Preseason Previer Day 14: Los Angeles Angels & Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Angels
It is no secret to anyone that the Angels have essentially become a laughing stock amongst Major League Baseball. Year after year, they try and reload their roster in an effort to contend. Well, for a team that is never willing to be a top 3-5 spender in the league, you are not going to be able to expedite a rebuild by try to improve on the margins in the meantime.
2024 was yet another disappointing season for the Angels, as they missed the playoffs for count it, the 10 straight season. To make matters worse, Mike Trout faced another injury riddled season and only logged 29 games for the Halo’s. Heading into 2025, the Angels are looking for a young core of homegrown talent to make some noise to officially start pushing this team in the right direction. Zach Neto and Logan O’Hoppe headline the group, as both are coming off strong 2024 campaigns and look to take the next step into stardom. First baseman Nolan Schanuel is also a name to keep an eye on, as he debuted in 2023 - the same year he was drafted, and took a bit of a step back in 2024. A classic case of the Angels rushing a guy to the show just because. They were able to add vets in Travis D’Arnaud, Jorge Soler and Yoan Moncada to help support their young guys and Trout, all in all not a terrible offseason and assuming health should put out some respectable offensive numbers.
Their big splash of the offseason was signing Yusei Kikuchi who is coming off of a career year, Kikuchi will lead this young staff as the ace. Tyler Anderson will likely be the #2 by default, with long-time Cub Kyle Hendricks coming in to eat some innings as well - you may also see Hendricks move to the bullpen as the Angels inevitably fall out of relevance and want to give some other guys some innings. Top prospect Caden Dana, who made a few promising starts in 2024, is the name to watch for all you Angel fans. He projects to be a front-line piece of this rotation, as the 21-year-old has flown through the minor leagues as a mid-round draft pick. Reid Detmers will likely round out the rotation, as the young lefty has had some flashes of being a mid-level part of the rotation.
Draftkings has the Angels win total at 71.5 … This is one of the tougher win totals for me to take an educated guess on. Considering that the West will likely have 3 teams in a playoff push, with the Athletics getting better, I am going to take the under. I think the Angels still need to fall back before going forward. Sorry Angel fans, but the playoff drought will continue another year.
Arizona Diamondbacks
2024 did not exactly go as planned for the Arizona Diamondbacks. With a young core of guys who made a World Series run in 2023, the expectation was for the Diamondbacks to really burst into one of the dominant teams in the NL. However, some unexpected struggles hindered their progress, and their late push at a wild card spot proved to be not enough.
The good news is, the 2025 Diamondbacks should be right back on track to be one of the NL’s better teams. With a lineup that features stars in Ketel Marte & Corbin Carroll. To back them up, the D-backs traded for slugging first baseman Josh Naylor who will be complimented opposite the diamond by third baseman Eugenio Suarez. Randall Grichuk is back to be a nice platoon piece against left-handed pitching, with gold glover Alek Thomas, Lourdes Gurriel, Pavin Smith & Jake McCarthy rounding out the lineup. The loss of Christian Walker will hurt, but they were able to patch the hole, at least for a year, with the addition of Naylor.
The big signing of their offseason was premier starting pitcher Corbin Burnes. It may have surprised some folks, but Burnes is from Arizona and wanted to be home. That now pushes their previous ace, Zac Gallen, back to the #2, with Merrill Kelly slotting in behind him. Their 2024 signing, Jordan Montgomery, looks to bounce back off a horrific 2024 season, he could play a huge role as the catalyst for this teams’ success.
Draftkings has the Diamondbacks win total at 86.5, I am going to fairly confidently take the over. This team is primed to explode in 2025, adding a proven ace as well as some left-handed pop is going to help everyone in that clubhouse. This win projection suggests, to me, that they are being projected as a bubble team for the playoffs, which I believe is off the mark. Take that over, win some cash (not an expert, just my opinion).
