MLB Insider on Angels Offseason: 'I Have No Faith They're Gonna Spend Anything'

Will the Angels make any splashy moves this offseason?

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Angels have grown a reputation as one of the stingiest teams in MLB, and are unwilling to spend big money to bring in high-level players. This reputation only intensified when the Angels did not extend superstar Shohei Ohtani and their largest contract of the offseason was a three-year, $33 million deal to Robert Stephenson.

After the Angels finished the season with a franchise-worst 63-99 record, a record that also extended the team's playoff drought to a decade, Angels owner Arte Moreno expressed that he plans for the team to contend in 2025 and bring in players that will allow them to challenge for a playoff spot.

The New York Post's Jon Heyman said on Bleacher Report Live that he does not have "faith" in the Angels actually spending this offseason.

“I think they’re still licking their wounds over Rendon and Trout," Heyman said. "And obviously if you’re not willing to spend for Ohtani, who are you gonna spend for? I don’t know. I have no faith that they’re gonna spend anything.”

Jon Heyman, asked about the #Angels spending, on BR Live:

“I think they’re still licking their wounds over Rendon and Trout. And obviously if you’re not willing to spend for Ohtani, who are you gonna spend for? I don’t know. I have no faith that they’re gonna spend anything.”

— BTH (@BeyondTheHalo) October 23, 2024

For Moreno, spending on exorbitant contracts does not necessarily translate to success. After all, the Angels paid their largest contracts to Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout, both players who have been frequently injured over the last five seasons. Rendon played in just 57 games during the 2024 season, while Trout was limited to 29 because of a torn meniscus.

Rendon and Trout each make over $37 million per year from contracts they signed with the Angels in 2019. No other player on the Angels makes even $15 million per year, per Spotrac.

“The teams that are spending the money they’re spending, they’re losing a lot of money,” Moreno said earlier this month, via Jeff Fletcher of the OC Register. “Not a little bit of money. They’re losing a lot of money. And some teams are selling equity to keep their payroll up.”

Huge contracts might not be the wisest business move, but both the Dodgers and Yankees have spent significantly more than the Angels and are the two teams currently playing in the World Series. They are at the point Moreno wants his team to be at. The Dodgers famously signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani to contracts worth over $1 billion in the offseason last year, and the Yankees are currently spending over $30 million per year on four separate players, per Spotrac.

The Angels likely could contend at some point without making acquisitions as large as the Dodgers and Yankees, but they do need to turn the page on what they did for the 2024 season, as it resulted in their worst campaign in franchise history.