Prospect stolen in offseason Angels-Braves trade carving himself up a role for 2026

If an Angels fan was asked to name all the acquisitions Perry Minasian made in the offseason, that fan would say names like Kenley Jansen, Jorge Soler, Travis d'Arnaud, Kyle Hendricks and Yoán Moncada. Additionally, if an Angels fan was asked to name all the trades that Minasian has made with his former team in the Atlanta Braves, that fan would point to the Griffin Canning for Soler trade, the José Suarez for Ian Anderson trade (remember that?), and probably the dreaded Raisel Iglesias for Jesse Chavez and Tucker Davidson trade.

However, there was one completely innocuous offseason trade between Minasian and his beloved trade that is looking like it will pay dividends in 2026.

Prospect stolen in offseason Angels-Braves trade carving himself up a role for 2026

During the offseason, Minasian was both trying to clear his 40-man roster while trying to return some value at the same time. The Braves were happy to oblige when they took on Canning and Davis Daniel. Canning was going to get DFA'd, but the two sides made swapped assets early in the offseason before Minasian had the chance to waive the right-hander. Daniel was DFA'd to make room for Chuckie Robinson of all people, and the Angels received a soft-tossing left-hander named Mitch Farris from the Braves in return.

Farris was a 14th round pick out of Wingate University in 2023. In his minor league career with the Braves organization, he posted stellar numbers at Low-A, High-A and Double-A: 115.2 innings pitched, 3.11 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 7.39 H/9, 11.28 K/9, 3.66 BB/9 and 0.54 HR/9. The Braves logic of trading an elite minor leaguer for the recently waived Daniel was that Daniel was going to be a contributor for their MLB team, and that Farris was a rare high-level MiLB performer that was not quite a priority prospect.

Farris was so good with Double-A Rocket City, and in many ways looked better than prized assets in George Klassen, Sam Aldegheri and Walbert Ureña. Part of why the Braves did not view him as a priority is that he does not look like a pitcher that will age well the more he is promoted given the lack of velo and stuff. However, perception is not always reality and Farris has shown all year that his stuff is better than it appears when you look at the radar gun or his pitch metrics. Farris led all Trash Pandas pitchers in strikeouts (142), and posted a 11.02 K/9 which was just barely below Klassen's 11.05 mark that leads all Rocket City starters. He had a 3-8 record, but his 3.64 xFIP was the best mark of any starter. Again, there is much more than what meets the eye when evaluating minor league pitchers. His win-loss record was bad, but the peripherals were all very good with Farris.

Farris has made three starts for the Angels and has looked good despite the small sample size. He was quite effective against the Royals and A's, and his latest start against the Mariners was his worst but he did strike out seven hitters in four innings.

The Angels clearly need a long reliever for next season -- at the beginning of the year that role was assigned to Garrett McDaniels, then it became Carson Fulmer and now it's Sammy Peralta? Farris has a small sample size in the majors, but he has to be one of the favorites to be the team's Opening Day long reliever...and has an outside chance of making the Angels out of spring training as the fifth starter. Trading for Mitch Farris should have been a nothing trade, but he genuinely might have a major role next season for the Angels.

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