The Angels' third base carousel will keep spinning and here's why

When it was announced that Rendon was set to miss the entire 2025 season before position players even reported to spring training, it felt like both a blessing and a curse. The blessing? Angels fans do not have to watch him try and fail to play baseball all over again. The curse? He gets paid $38,571,428 a year and no team in baseball has used more third basemen since he signed with the Angels before the 2020 season. Well, it sure feels like the Angels are being further subjected to a curse rather than a blessing after a dozen spring training games.

In news that will shock nobody, it looks like Rendon's third base replacements are not going to tear it up this year. Yoán Moncada and Luis Rengifo, who combine to make a measly $10.95 million in 2025 salaries, are not exactly going to look like prime Troy Glaus for the Angels anytime soon.

It's an incredibly small sample size of 6 meaningless spring training games played and 16 plate appearances for Moncada, but he's slashing .000/.375/.000 right now. Moncada's start to spring training is just another reminder that he is just not the ballplayer he once was heralded as.

What is the best case scenario for Moncada this season? No rational person expects him to be a massively impactful player for the Halos. FanGraphs' Steamer projections forecast him to be a 1.0 fWAR player this year in 120 games played. He could be more impactful than that when he's on the field, but he could just as easily not play 120 games in 2025.

Then there's Luis Rengifo -- a player whose availability is always a concern, and he's already dealing with hamstring issues following a season-ending wrist injury. Rengifo's arm strength has never been too much of an issue, but his spotty throwing mechanics have caused him to erratically spray the ball all over in his career. So, even if he does turn into a stalwart of the lineup, do not expect him to become an above average defender anytime soon.

It already seemed likely that the Angels would add Christian Moore to the Opening Day roster, and Moncada and Rengifo's no-show to start camp are certainly helping his case. Moore is tearing it up so far, and his presence would allow Ron Washington to platoon Moncada and Rengifo at third base which would hopefully boost their chances to be both available and productive.

Will Washington filter Moore into third base and Rengifo to second if/when his arm does not take well to a full-time third base role this season? Moore has yet to take in-game third base reps this spring. Plus, it seems less than ideal for a player, who needs all the playing time at second base he can get at this point in his career, to take on more responsibilities in the infield. Moore is not renowned for his defense and sporadically shifting around his position in the infield helps nobody. Even if/when Moncada and Rengifo hit the injured list -- causing the Angels to be in dire need of third base help -- moving Moore there helps nobody. If anything, the Angels should start giving him looks in the outfield in addition to second base.

Who else could be added to the Angels' third base carousel if/when Moncada and Rengifo do not pan out?

Well, there's Kevin Newman once Zach Neto returns sometime next month. His arm strength is a massive concern, but he does have some experience at the hot corner.

Scott Kingery is a super-utility player with some third base experience, but has yet to play third base in spring training games.

J.D. Davis is around to fill-in, but "Just Dingers" is not a defensive-minded player and is much more of a 1B/DH type. Cole Fontenelle looks solid so far, and could earn himself his MLB debut down the road. Matthew Lugo is no longer an infielder, but perhaps the Angels could filter him into third base at some point during both spring training and the minor league regular season?

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