Shortstop Showdown: Angels Face Uncertainty as Star Recovers from…

Angels shortstop Zach Neto underwent shoulder surgery and could miss the start of the 2025 season. General manager Perry Minasian informed reporters such as Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com (X link) and Sam Blum of The Athletic (X link), though didn’t specify the exact nature of the injury or procedure.

Per Minasian, Zeto sustained the injury playing in Chicago during the club’s final week of the season. While playing the White Sox on Sept. 26, Zeto was on first base and tried to take second on a ball in the dirt (video link from MLB.com). After sliding headfirst into the bag and getting thrown out, he was clutching at his right shoulder and clearly in pain. The Angels then hosted the Rangers for the final three games of the season, but Neto didn’t play in those.

Over a month has now passed since that injury. Per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (X link), Neto tried rehabbing but still had some lingering issues, so it seems he had to go under the knife.

Though the exact details of the situation haven’t been relayed, the timetable is not good news for the Angels. Neto has less than two years in the big leagues but has taken over the club’s shortstop job and performed well. He just wrapped up a 2024 season in which he hit 23 home runs and slashed .249/.318/.443 for a wRC+ of 114 wRC+. The reviews of his defense were mixed, but he stole 30 bases on the year. Putting his total performance together, FanGraphs graded him as worth 3.5 wins above replacement on the year, tops on the team.

The club just wrapped up its worst season in franchise history, going 63-99. Despite that, owner Arte Moreno said last month that they planned to increase payroll and try to compete in 2025. They have already acquired slugger Jorge Soler from Atlanta and signed pitcher Kyle Hendricks as they attempt to upgrade the roster.

Turning a 99-loss team into a contender was always going to be a challenge, especially for a franchise that has continually fallen short of expectations. In recent years, it has had two-way star Shohei Ohtani and something near peak Mike Trout on the same roster but couldn’t even get its win-loss record over .500. Now, it has lost Ohtani, while Trout has become increasingly absent due to injuries as he pushes towards his mid 30s.

Cobbling together a winner in 2025 will now only become more difficult as its top contributor from 2024 will be missing time. Since Neto will presumably be back at some point, it probably won’t go after a big free agent like Willy Adames to fill the spot for a temporary absence. Perhaps it will keep an eye out for multi-positional players that could fill the void and then move to another spot once Neto is healthy.

It’s also possible that the Angels have already been on this path. Super utility player Scott Kingery was sent from the Phillies to the Angels last week, with the Halos adding him to their roster shortly thereafter to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency. Kingery played mostly shortstop in Triple-A this year, also spending some time at second base and center field. He hit 25 home runs and stole 25 bases, slashing .268/.316/.488. He has a line of just .229/.280/.387 in his major league career but would be a fine utility guy if he performed the way he did in the minors in 2024.

Luis Rengifo is also on the roster and can play all over the diamond, though he’s not really considered a strong defender anywhere and is probably better suited for a less-demanding spot like second base. Kyren Paris is on the 40-man but has just 105 major league plate appearances with a rough line of .110/.214/.165 in those. Perhaps the club will keep an eye out for other depth options in free agency, the trade market or on the waiver wire.

How the roster shakes out will be determined in the months to come. For now, it’s a setback for the Halos. They have a roster with plenty of question marks, but shortstop wasn’t one of them before this news.