The Los Angeles Angels have released a former No. 1 overall pick just days before the start of the regular season. The Halos are releasing Mickey Moniak, reports ESPN, paving the way for Jo Adell to serve as the team’s everyday center fielder. Mike Trout is shifting to right field this season as the Angels try to find a way to keep him in the lineup.
Moniak, 26, was the No. 1 selection in the 2016 draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the Angels for Noah Syndergaard at the 2022 deadline and is a career .230/.272/.402 hitter with 32 home runs in 275 MLB games. Moniak slashed .219/.266/.380 with 14 homers in 124 games last season. Defensive metrics have never loved his outfield glovework.
Back in January, Moniak beat the Angels in an arbitration hearing, and secured a $2 million salary for 2025 rather than the $1.5 million the Angels sought. The timing of the release means Moniak is entitled to 45 days termination pay, or roughly $484,000. The San Francisco Giants released J.D. Davis under similar circumstances last spring.
Players who agree to a contract prior to the arbitration salary filing deadline each January receive guaranteed contracts. That is the vast majority of arbitration-eligible players. Moniak was one of 17 players to not sign before the salary filing deadline and one of nine players to go to a hearing. That opened him up to being released with only partial pay.
Moniak had a poor 2024 season and a poor spring training: .173/.224/.346 with 17 strikeouts in 58 plate appearances this spring. He has failed to live up to the expectations of being the No. 1 pick because of chronic plate indiscipline. Moniak’s a great athlete and he has power, but he chases too much and swings and misses too much.
Given his age and pedigree, and the fact he hit .280/.307/.495 line in 2023, Moniak could hook on with another team before Opening Day. The Detroit Tigers in particular have been hit hard by outfield injuries this spring, though they just signed Manuel Margot. If not, Moniak will have to settle for a minor-league contract and a Triple-A assignment.
The Angels lost a franchise-record 99 games last season. They brought in several veteran players in the offseason, most notably Yusei Kikuchi and Jorge Soler, to end baseball’s longest postseason drought. The Angels have not been to the postseason since 2014 or had a winning record since 2015.
This news was originally published on this post .
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