There's no reason for this offseason addition to still be on the Angels' roster

The Angels are doing their best to tread water right now after a brutal end to the month of April massacred their record, and they are in the midst of a brutal stretch of their schedule here in mid-May. Much like in recent years, they need to stay afloat while Mike Trout rehabs his left knee bruise he sustained during their series against Seattle. In order to do that, the Angels need just about every member of the 26-man roster to punch above their weight. Perry Minasian is willing to exhaust every option to mitigate the team's weaknesses, as he has constantly shuffled players in and out, but there is one lever for him still to pull.

There's no reason for this veteran player to still be on the Angels' roster

Well, Kevin Newman has done anything but deliver for the Angels after Minasian signed him to a major league deal in the offseason. The former Pirates, Reds, and Diamondbacks utility player was brought in on a one-year, $2.5 million contract with a club option for 2026, but his performance thus far makes it seem like he will not even be able to give the club a chance to decline that option.

It's incredibly hard to defend a player with a .147/.147/.147 slash line, who has only played in 15 of the team's 40 games so far, only been to the plate 35 times, has yet to draw a walk or record an extra base hit and has a -27 wRC+. His BA, OBP and SLG are all the worst marks of the current Angels position players. Newman has fewer total bases than Matthew Lugo, who has just nine plate appearances this season.

The Angels could possibly promote Christian Moore to replace Newman, roll with a starting infield of Yoán Moncada, Zach Neto, Moore and Nolan Schanuel, then push Tim Anderson and Luis Rengifo (who has a team worst -8.1 offensive fWAR, -0.5 fWAR) to the bench. However, if the Angels do not deem Moore worthy of playing every day in the major just yet they have a couple viable fall-back options at Triple-A.

Scott Kingery (1.006 OPS in his 11 games played) and Carter Kieboom (.947 OPS in his 28 games played) would certainly factor into the Angels' plans more than Newman right now given what they are showing at Salt Lake. Sure, they do not pick it or cover ground like Newman, but they do have positional versatility and their offensive output makes them more enticing bench players right now if the Angels need a pinch hitter or a spot start.

Newman seems like a well-liked guy within the clubhouse, which matters a great deal to Minasian and Ron Washington, but he is essentially team luggage right now.

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