Jake Lamb was sent down, and Anthony Rendon is on the IL. There're plenty of fresh faces in Anaheim.

By the time the calendar turns to June, the roster will again look different. By the time June 1 arrives, expect these three players to be off the roster.

1) LA Angels outfielder Mickey Moniak will not have a role for very long

In his three games with the Angels since his recall, Mickey Moniak has done everything in his power to prove he belongs at this level. He has five hits in 11 at-bats including two leadoff home runs, two stolen bases, and a walk. He's fit in quite nicely at the leadoff spot and from the beginning of Spring Training has looked like a potential everyday player.

The problem with Moniak is he's just not better than the starting outfielders on the Angels roster. Hunter Renfroe leads the team in home runs and is one off the team lead in RBI. He's not going anywhere. After a slow start, Taylor Ward is hitting .315 in the month of May. He's not getting benched. Mike Trout is, well, Mike Trout.

The Angels outfielders will get days off once in a while as we've seen in this road trip, but other than that, you can expect Ward, Trout, and Renfroe to be in there virtually every day. With Shohei Ohtani being the team's DH, at-bats will be few and far between with Moniak. This is why he didn't make the Opening Day roster, and it's why he won't last long even with his good performance barring injury.

While Moniak is a better player than Brett Phillips, nobody serves the Phillips role better in this organization than Phillips. He's a terrific defensive replacement and pinch runner. Moniak is far more than that, and shouldn't be limited to that kind of role. Getting at-bats every day in AAA remains the best course of action for him until an everyday spot opens up.

3) LA Angels reliever Zack Weiss has options which will be used

One thing which has plagued the Angels bullpen this season is their lack of flexibility. Most of the pitchers in the bullpen had no options which meant the Angels couldn't send anyone down without having them pass through waivers. This is why we saw Aaron Loup pitching in tight spots and is why we've seen things like Andrew Wantz throw 40 pitches.

When the Angels DFA'd Ryan Tepera, not only did they get rid of a reliever who wasn't getting the job done, they also added some much-needed flexibility. Zack Weiss got the first call, and will not last the entire month. Optionable relievers have some value, and the Angels will take full advantage of being able to send Weiss back and forth from Salt Lake as much as they please for the rest of the season.

Weiss was solid last season in relief for the Angels. In his 12 appearances, the right-hander had a 3.38 ERA in 13.1 innings of work. He struck out 18 batters in those innings which is a good number, although the walks were high.

I'm not trying to say Weiss is a bad reliever or anything, but roster flexibility is important. When the Angels need a fresh arm, which will happen at some point, Weiss will be the guy to go down whether he's pitching well or not. We've seen it with Andrew Wantz, it's going to happen to Weiss. That's what happens when you're a reliever with options.