Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2026 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. OF Nelson Rada | 20 | AAA | 2026
The plusses here are obvious: a legitimate center fielder with solid plate skills from the left side, Rada swiped 54 bases in 135 games across Double-A and Triple-A in 2025, slashing .292/.398/.360 and making huge plate-skills gains when he reached Triple-A. He walked 30 times against 35 strikeouts in his 42 games with Salt Lake, slashing .323/.433/.416 in the cozy hitting environment. He’s always been extremely young for the level – 7.8 years younger than average in Triple-A – and that tends to work out in the aggregate, especially if a teenager like Rada arrives to camp some spring wearing new muscle after a Rocky IV type winter. Rada actually filled out a little bit last offseason and could be quite the fantasy sleeper this year with just a touch more man-strength.
2. OF Hayden Alvarez | 19 | A | 2028
At 6’3” 190 pounds, Alvarez is a little more physically developed than his same-age cohorts, but it seems a bit silly to hold that against him when he’s playing against guys who are 3.2 years older than him, on average, as he was for the final 20 games of 2025 after playing against guys who were 1.6 years older than him in the complex league. In those 20 games for Low-A Inland Empire, he slashed .355/.459/.435 with nine stolen bases. Also ten strikeouts against eight walks. I hope you added him down the stretch, but if not, get him on your First-Year-Player-Draft lists in case he’s in your free agent pool.
3. RHP Tyler Bremmer | 21 | NCAA | 2028
A surprise selection at 2nd overall in the 2025 draft, Bremmer has a lot to prove as a professional, but he’s certainly got the profile to fly through the minors and make the club look smart for snagging him early. Minor league hitters tend to struggle with the mix of plus fastball, plus changeup and plus command, and Bremmer even mixes in a solid breaking ball. He hasn’t pitched yet for Los Angeles of Anaheim, but he did strike out 295 batters with 1.07 WHIP in 221.1 innings pitched for UC Santa Barbara, so that’s something. Pretty tough to make a case that he was the best player they could’ve had at that spot, but so it goes.
4. RHP Ryan Johnson | 23 | MLB | 2025
The 74th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Johnson has travelled the kind of path that’s only available to prospects in this organization, starting 12 games at High-A before jumping to the major league bullpen for a non-contending team. To be fair, he had been dominant in High-A, posting a 1.88 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 57.1 innings. Seems like a good time to send the 6’6” 215 pound fireballer to Double-A, no? He posted a 7.36 ERA in 14.2 MLB innings, but I think it’s fair to look right through that and anticipate big things at Double-A in 2026. Or perhaps out of the bullpen for a mediocre major league team. Hekifino.
5. RHP Trey Gregory-Alford | 19 | A | 2029
An 11th round pick in 2024, Gregory-Alford looks like the biggest draft-and-develop win for this org since it selected Mike Trout a pick after Randall Grichuk. At 6’5” 235 pounds, he features plus extension on a dominant fastball that sits in the upper nineties. He controls that pitch okay but struggles to spot his slider and changeup. He didn’t need off-speed command to dominate in his debut season, particularly in Low-A where he recorded a 1.42 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in 25.1 innings across six starts.
6. SS Joswa Lugo | 19 | CPX | 2029
Signed for $2.3 million in 2024, Lugo is six-foot-three and 187 pounds with infield actions and figures to stay on the dirt well into his 20’s. He slashed .301/.370/.466 with five home runs and 18 stolen bases in 53 games during his debut season in the Dominican Summer League and followed that up with a solid stateside debut, slashing .271/.375/.372 in 35 games on the complex. Might be the last chance to buy in for nothing.
7. SS Denzer Guzman | 22 | AAA | 2026
Listed at 6’1” 190 pounds, Guzman looked pretty strong in his MLB debut. Didn’t make much contact (.190/.209/.357) in his 13 games, but he was just 21 years old and was finding his footing at Triple-A. It’s unclear why this club slams the gas pedal so hard on all its prospects, but the result for our purposes is that they tend to be a little undervalued as their statlines suffer from playing against guys a half-decade their senior. Guzman was a buzzy name as a teenager signing for $2 million in 2021, but he’s pretty widely available today from what I can tell, and he’s got a real shot to open the season in the majors or join the club after a few decent weeks in Utah.
8. SS Yilver De Paula | 18 | DSL | 2030
A switch-hitter at 5’11” 180 pounds, De Paula signed for $900,000 in January and looked the part of a big money prospect in the glimpse we got during the DSL, slashing .387/.525/.513 with one homer and six steals in ten games. If he starts hot on the complex in 2026, he might make it to Double-A by midsummer. I kid, of course, but the point is this guy looks like a fast mover, and LA of A rarely pumps the brakes.
9. C Gabriel Davalillo | 18 | DSL | 2030
Signed for $2 million in January 2025, Davalillo made easy work of DSL pitchers, striking out just 21 times against 23 walks in 41 games while slashing .302/.408/.518 with seven home runs and three stolen bases. At 5’11” 210 pounds, he’s more physically developed than many of his contemporaries, but the hit tool is advanced as well so I don’t want to ding the outcomes too much just because he’s stronger than your average teenage ball player.
10. OF Matthew Lugo | 24 | MLB | 2025
Lugo struck out a lot in his debut season: 34.3 percent of the time in 70 plate appearances across 31 games. He drew zero walks. Clearly, that’s not gonna work, but he managed an 89 wRC+ in the majors because he hit four homers in that brief look. He’s played several positions throughout his climb but is now a pretty standard corner outfielder with big time swing-and-miss questions. Only really on this list because of proximity in a fairly weak system.
Thanks for reading!
Interesting list sir. Gotta admit, Rada was not on my, uh, ahem, Rada-r. 20 years old, and playing some ball. Interested to see if he hits lead off…… Angels will never be accused of playing the service time game!