One of my favorite aspects of Major League Baseball & fantasy baseball is roster construction. One move can have ripple effects throughout an organization. What happens on the edges might mean an opportunity or a job lost for someone else down the road. With that in mind, I've decided to do a division by division breakdown of the 40-man rosters and beyond, and try to uncover some sneaky fantasy gems for you in 2025. I’ll try not to ramble too much, but no guarantees! Feel free to comment here or message on X or Bluesky if you have a question about this series!

Los Angeles Angels

Hitters

No surprises on the Angels roster here so far. Tim Anderson is projected to make the club and split the shortstop duties with free-agent signee Kevin Newman for the first few weeks of 2025, which is about when Zach Neto should be returning to the lineup. There’s not much upside with that pairing, but they should be able to keep them afloat for a few weeks. J.D. Davis looks to have the inside track on the corner infield bench job, where he can likely platoon with Nolan Schanuel when the Angels get matched up with a tough southpaw, but it's a minimal fantasy impact opportunity there for Davis. Seems like it'll come down to Davis or switch-hitting Ryan Noda for a bench spot.

Chuckie Robinson was an off-season waiver add from the White Sox and he’s pretty clearly the third catcher here. There’s no fantasy value even if he gets promoted with an injury because Logan O’Hoppe or Travis d’Arnaud will take over with everyday playing time. I’m hoping O’Hoppe can stay healthy with d’Arnaud around and put together a full season. 

Niko Kavadas and Ryan Noda are on the 40-man here. Both dudes whiff too much but Noda can at least stand in a corner outfield spot if needed. Kavadas is a DH through and through, following the Dan Vogelbach three true outcomes career path but not even hitting as well as Vogelbach did. Scott Kingery and Kyren Paris are the remaining infield depth on the roster. Kingery was being Rusney Castillo’d by the Phillies. He last appeared in the big leagues in 2022 where he played in one game. The contract he signed early on was the sole reason he was in the minors. The Phillies would’ve had to essentially pay 200% of Kingery’s contract if they added him back to the 40-man because they are over the luxury tax threshold. Kyren Paris is getting some buzz this spring after a subtle stance change (I’m hesitant to say it's a different swing yet but the setup is very different) but I’m still waiting to see if it sticks through spring before getting too excited. So far so good though for Paris as he attempts to make the team out of camp. 

Matthew Lugo and Gustavo Campero are on the 40-man roster and seem likely to contribute this year. Lugo is a little intriguing to me as a power over hit tool, versatile bench piece but his overall lack of an approach worries me a bit. He also played the outfield exclusively in 2024, so maybe the versatility is just a thing of the past. Campero is a former Yankees farmhand with a short and stocky build that runs surprisingly well and has below average power. Not an ideal profile for a corner outfielder though, but he’s just an up and down guy.

The non-roster guy getting buzz for fantasy in 2025 is 2024 first rounder Christian Moore. He was assigned to Double-A immediately coming out of the College World Series and had an impressive 25-game run until he hurt his knee. He’s an aggressive power hitter with big exit velocities and a fiery, competitive personality. He’s a second baseman but he’s also been getting some reps at third during instructs and early on at spring camp. The only thing that can prevent him from reaching his 25-30 homer ceiling is his aggressiveness. He struggles with sliders and is sure to get a steady diet of them as he continues to climb the ladder, and big league pitchers are so good he’s going to have to figure it out. He seems likely to end up somewhere around .260/.310 (AVG/OBP) during his peak seasons but obviously lower than that out of the gate. I’d imagine he makes his debut late in the season and I don’t think you can stash a late power only bat for that long. I’d consider Nelson Rada a longer shot but he could also see the big leagues late in the season if he adjusts to upper minors pitching. His upside is that of a strong OBP, future table-setter type.  

Pitchers

On the pitching side, the only optionable bullpen pieces are Ben Joyce, Ryan Zeferjahn and Hans Crouse. All three are right-handed and Joyce and Zeferjahn are projected to be two of their better relievers. There isn’t a lot of flexibility in the bullpen. They also have rule five pick Garrett McDaniels from the Dodgers organization. He’s a four pitch lefty with fringy command but has a very unique delivery where he throws across his body but also almost perfectly over the top. He’s making the jump from High-A to the big leagues so I’m betting against him sticking all season long. Joyce seems like the next man up for saves if they trade Kenley Jansen, so keep him in mind. He was drafted plenty earlier this off-season until the late signing of Jansen so make sure to get a fresh update of his ADP.  

Caden Dana seems likely to begin the season in the minors but he is very much the future of the Angels rotation. He had a major issue last season with inconsistent release points for nearly every offering and as you can guess big league hitters picked that up. He’s 92-95 with the heater and also has a nice slider. His changeup and curveball need some work though. Samuel Aldegheri is a pitchability lefty with a decent slider and an improved changeup. His four pitch mix is fairly ordinary but he’s still going to be in the rotation this year at some point. Sam Bachman is a future power reliever that the Angels are still trying to start, and the stuff plays down in the longer stints. Let him eat in shorter bursts and he can probably still be 98-99 with a low 90s slider. He’s sort of caught in between right now and it's not really doing anybody any good. As someone who watched the Dakota Hudson era in St. Louis I can tell you I want no part of Jack Kochanowicz. Sure, he’s a bit of a unicorn with his pitch mix but any gains he makes by not walking guys is completely wiped away by not missing bats. There’s zero upside here for fantasy even if he turns out to be a useful arm, which I think he can. Oh, and wait until you find out where Dakota Hudson landed! 

George Klassen is the most interesting arm that hasn’t made his debut yet. He came over in the Carlos Estevez deal and he lost his command immediately after coming over to the Angels. It’s 95-98 as a starter though with a plus cutter/slider hybrid and an above-average curveball. His command is still below-average and he also needs to figure out a way to get left-handed hitters out. I think he figures it out enough to start but there is significant bullpen risk here.