Angels players to watch for 2025

The Angels selected second baseman Christian Moore with their first-round pick after his dominant career at the University of Tennessee. He kept it rolling with an incredible showing in his first professional season in the Minors. Moore, ranked as the club’s No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline and No. 71 overall, would’ve been a September callup, but he sustained a meniscus injury in late August that kept him out of action for two weeks.

The Angels also drafted right-hander Ryan Johnson from Dallas Baptist University with the No. 74 pick in the Draft as compensation for losing Shohei Ohtani via free agency. Johnson, ranked as their No. 5 prospect, looks the part of a future big league starter, while the club also selected Texas A&M relief ace Chris Cortez (No. 10 prospect) in the second round and will stretch him out as a starter.

Additionally, the Angels acquired right-hander George Klassen, ranked as their No. 3 prospect, and lefty Sam Aldegheri, their No. 8 prospect, in exchange for closer Carlos Estévez at the Trade Deadline. They also traded for outfield prospect Matthew Lugo, ranked No. 12, in their trade with the Red Sox for reliever Luis García, as well as receiving first baseman Niko Kavadas, right-hander Yeferson Vargas and Ryan Zeferjahn. Kavadas and Zeferjahn both got their first taste of the Majors down the stretch, with Zeferjahn pitching especially well in relief.

Right-hander Caden Dana, ranked as the Angels’ No. 1 prospect, got his first taste of the Majors with three starts down the stretch, while Aldegheri also made three starts before being shut down with a blister.

“Continuing to add to that group is really, really important,” general manager Perry Minasian said. “We felt like we did that at the Deadline with the acquisitions we were able to make. We felt like we were able to do that with the Draft. But we’re really excited about our system and the depth of it moving forward.”

The farm system is in better shape than recent years, and here’s a look at three players to watch who could make their MLB debuts with the Angels in 2025:

Moore is polished enough — and was so impressive in his short stint in the Minors — that he’ll head to Spring Training competing for the starting job at second base. Moore, 21, hit a combined .347/.400/.584 with six homers, six doubles and 20 RBIs in 25 games with Single-A Inland Empire and Double-A Rocket City. He’ll also get the chance to work with infield gurus Ron Washington and Ryan Goins in Spring Training to help him improve his defense. Moore is on the same quick trajectory to the Majors that the Angels saw from shortstop Zach Neto and first baseman Nolan Schanuel.

Klassen had a breakout season in the Phillies organization and was one of two key arms acquired in the Estévez trade at the Deadline. The 22-year-old has a fastball that sits in the upper 90s and can hit triple digits but he’s still learning to fully harness his elite stuff. Klassen had a 3.10 ERA with 135 strikeouts and 46 walks in 93 innings across Single-A, High-A and Double-A this season. He’ll need to cut down on his walks, but he showed what he could do in his last start of the season with Double-A Rocket City, throwing six no-hit innings with 12 strikeouts. Klassen still has things to work on but he has a strong chance to crack the rotation at some point next year.

Lugo was one of four players the Angels added in trading García to the Red Sox, and he was considered close to reaching the Majors before suffering a season-ending hand injury on a hit-by-pitch on Aug. 2 in his first game with the organization at Triple-A Salt Lake. The 23-year-old had a strong year between Double-A and Triple-A, batting .287/.376/.578 with 17 homers, 21 doubles and 57 RBIs in 79 games. Lugo, a nephew of nine-time All-Star Carlos Beltrán, is likely to add to the club’s outfield depth next year and is best suited in a corner-outfield spot.