Mickey

Moniak

A little bit of irony that Moniak will make his first start of the 2025 season against the team that made him the first-overall selection back in 2016. Moniak is still just 26, but he hasn’t shown anything that suggest there’s fantasy potential in his left-handed bat; even playing in a home park like Coors Field. Jordan Beck gets the day off against Zack Wheeler and the Phillies.

Moniak just signed Thursday, so it’s not a huge surprise the 26-year-old doesn’t get a starting nod, and that’s before considering how poorly he’s played at the highest level. Jordan Beck is the starting left fielder against Ryan Pepiot and the Rays.

Moniak will earn $1.25 million. His competition for corner outfield at-bats is Jordan Beck, Nick Martini and Sean Bouchard, so there’s a good chance he’ll wind up getting a long look against right-handers.

Colorado’s front office continues to outperform our wildest expectations with yet another truly confounding roster decision. It’s an ominous development for fantasy managers hoping to see top prospects Jordan Beck and Zac Veen in prominent roles this season since Moniak’s presence only adds to the outfield logjam. It’s an interesting landing spot for Moniak to potentially revive his career, but he’s coming off a three-year stretch with the Angels where he posted a lackluster .709 OPS. The 26-year-old former first-overall pick from the 2016 MLB Draft was released earlier this week by Los Angeles, but didn’t take long to find a new home. He stands to benefit from Coors Field’s hitter-friendly environment, but we’re not anticipating any sort of significant fantasy impact based on his recent track record.

With Mike Trout moving to right field in 2025, it was thought that Moniak would share center field duties with Jo Adell. However, he hit just .173/.224/.346 this spring, and the Angels decided to move on. Doing so now means that the Angels owe him $333,333, which is just one-sixth of the $2 million salary he won in an arbitration hearing over the winter. The move also means that Matthew Lugo has made the team with one of the final bench spots. The 24-year-old will be making his MLB debut when he gets into a game after hitting .287/.376/.578 in the minors last season with 17 home runs and 16 steals in 79 games. His defensive versatility could make him an intriguing add in AL-only formats if he can carve out consistent playing time.

It’s unclear exactly how Moniak and Jo Adell will share time in center field against righties early on. Adell should be in there versus lefties. Moniak’s superior defense will get him some nods against righties, but he hasn’t helped his cause by hitting .173/.224/.346 this spring.

Moniak is at .233/.281/.533 in 32 plate appearances this spring, compared to .182/.222/.364 in 36 plate appearances for Jo Adell. The Angels shouldn’t be basing their center field decision on spring performance, but it should be noted that Moniak is the better defender and might also be the better hitter against righties.

The former top prospect got the Angels on the board first in this one, delivering an RBI single off of Ben Lively in the opening inning. That lead would vanish quickly. Moniak was struck out by Kolby Allard in the third inning and bounced out to shortstop in the sixth, finishing the day 1-for-3. He should begin the season in the strong side of a platoon in center field for the Halos, but he’ll need to produce better than the .219/.266/.380 slash line that he did in 2024 to keep that job and find any sort of relevancy for fantasy purposes.

While this is ostensibly to add versatility to his game, there is a real chance that Rengifo could settle in as a regular center fielder. The Angels will start the season by giving opportunities to Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak, but both of them have failed to live up to prospect hype and are running short on chances. If Rengifo acquits himself well in center field and Moniak and Adell struggle, the Angels could move Rengifo to the outfield. That would free up second base for prized prospect Christian Moore, who was apparently on the verge of being called up late last season before suffering an injury.

He’ll also DH on occasion. While there’s been plenty of talk about Trout moving to a corner, none of the Angels’ offseason moves appear to have been made with Trout’s move in mind.. As a result, Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak now simply move from the right field depth chart to center. It seems like bad news for Adell, since Moniak is the more accomplished center fielder, but we still imagine the Angels will give Adell the first shot out there. As for Trout, this should somewhat help his chances of staying healthy, though he is possibly in line for more wall interaction in right.