3 players who still haven't earned a roster spot

The Los Angeles Angels will hope to improve after yet another season of missing the postseason in 2022. To do that, the roster will have to be improved around superstars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

The Angels do have some nice pieces and some unknown commodities as well. For the Angels to be more competitive next season, they'll have to get some more proven talent on the big league roster.

The Halos have some intriguing young players who have shown promise in the past but haven't earned a roster spot for the 2023 season.

1) Player who still hasn't earned a roster spot: Jo Adell

Jo Adell was the tenth overall pick selected by the Angels in the 2017 MLB Draft. He was thought of as a future star that could play in the outfield sometime in the future with Mike Trout.

Adell was at one point one of the best young prospects in baseball and is now becoming closer to an afterthought.

The outfielder had his chance as the Opening Day left fielder for the Angels this season and did not take advantage.

He slashed .224/.264/.373 with eight home runs and 27 RBI. He hadn't improved at all at the things he struggled at in his other two seasons in the bigs. Adell struck out at a 37.8% clip, a mark that's far too high. He walked at a 3.8% clip, a mark that's far too low.

Adell struck out 107 times in 285 plate appearances while walking just 11 times. The raw talent is there, as he ranked in the 83rd percentile in max exit velocity and in the 98th percentile in sprint speed according to baseball savant. The problem is, Adell can't seem to put the bat on the ball enough to utilize his power and speed.

In Adell's 40 games in AAA, he slashed .239/.333/.587 with 13 home runs and 33 RBI. He was able to show off the power he has and showed some more discipline drawing 20 walks in 180 plate appearances. Adell just hasn't shown an ability to do this in the majors.

The Angels have Trout and Ward penciled in for two of the three outfield spots. Unless Adell shows real improvement in the spring, I wouldn't have him on the Opening Day roster if I'm trying to compete.

I still like the raw talent Adell has, but he's been given chances to perform at this level and just hasn't. The Angels can't keep sticking with something that isn't working hoping that magically something will change.

3) Player who still hasn't earned a roster spot: Michael Stefanic

The Angels have a ton of middle infield depth. David Fletcher is on a long contract and is a great contact hitter and an elite defender when healthy. Luis Rengifo broke out this past season and hit 17 home runs for the Angels. Livan Soto hit .400 in 55 big league at-bats and was a real spark plug. I'd like to see him on the roster in some capacity even as a utility infielder.

With those three players healthy, there just isn't enough room for Michael Stefanic. The 26-year-old has shown a great ability to hit for average and get on base in the minors. He has a career .313/.396/.431 slash line in 322 minor league games. For him to make his way up the organizational depth chart and even make the big leagues after being undrafted is a remarkable feat.

Stefanic was given a chance to produce two separate times for the Angels and just didn't come through. He was called up on July 3rd and had seven hits in his first 18 at-bats. After that, he had no hits in 24 at-bats and was sent down. When called back up in September he had five hits in 19 at-bats but wasn't playing consistently.

Overall, he slashed .197/.279/.230 with no home runs or RBI. He had two doubles and drew five walks in 69 plate appearances.

Livan Soto is also a contact-oriented hitter who did produce in his limited sample. I'd expect Stefanic to come up at some point, but there're just too many infielders ahead of him on the depth chart for right now.