Angels arbitration salary projections for 2025 revealed

Time to get into some contractual nitty-gritty for fringe big league players on a terrible team. That's right, it's Angels arbitration analysis time!

For those who are unfamiliar, MLB players who reach three full years of service time enter salary arbitration. There are some caveats that apply to Reid Detmers, but you typically need three years.

The Angels have four players heading for free agency (Strickland, Moore, Drury, Pillar), only four players under big-boy contracts (Trout, Stephenson, Anderson, Rendon**), and a heck of a lot of pre-arbitration players.

A Zach Neto extension...maybe will happen this offseason? The best front offices lock up their rising stars to team-friendly deals while they are pre-arbitration, most notably Perry Minasian's former club -- the Atlanta Braves. The Angels' payroll dipped by $40 million and they often strike out in free agency, so extending one of the best, young shortstops in the league HAS to be one of the highest priorities for a franchise who now functions as if they are located in Detroit, Tampa Bay, or Cincinnati.

OK, now it's arbitration time. The arbitration-eligible players is not the most alluring list, but they include some players of utmost importance to the Angels' future. The list has three starting pitchers, two emergency starters/long relievers, three key outfielders, a long-tenured catcher, an underrated utility man, and two left-handed relievers.

Let's start with the relievers. MLB fans, and maybe even Angels fans, might not realize that José Quijada and Brock Burke are actually great pitchers. Burke is a guy whose numbers were great this season, whereas Quijada is a player whose effectiveness is not solely defined by spreadsheets. Burke lead the Angels in Pitching+ and Location+ (tied for 1st with Davis Daniel) in 2024. From July 1st until the end of the season, Burke and Quijada both posted K/9s over 11. Quijada is a chaotic pitcher, he often pitches his way into trouble via free passes, but his 4-seamer plays and he is an absolute spark plug. Quijada is coming off of a Tommy John surgery from last May. Both are locks for the Angels 2025 bullpen alongside Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson.

The Angels had a few players who garnered outside interest at the 2024 trade deadline, maybe none more so than Ward and Rengifo. Both are streaky players, and Rengifo is a walking injury risk, but they can flat-out hit. Rengifo is a prototypical leadoff hitter in that he is a switch-hitter who rarely strikes out. While position players around him consistently dropped via injury this year, the reliable Taylor Ward continued posting en route to leading the Angels in games played. Ward's expected figure of $9.2 million is far-and-away the highest number of the group, and rightfully so.

Patrick Sandoval started on Opening Day for the Angels, but he will be an after-thought moving forward following a UCL injury. Griffin Canning flashed potential as an innings-eater, and that's about it. Detmers was a player who flashed potential as the team's ace a couple years ago, but will be competing for a back-end rotation spot next year.

José Suarez and Carson Fulmer are fringe players. Matt Thaiss as well, but a great guy to have in the clubhouse. Moniak and Adell will likely continue their outfield platoon next season while Mike Trout is healthy and playing.

Arbitration can cause friction between players and teams, given the nature of the system. The players and their representation throw out a number they believe they are worth, and the clubs try and short that. Point blank: the Angels can ill-afford bad blood between the front office and clubhouse, but that is an unlikelihood. Angels fans should not have any issues with any of the salary figures listed (other than maybe Canning), but the contract lawyers representing the front office and cheap ownership will fight tooth-and-nail to save themselves a few thousand dollars this winter.