Picking the Halos' All-Quarter Century team

This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ANAHEIM -- Now that it’s 2025, it’s time to look back at the past quarter century of Angels baseball.

Over the past 25 years, the Halos won their first World Series title in 2002 and captured the AL West title six times: 2004, ’05, ’07, ’08, ’09 and ’14. They also saw Mike Trout win three AL MVP Awards, Shohei Ohtani win two and Vladimir Guerrero win one as well. Trout and Ohtani were also both AL Rookie of the Year Award winners.

This week, we’ll name the all-Angels team over the past 25 years, first from a position-player perspective, before honoring the pitchers in the next newsletter:

1B: Albert Pujols
Pujols played 10 seasons with the Angels, hitting .256 with 222 homers, 214 doubles and 783 RBIs in 1,181 games, while being named an All-Star in 2015. He ranks second in homers and third in RBIs for the club over the past 25 years.

2B: Howie Kendrick
Kendrick was a steady presence with the club from 2006-14, hitting .292 with 78 homers, 249 doubles, 95 stolen bases and 501 RBIs in 1,081 games. He was an All-Star in 2011 and received MVP votes in '14.

3B: Troy Glaus
Glaus began his Angels career in 1998 but became a star in 2000, leading the AL with a still club-record 47 homers. He was an All-Star with the club in 2000, '01 and '03, while winning Silver Sluggers in 2000 and '01. He also memorably won AL World Series MVP honors in '02.

SS: Erick Aybar
Aybar was a constant with the Angels from 2006-15, hitting .276 with 48 homers, 222 doubles, 141 stolen bases and 417 RBIs in 1,220 games. He won the Gold Glove at shortstop in 2011 and was an All-Star in '14.

LF: Garret Anderson
Anderson’s career started in 1994 but he remained productive with the Angels, as he seemed to get better with age. He received AL MVP votes in 2001 and then was an All-Star and won the Silver Slugger Award in both 2002 and ’03, while also being an All-Star again in ’05.

CF: Mike Trout
Even with his injuries in recent years, Trout still ranks third among all players in fWAR dating back to 2000, as his 85.7 WAR is only behind Pujols’ 89.9 and Alex Rodriguez’s 88. He’s been a three-time AL MVP, an 11-time All-Star, a nine-time Silver Slugger Award winner and has won two All-Star Game MVPs. He's never won a Gold Glove but was the Wilson Overall Defensive Player of the Year in ’12.

RF: Vladimir Guerrero
Guerrero made an impact right away with the Angels, winning AL MVP honors in ’04, while also being named an All-Star and winning a Silver Slugger. He was again an All-Star and won the Silver Slugger in each of his next three years with the club and received AL MVP votes in ’08. He became the first player to enter the Hall of Fame wearing an Angels cap.

C: Bengie Molina
Molina was a defensive stalwart with the Angels, finishing fourth in the balloting for AL Rookie of the Year in 2000 before winning Gold Glove Awards in ’02 and ’03. He caught 716 games with the club, which is the third most in franchise history, and hit a respectable .273.

UT: Darin Erstad, Chone Figgins
It’s hard to have a list of impactful Angels players over the last 25 years without finding spots for Figgins and Erstad, who both excelled at multiple positions. Erstad debuted in ’96 and was an All-Star in ’98, but he had his best year in 2000, when he had 240 hits and was an All-Star, won the Gold Glove at center field and took home a Silver Slugger Award. He won another Gold Glove in center in ’02 before making history by winning a Gold Glove at first base in ’04. Figgins debuted in ’02 and saw action all over the diamond with the club through 2009, earning MVP votes in ’04, ’05, ’07 and ’09, when he was an All-Star for the first time. He holds the club record with 280 career stolen bases and hit a club-record 17 triples in ’04.

DH: Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani burst onto the scene as a two-way sensation as a rookie in ’18 and went on to win the AL MVP Award with the club in ’21 and ’23, while also being an All-Star as both a pitcher and a designated hitter in each season from ’21-23. He also won the Silver Slugger Award in ’21 and ’23.