Angels top prospect caps off impressive year with a Gold Glove

The Los Angeles Angels have had one of the worst farm systems in baseball for years, and it's no different now. The team traded several of its top prospects away at the trade deadline, and have called up other high-end guys meaning they're not prospects anymore.

While there's work to be done with improving the farm, there's no doubt that there are still some exciting names to keep an eye on. One player that really opened some eyes this season was Nelson Rada who just wrapped up his first full season in professional baseball in impressive fashion, winning a Gold Glove.

Nelson Rada is a prospect LA Angels fans can get excited about

Nelson Rada appeared in 115 games this past season in center field for the Angels Single-A affiliate Inland Empire and put together an outstanding first full season in professional baseball. His glove obviously was the star, but his bat didn't lag far behind.

Rada slashed .276/.396/.346 with two home runs and 48 RBI in 540 plate appearances this season. He tacked on 13 doubles, six triples, and stole a whopping 55 bases in 66 tries. You'd like for some more power from Rada and a bit more efficiency with the stolen bases, but he showed outstanding signs of a player that could fit in beautifully at the top of a lineup.

What's extremely encouraging about Rada is his patience as he drew 73 walks this past season with an OBP a tick below .400. Getting on base nearly 40% of the time with the speed he has can cause all sorts of problems for opposing teams and lead to some early runs for the Angels.

Rada did all of this despite turning 18 years old this past August. He's extremely young, and progressing very quickly. He's far from a finished product and has an MLB ETA of 2026 according to MLB Pipeline, but he's one prospect Angels fans should certainly be keeping an eye on. He has a chance to become a very important piece to this franchise in very short order.