No Heaven in Sight | Los Angeles Angels | MLB The Show 26

[Caesar]

MLB • Roster News

Graterol trades Dodger Blue for Angels Red

By Jordan Reyes • Staff Writer • November 30, 2026 • 5 min read

Brusdar Graterol is staying in LA with the Angels. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Angels signed right-hander Brusdar Graterol to a one-year, $9 million deal on Monday, their first free agent addition of the offseason.

Graterol, 28, pitched just 15.2 innings for the Dodgers in 2026 and allowed 10 runs, a season disrupted by shoulder trouble that never fully resolved. It was the second consecutive year injuries kept him off the field for long stretches.

"We had him at the complex in November for three weeks before we made an offer."

The Angels are buying the 2022 through 2024 stretch, when Graterol was one of the most effective setup arms in the National League. He posted a 3.79 ERA over 46 appearances in 2022, a 1.20 mark across 68 games in 2023 and a 2.51 ERA in 2024 while pitching high-leverage innings for a team that won the World Series. The sinker sits in the upper 90s and generates ground balls at a rate almost nobody in the sport matches, which fits a roster built around infield defense.

The one-year term is the point. Graterol has to prove he is healthy, and the Angels get a look without a long-term commitment. If it works, he becomes a trade chip in July or a candidate for an extension.

He joins a bullpen that lost Robert Stephenson, Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz to free agency. Ben Joyce, who converted 27 saves with a 2.18 ERA, remains the closer, with Graterol and Connor Phillips, acquired from Cincinnati in the Jo Adell trade, projected to work in front of him.

[James]

Almost a run an inning?

You really are hoping he bounces back.

[Caesar]

Almost a run an inning?

You really are hoping he bounces back.

Yeah. He's a groundball pitcher so ideally inducing grounders into my defense should help him a ton.

[Caesar]

MLB • Roster News

LA adds Taylor to outfield options

By Jordan Reyes • Staff Writer • December 2, 2026 • 5 min read

The Angels are betting on Tyrone Taylor in a big way. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Angels signed outfielder Tyrone Taylor to a three-year, $33 million deal on Wednesday, betting a significant sum that a 32-year-old coming off the worst season of his career has something left.

Taylor hit .178 with one home run and 12 RBIs across 157 plate appearances in 2026, a year in which he lost his everyday role and never got it back. In 2024 he hit .248 with 10 homers over 319 appearances and started in center field for a playoff team.

"Thirty-three million for a fourth outfielder is either the best value in this market or the dumbest contract of the winter."

The defense is what the money is for. Taylor grades among the better outfielders in baseball at all three positions and has spent most of his career handling center field while sliding to the corners when asked. He has never had a season with more than 400 plate appearances, and the Angels are paying him through 2029 on the theory that the 2024 version, roughly league average at the plate with premium glovework, is still there.

The term is the aggressive part. Three years for a player who hit .178 suggests Los Angeles was bidding against someone, and general manager Kim Ng has now committed $42 million this winter to two players who did not produce at the plate last season.

Where he fits is the more immediate question. The Angels already have Brenton Doyle in center, Josh Lowe and Addison Barger in the corners and Mike Trout, who has played 29 games in center since 2022 and profiles as a corner outfielder or designated hitter under new manager Rocco Baldelli. That is five players for what amounts to four spots, and Taylor arrives with the shortest track record of everyday work among them.

[Captain Canada]

Boy said we might not be getting runs but now, neither will you

[Caesar]

Boy said we might not be getting runs but now, neither will you

You see the vision. They might make a mistake on defense. We won't.

[Caesar]

MLB • Trade News

Angels continue to bet on resurgences with Hentges trade

By Jordan Reyes • Staff Writer • December 5, 2026 • 5 min read

The Angeles have added Sam Hentges to their bullpen. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Angels traded left-hander Reid Detmers to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday for reliever Sam Hentges.

Detmers, 27, went 7-13 with a 5.13 ERA in 156 innings last season, striking out 150 and walking 59. The 10th overall pick in the 2020 draft, he threw a no-hitter against Tampa Bay in May 2022 but never locked down a spot in the front half of a rotation across five seasons in Anaheim.

"Five years is a long time to wait on a first-rounder."

Hentges, 30, posted a 4.40 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP over 75.2 innings for the Giants in 2026. The left-hander has been a durable multi-inning option throughout his career and gives Angels manager Rocco Baldelli another arm in a bullpen that lost Robert Stephenson, Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz to free agency this month.

San Francisco adds a starter with club control remaining and a strikeout rate that has held up even as his results have not. Detmers has struggled with walks and home runs, both of which should play better at Oracle Park than they did at Angel Stadium.

The deal is the third trade of the offseason for Angels general manager Kim Ng, who has also dealt Alek Manoah to Baltimore and Jo Adell to Cincinnati.

[Caesar]

MLB • Organization News

Angels win 2027 Draft Lottery

By Jordan Reyes • Staff Writer • December 15, 2026 • 5 min read

The Los Angeles Angels have been handed the opportunity to pick first next July. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Angels won the 2027 MLB Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, moving up one spot to claim the No. 1 overall pick and handing general manager Kim Ng the most valuable asset of her first offseason.

The Angels entered the drawing with a 16.5 percent chance at the top selection, tied with the Minnesota Twins and Colorado Rockies for the best odds in the field. Los Angeles finished 65-97, the second-worst record in baseball behind Minnesota's 59-103 mark.

"It's the first thing that's gone our way in about four years."

It is the first No. 1 overall pick in franchise history. The Angels have not picked in the top five since taking Matt Harvey with the third selection in 2007, a pick he declined to sign, and their draft record over the last decade has been mixed at best. Jo Adell, the 10th overall selection in 2017, was traded to Cincinnati this month after seven seasons. Reid Detmers, taken 10th in 2020, went to San Francisco last week.

Boston made the biggest move of the night, climbing five spots to No. 2 despite entering with 5.5 percent odds and a 71-91 record. Pittsburgh moved up two to No. 3.

The bigger story at the top was who fell. Minnesota, which lost 103 games and shared the best lottery odds with the Angels, dropped three spots to No. 4. Colorado slid two to No. 5. Arizona fell three to No. 7 and Washington dropped two to No. 8. The Chicago White Sox were the night's other winner, jumping three spots to No. 6 on 2.7 percent odds after finishing 76-86.

Kansas City slipped one to No. 9. St. Louis, San Francisco and Miami, all 77-85, took picks 10 through 12 in that order.

Postseason clubs do not qualify for the lottery and were slotted by record from 19 through 30. Cincinnati picks 19th and World Series champion Los Angeles picks last at No. 30, the third consecutive year the Dodgers have selected at the bottom of the first round.

For the Angels, the timing matters more than the pick itself. Ng has spent the winter converting veterans into young pitching and defensive pieces, trading Alek Manoah to Baltimore, Adell to Cincinnati and Detmers to San Francisco while adding Brenton Doyle in center field. None of those moves brought back a player who projects as a clear star. The No. 1 pick is the first chance to add one.

Scouting directors around the league consider the 2027 class deeper in college pitching than position players, though the Angels have not indicated a preference. The draft is scheduled for July.

[Captain Canada]

We ain't mad at the first overall pick

[redsox907]

trade that biddy

s/o Coin Cowherd