Angels going wild with undrafted free agents is rare positive development for future

One of the reasons that the Los Angeles Angels' trade deadline was so disappointing is due to the fact that their minor league system is in a pretty bad way. Nelson Rada had a lot of hype heading into the 2024 season, but he has struggled at Double-A. Caden Dana has been great and could factor into the team's rotation plans next season.

However, after those two guys, as well as 2024 first round pick Christian Moore, things start looking pretty grim.

The Angels' pitching prospect depth got a boost from adding George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri in the Carlos Estevez trade, but still needs a lot of reinforcements. As for the position player youth crop, LA just has to cross all their fingers and toes that Rada and Moore work out right now. Not trading some of their more controllable players at the deadline is feeling quite bad as a result.

However, one thing that the Angels have been doing to beef up their minor league ranks is by staying very busy signing undrafted free agents.

Angels' 2024 prospect class getting a boost from undrafted free agent signings

One of the side effects of the MLB Draft getting cut down to 20 rounds is that there are a lot of talented players, especially from smaller schools, that end up being available as free agents after the draft. Any signing bonuses for such players over $150,000 still count towards a team's draft bonus pool, but there are no restrictions or other teams' picks to contend with beyond that.

The Angels are taking full advantage of this relatively new system as they have been among the most active teams when it comes to signing undrafted free agents this year.

• Cesar Avila, RHP
• Colin Summerhill, C
• Stone Hewlett, LHP
• Kaden Hopson, C
• Harold Coll, INF
• Mitchell Daly, 3B
• Kyle Roche, RHP
• Jaren Warwick, RHP
• Rolando De La Cruz, RHP

Most of these guys come from smaller colleges and the odds are that the vast majority of them will end up just being minor league depth pieces. However, LA has found some real talent here and could end up with a major league player or two from this lot.

Colin Summerhill is a catcher that played at Northern Illinois who makes a lot of loud contact and absolutely mashes fastballs. Stone Hewlett was an important reliever for a very good Arkansas team with a sidearm delivery from the left side and a wipeout slider that could lead to him moving through the minor leagues quickly.

There are also a couple diamonds in the rough. Harold Coll was a top-100 draft prospect out of high school and, while he has bounced around a bit in the college ranks, he has a lot of tools for the Angels to work with. While none of these guys are mortal locks whatsoever to become big leaguers, they are the types of upside plays with minimal risk that the Angels need to be making right now.

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