There are pros and cons to the Angels missing out on free agent outfielder Anthony Santander, but one thing is clear; the now Toronto Blue Jays player would've been a great option to fill one of the Halo's biggest needs – a left-handed hitting power bat.
With the market drying up, especially for lefty-swinging (or switch-hitting in the case of Santander) sluggers, the onus to fill that role likely falls on the Angels' incumbent left-handed hitting outfielder: the soon-to-be 27-year-old Mickey Moniak. Moniak is no stranger to expectations. He was the number one overall pick back in the 2016 draft with the Philadelphia Phillies and came up in that organization with all the expectations that being picked first overall brings.
After failing to distinguish himself over the course of two brief cups of coffee in 2020 and 2021 in the City of Brotherly Love, he made his way cross country to Anaheim in the Noah Syndergaard trade in 2022. Over the last two seasons, he's been called into the spotlight again, often filling in as the starting centerfielder as franchise icon Mike Trout has dealt with injuries over the past two seasons – recording very mixed results along the way.
The Angels' inaction will once again force the team to rely on Mickey Moniak to step up in 2025
The majority of Moniak's big league playing time has come over the last two years, with 209 of his 275 games played coming between 2023 and 2024. The results over that time period have been a wild ride.
Moniak tallied 323 plate appearances over 85 games in '23, clocking 14 homers and posting a .280/.307/.495 line which was good for a 114 wRC+. That was the good. The bad was he managed a pitiful 2.8% walk rate to go along with a sky-high 35.0% strikeout rate, indicating that his level of offensive performance was unsustainable.
That proved to be the case in 2024, when he played in a career-high 124 games and logged a high watermark 418 plate appearances, but hit just .219/.266/.380 en route to a 79 wRC+. Despite that poor overall line, Moniak did have his moments.
It should also be noted that Moniak improved his plate discipline to a degree in 2024. His walk rate rose to a still-unacceptable 5.0% and his strikeout rate declined to a still-elevated 27.3%. Therein lies the rub with Moniak. The quality of his contact isn't the problem, he just doesn't make enough of it. His bat speed ranked in the 69th percentile in 2024, and his barrel percentage ranked in the 63rd percentile. His quality of contact could be even better if he had a better understanding of the strike zone, but unfortunately, his 39.7% chase rate was in just the third percentile.
Left without a better option on the open market, the Angels will need Moniak on two fronts. He'll be Trout's primary backup, and could also spell the corner outfield spots. Most importantly, he's the only proven hitter on the roster with power from the left side as Niko Kavadas is still a wait-and-see commodity. Moniak will just need to tap into his power stroke more frequently, which is much easier said than done.