The Angels continued their busy offseason Monday, adding even more depth to the outfield. Ken Rosenthal reported that the Angels have added OF Brett Phillips on a one-year major league contract.
Phillips will be the fourth outfielder on the Angels’ roster, providing depth behind a strong outfield of Mike Trout, Taylor Ward and newly acquired Hunter Renfroe. The deal is reported to be for $1.2 million, according to Jon Heyman.
Phillips has played for four teams during his six-year career. He’s a career .188 hitter with 28 home runs and 93 RBIs, but he’s a great defender at all three outfield positions. He has spent most of his time in center field and left field, and is a perfect candidate to spend time in center to allow Trout to move into the corner outfield positions.
This move definitely puts the immediate future of OFs Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak in doubt. Angels manager Phil Nevin has praised both of them this season, even saying he expects Adell to contribute in 2023. While that’s still very possible, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be in the early part of the season.
It seems more likely that Adell and Moniak will start the season in Triple-A and try to work their way back to the big leagues. They won’t have any pressure on them to contribute early in the year, so maybe that’s exactly what they need to get their careers back on track.
