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.

2) Player who still hasn't earned a roster spot: Mickey Moniak

Mickey Moniak is in a very similar situation as Adell. He's a former top prospect that hasn't panned out at the big-league level at all. I expect Moniak and Adell to fight for a starting spot or bench spot but neither deserves to make the Opening Day roster in my eyes.

Moniak was the first overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Phillies. He was supposed to be their center fielder of the future and just never seemed to pan out.

Moniak finally had a good spring this past season and was slotted in as the Phillies' Opening Day center fielder this season. Unfortunately, he fractured his right hand after being hit by a pitch right before the season was going to start.

This knocked him out of action for over a month, and the outfielder didn't play his first big league game this season until May 30th.

At the time the Phillies were struggling and searching for a spark plug but Moniak struggled mightily. He had just six hits in 46 at-bats as a Phillie this season with only one extra-base hit (a double) and two RBI. He drew just three walks and struck out a whopping 25 times in 50 plate appearances.

Moniak was traded to the Halos by the Phillies at the deadline in exchange for Noah Syndergaard. I liked this trade for the Angels because Syndergaard was on a one-year deal so the Angels had to get something for him at the deadline and as a former number-one overall pick Moniak does have some upside.

Moniak homered in his second game as an Angel and had four hits in his first 14 at-bats, but then, he was hit by another pitch after trying to lay down a bunt and fractured his finger. He ended up missing another month of action.

Moniak slashed .174/.192/.326 in 47 September plate appearances and seemed to have lost all of the momentum he gained after the trade. He drew just one walk with 20 strikeouts in those at-bats.

Moniak is another guy who's shown some raw ability and might be a good player one day but strikes out way too much and doesn't get on base nearly enough.

I still like the trade the Angels made but if they want to compete, Moniak hasn't proven that he's ready to produce at this level quite yet.