Angels fans are less optimistic than ever heading into 2026 in survey from The Athletic originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Los Angeles Angels are coming into the 2026 MLB season as one of the worst projected teams in baseball, and things don’t look to be getting better any time soon.
There are so many issues with the team, from the front office to the coaching staff, and even the roster and farm system. It’s not out of the question that the Angels are worse off now than they’ve ever been.
At least, that’s seemingly what Angels fans think, according to a recent poll from Stephen J. Nesbitt of The Athletic, which found that only 5.7 percent of Angels fans are optimistic about the franchise entering the 2026 MLB season.
Only 5.7% of Angels fans are optimistic for 2026 and beyond
Ranking 29th overall in MLB, only ahead of the Minnesota Twins, the Angels fan base has a 5.7% optimism score, nearly 20 full percentage points lower than the Washington Nationals, ranked 28th, at 24.2%.
The trends for the Angels in recent years have been brutal. Back in 2022, they had a 71.4% optimism score. Thanks to Shohei Ohtani, who surged to 81.1% in 2023.
But, after Ohtani left for the Los Angeles Dodgers following the 2023 season, the Angels fan base came to a crushing realization, and only had 15.6% optimism according to The Athletic’s poll at the time.
Last season, they came into 2025 with an 11.5% optimism percentage. But now, they’ve gone even lower, cutting more than half of that percent off to get to just 5.7% entering 2026.
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It’s an understandable reaction, as the Angels fanbase knows Mike Trout is nearing the end of his playing days, and the team is also lacking the superstar power waiting in the wings to replace him.
Not only that, but the prospect depth is among the worst in baseball, and there is seemingly no path to returning to the postseason until Arte Moreno changes how much he’s spending and invests more into the team.
For now, there’s little upside for the Angels. There’s very little hope for Angels fans, with the only solace potentially in the form of a Trout resurgence this season. But, even that doesn’t help make the future of the franchise look any better than it does now.
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