Phillies

Mickey Moniak Released by the Angels

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 25th, 2025 · 1:19 PM EDT

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First the Angels DFA’d Scott Kingery, now they’re releasing Mickey Moniak. They won’t stop until every former Phillies prospect is gone:

The Los Angeles Angels are releasing outfielder Mickey Moniak, sources tell ESPN. They owe him $333,333 — one-sixth of the $2 million salary he won in an arbitration hearing over the winter. Similar situation to J.D. Davis’ last spring. Arb settlements are guaranteed. Not cases.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 25, 2025

Moniak went to LA as part of the Noah Syndergaard deal. In 2.5 years he played 228 games with a .242/.279/.430 slash line and .709 OPS. He had a pretty good 2023 and put up career highs in batting average (.280), OBP (.307), and slugging percentage (.495) but regressed in 2024 to numbers that were only slightly better than what Johan Rojas did at the plate for the Phillies. Moniak played mostly center and right field with some spot appearances in left and as a DH.

He was, of course, the #1 pick in the 2016 draft, now released by one of baseball’s worst teams at age 26. Adam Haseley, drafted in the first round a year later, is no longer playing baseball and Cornelius Randolph is in the Mexican league. You look back at that 2016/2017 stretch and think about Moniak, Haseley, Carson Wentz, Derek Barnett, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, Nolan Patrick, German Rubtsov, and Morgan Frost. We had a bit of brilliance from Wentz and Simmons before they flamed out spectacularly, and Barnett contributed to the first Super Bowl team, but man that’s a Flopadelphia run right there.

Should the Phillies bring Mickey Moniak home? They need outfield help, right? RIGHT? 610-632-0975.