The Angels kicked off the hot stove season on Oct. 31, one day after the World Series ended, by acquiring slugger Jorge Soler from the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Griffin Canning.
General manager Perry Minasian said at the time that he is "going to be aggressive" acquiring players that could boost the Angels' payroll beyond the $172 million they spent in 2024, according to Spotrac.
According to a new report, that could include acquiring another power bat.
Speaking on The Baseball Insiders podcast with Adam Weinrib, Robert Murray of FanSided threw out one name that could make sense for the Angels' offseason M.O.
"I do think it was interesting that he's looking for another power bat in addition to Soler," Murray said of Minasian. "Maybe a guy like Tyler O'Neill could make sense. That's just my own speculation. No sources there whatsoever. I'm skeptical that they're going to go out and get a star. ... You never know with (Angels owner Arte Moreno) because he's as unpredictable as it gets."
The Angels ranked near the bottom of the American League in 2024 in slugging percentage (.369, 13th). Only one team, the 121-loss Chicago White Sox, hit fewer home runs away from home than the Angels (74).
Soler, 32, should help. Next season he'll be six years removed from his 48-homer season with the Kansas City Royals, but his .452 slugging percentage from 2020-24 is better than all of the Angels' starting outfielders last season. None slugged higher than .426 after Mike Trout suffered a meniscus injury April 29 and did not play the rest of the year.
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O'Neill, 29, is a right-handed hitter like Soler. He collected downballot MVP votes with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021, when he hit 34 home runs and batted .286 as the team's everyday left fielder.
But injuries limited O'Neill to 168 games the next two seasons, and he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in Dec. 2023 for pitchers Nick Robertson and Victor Santos. In 113 games, O'Neill slashed .241/.336/.511, a nice bounceback season on the eve of free agency.
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Playing time would be the main obstacle for O'Neill in an Angels outfield that returns Taylor Ward, Jo Adell, Mickey Moniak, and Trout while adding Soler. Ward has played in the infield in the past, while Adell and Moniak would make for a sensible righty/lefty platoon tandem.
Although Minasian told reporters there is a scenario in which all five of the above outfielders return, a trade might be necessary before O'Neill — or another outfielder — could slot into the Angels' depth chart.
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