At the trade deadline, the Angels added Andrew Chafin, Luis GarcÃa, and Oswald Peraza in an attempt to start the season well. By acquiring Peraza, the Angels were indicating that they intended to strengthen their roster’s obvious weak area, which was occupied by Kevin Newman.
As August approached, the Angels had had enough of Newman, even though he had been signed to a one-year contract with a club option in the offseason. Newman left as soon as Peraza entered. The 32-year-old has reported to Triple-A Toledo after signing a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. It seems improbable, but if the club with the best AL record needs to force Newman into action, he might be added to the Tigers’ playoff roster.
A two-run home run off Jacob deGrom on July 28th broke a 0-0 tie in a game the Angels unexpectedly won, and it was the high point of Newman’s 2025 season. At the time of the trade deadline, Arte Moreno was unsure of the route he wanted to take Perry Minasian. The players wanted to prove to Moreno that they could make a serious postseason run since the Angels were a marginal contender in late July. Ironically, Moreno was motivated to make a last-minute addition to the team by Newman’s home run. Peraza was thus acquired by the Angels to take Newman’s position. It’s a challenging industry.
The Angels dismissed Newman for a variety of reasons. Newman had the lowest FanGraphs WAR of any Angels player, with a -0.7 fWAR throughout his 57 games played, making him the team’s weakest player. Newman’s ability to smash left-handed pitchers and provide above-average infield defense was the rationale for his signing this summer (particularly while Zach Neto was recovering from shoulder surgery). He did neither, and for the entirety of his time with the Angels, he was essentially a benchwarmer.
Newman only played 12 more games than he did in the 60-game 2020 season, and his 56 games played are his fewest in a complete season since his first year with Pittsburgh in 2018. While his.231 SLG and.481 OPS are the second-worst of his career, his.202 batting average and.209 OBP are the worst. Newman only hit two home runs this season, including one off deGrom.
In the past, the Tigers and the Angels shared the record for baseball’s longest postseason drought. Last year, they cracked that schneid, and they’ll probably figure out a way to unlock Newman’s game (just like the Diamondbacks did in 2024). That’s exactly the way this franchise operates.
