What would a successful season look like for the Angels in 2025?

After a franchise-worst 63-99 campaign in 2024, the Angels will look to turn the page in 2025. Once perennial contenders, the team has deviated from its winning ways and now is the owner of the longest active playoff drought in Major League Baseball.

Fans have clamored for changes, disillusioned with the team's vision, ownership, and everything in between that has gone wrong over the last decade-plus. After so much futility, even the most optimistic have low expectations for the upcoming season.

Will 2024 be the nadir, the rock bottom that sparks a turn-around, or is there a new depth of ineptitude the team can reach? More importantly, for a team that was so bad last season, what is a reasonable expectation for what a successful year in 2025 will look like?

Expectations are critical. The cross-town Dodgers, for example, have much different once coming off a World Series title than a team like the Angels who for so long hasn't even been invited to the dance. While it would be lovely for competition if every team started the year on the same footing, that simply isn't possible. Some are poised for contention, others are looking for growth, and still others are looking down wondering when their freefall will cease.

For the Angels, the good news is they seem to be firmly in that second category -- a team looking for growth. While the last decade has been difficult, in recent years the team has collected a handful of promising young players. Beyond potential future stars like Zach Neto and Logan O'Hoppe is another wave of young talents like Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak, Reid Detmers, and Jose Soriano who the team will be counting on to take a step forward.

Furthermore, offseason acquisitions like Jorge Soler, Kevin Newman, Travis d'Arnaud, and Kyle Hendricks righted many, though not all, of the ills that plagued the team in 2024. Depth was a major concern last season and injuries derailed much of what the team dreamed to accomplish, and acquisitions like these go a long way toward addressing that deficiency.

The distinction between competing and contending means something for the Angels in 2025

On more than one occasion, Angels brass from owner Arte Moreno, to general manager Perry Minasian, and to manager Ron Washington have spoken about being competitive in 2025. It's important to understand what that truly means.

Coming off such a dreadful year, the team is not poised to contend. While the team added a slew of quality players, the top-end talent is still lacking and unless massive leaps are made by a large number of young players, the Halos will be hard-pressed to surpass the Astros, the Rangers, and the Mariners in a crowded AL West.

However, at many points in time last year, the team was downright uncompetitive and looked like they didn't belong sharing the field with their opponents. This is the primary objective that must be rectified in 2025.

The Angels are on the right path. Heading into spring training, noted projection system PECOTA predicted that the Angels will finish with a 75-87 record this season. Clearly, that won't be enough to contend for a division crown or a Wild Card berth, but a 12-game improvement would be a massive step forward.

And therein lies the point. The win-loss record isn't as relevant as whether or not the Angels are competing in games. There's a big difference between a 10-1 defeat and a 4-3 loss, though they all count the same in the loss column.

Success for the Angels will be determined by positive answers to critical questions. Talented young players who have failed to ascend like Reid Detmers, Jo Adell, and others might be on their last chance with the team. Having most or all of them answer the bell will be critical to determining if the year is a success.

So to will the ascension of the young core to superstardom. Can Zach Neto and Logan O'Hoppe go from being nice young pieces to becoming the game's next superstars? Can Christian Moore show that he'll soon join them on that trajectory?

Lastly, health, particularly that of one critical player, will play a huge role. The team's engine is future Hall of Famer Mike Trout. Now 33 years old, Trout has played an average of just 66.5 games over the last four seasons. At his age, his window of dominance will soon begin closing, therefore it's imperative that he proves he can stay on the field in 2025. Injuries ravaged the club last season, but none was as impactful as the knee injury that limited Trout to a career-low 29 games.

If all goes according to plan, the youth movement makes strides, Trout returns to MVP form, at least one of the young position players proves they can play Robin to Trout's Batman, and the pitching staff shows signs of competency, setting the scene for a competitive team to springboard into contention in 2026.

Angels fans are certainly growing weary, but the goal still is not yet to compete, and success should be evaluated instead by the team growing and going out there and competing night in and night out. It has been a long road, and the destination still is not quite in sight, but 2025 will go a long way to determining if the Angels are on the right path.

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