FOX Sports’ 26-and-under power rankings are a new spin on the classic prospect rankings. Yes, prospects are important, but with all the game-changing young talent already in the bigs, farm systems alone can’t tell the whole story. So we’re diving deep into every single MLB club, ranking them all by the players in an organization entering their age-26 season or younger — from the bigs to the farm. Each weekday through March 24, we’ll count down from last to first.
No. 25 Los Angeles Angels
26-and-under total score: 13 (out of 30)
The Angels’ top prospect, Logan O’Hoppe, spent his childhood spring breaks trekking from his Long Island home to spring-training stadiums across Arizona and Florida before becoming a professional ballplayer. After four springs in the Phillies organization, he had been to all but one: Tempe Diablo Stadium, where the Angels have played for the last 30 years.
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He put it together when he arrived at spring training some six weeks ago: His new workplace was the place with which he was least familiar.
“Ironically enough,” he said.
By now, O’Hoppe is at home in Tempe, where the mood is jovial at Angels camp. An athletic trainer interrupts a press scrum to ask the club’s first baseman if he made a necklace out of the rib removed in his thoracic outlet surgery. Members of Team Italy and Team Mexico for the upcoming World Baseball Classic playfully trash-talk each other.
The camp revolves around Shohei Ohtani, who could be beginning his final season with the organization. But as long as Ohtani and Trout are healthy, optimism is easy. If the Angels are to fulfill their expectations and win 10, 15, even 20 games more than they have managed in recent seasons, it will probably be because new, young talent emerges as impactful at the big-league level.
Enter O’Hoppe, the catcher the Angels obtained from Philadelphia last August in exchange for center fielder Brandon Marsh. O’Hoppe, 23, was already in the midst of a breakout season when the Angels acquired him, and he upped his play a couple of notches after the trade. In 29 games with double-A Rocket City, he registered 11 home runs and a 1.147 OPS. He walked far more than he struck out. He was so effective the Angels promoted him for the season’s final week.
The Angels already employ a veteran catcher, Max Stassi, whom they owe $14 million over the next two seasons. But he lacks O’Hoppe’s upside, and it’s easy to envision O’Hoppe superseding him at some point this spring or summer. If only the Angels had a few more in-house prospects like him, ready to step up in the event of injuries or underperformance.
Yes, they are a deeper team than they’ve been. Yes, unlike all of their peers languishing near the bottom of our young-talent rankings, the Angels actually employ a number of competent, young big-league starters, and general manager Perry Minasian was effusive in his praise of their offseason work to take a step forward. Patrick Sandoval, 26; José Suarez, 25; and Reid Detmers, 23, all figure to open the season in the Angels’ likely six-man rotation.
But weaknesses remain. Infielder Luis Rengifo is the only young position player guaranteed to break camp with the club. The Angels have only one young reliever slated to participate in their bullpen this season: Jaime Barria, who makes our cutoff by a couple weeks. He profiles as more of a back-end starter, sans the stuff of an elite reliever. On the farm, there are a couple potential major-league relievers, but no one especially exciting. Right-hander Ben Joyce, a third-round selection last year as a standout SEC reliever, could be the fastest riser.
Under former general manager Billy Eppler, the Angels employed a unique strategy in the draft and international market: They prioritized acquiring athletes, reasoning they could teach the prospects the baseball skills they lacked. As a result, the system is littered with some of the sport’s best athletes, most of whom have not yet gained those essential skills.
In recent drafts and acquisitions, they have struck more of a balance. Shortstop Zach Neto, last year’s first-round selection, is a great athlete, but perhaps not quite on the level of their selections in prior years. He did hit marvelously during his debut professional season.
O’Hoppe is another example. A late-round draft pick who was swayed to sign away from his East Carolina commitment, part of his appeal has long been his mind. He has harnessed his processing ability more effectively in recent seasons, and it’s clear in his play. As a Phillie, he worked extensively with Hannah Huesman, who now works as the Rangers‘ mental performance coordinator.
“There’s a lot going on in my head, and I may overwhelm some people, but I’m trying to be in touch with my brain and where it’s at every day,” O’Hoppe said. “I’m always gonna be that 23rd-rounder, that eight-year-old who used to come to Arizona while I was younger, for spring training. I’ll always be that kid. Keeping that perspective has helped me a lot.”
Score breakdown:
Big-league position players: 2 (out of 10)
Big-league pitchers: 6 (out of 10)
Prospect position players: 3 (out of 5)
Prospect pitchers: 2 (out of 5)
Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the Dodgers for The Athletic, the Angels and Dodgers for the Orange County Register and L.A. Times, and his alma mater, USC, for ESPN Los Angeles. He is the author of “How to Beat a Broken Game.” Follow him on Twitter at @pedromoura.
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