The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have found a way to be pretty irrelevant on the field for a long stretch of time now, despite employing Mike Trout and, for a time, Shohei Ohtani.
It'll take more than one move to change that, but every little improvement counts.
This offseason, the Angels are being viewed as a possible destination for three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, who is a free agent from the San Diego Padres.
MLB.com took a survey of 46 writers to predict some free agent landing spots, and Arraez was picked most often to end up with the Angels.
"The contact-oriented, strikeout-averse Arraez is an unorthodox player in modern baseball, and the lack of consensus about his next destination perhaps reflects that," MLB.com writes. "Our voters also see some different teams leading the pack for his services, compared to some of the other free agents in this exercise. While eight teams received multiple votes for Arraez, only the Angels got more than seven. It’s not exactly clear how Arraez would fit into the Halos’ lineup at first base, second base or DH, but after a season in which they struck out nearly 100 more times than any other team, Arraez’s skillset would hold obvious appeal."
MORE: Cubs' weird decision turned Shota Imanaga into an unexpected free agent
Arraez is certainly a throwback player.
It's not clear what a contract for him would look like. He's useful, but how useful?
"The question facing the three-time All-Star as he enters the market is, lack of strikeouts aside, whether he can rediscover the overall offensive success he experienced over the previous six seasons," MLB.com writes. "Arraez did lead the NL in hits (181) for the second straight season in 2025, his first full year in San Diego, but he failed to win his fourth straight batting title, as his average dropped from.314 to.292. Arraez’s average and OBP (.327) were career lows, and he slugged just.392 for the second year in a row."
The Angels, more than some teams, can take this risk. They don't mind spending some cash, and they've really got nothing to lose. It's worth seeing if Arraez still has some game left.
More MLB news:
- A massive contract projection for Kyle Tucker
- Shane Bieber shocked baseball with his $16 million contract decision
- Alex Bregman hoping free agent decision pays off
- This is what the Reds need to pay to sign Kyle Schwarber
- Munetaka Murakami's free agent cost revealed
- Will the real Zac Gallen please stand up?