Despite avoiding the sweep to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim continued their freefall with yet another series loss and not a ton of hope on the horizon.
With Mike Trout recovering from knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus, Anthony Rendon dealing with a partially torn hamstring, the question of how much longer do the Halos let this go on before they decide to become sellers becomes louder and louder.
At 16-28, the Angels are in last in the AL West and have the second worst record in the American League behind the Chicago White Sox (14-30). With two and a half months before the MLB trade deadline, should GM Perry Minasian consider trading some of the more attractive veteran pieces on this roster a little sooner in order to land some potential minor league prospects?
The answer is definitely yes, because this situation won’t get better for the Halos, and they have some players on expiring contracts that could walk at the end of the season anyway so why not shop them and land something in return.
Infielder Brandon Drury, who’s currently on the 10-day IL dealing with a hamstring injury, is in the second year of a two-year deal and could be a nice trade chip for a contending team looking to add a veteran bat to their lineup.
While Drury has had a tough start to the season with injuries and inconsistencies, with just one home runs, six RBIs, and a .173 batting average, he’s only a year removed from hitting 26 home runs last season and two years removed from that breakout season he had in Cincinnati that ended in San Diego where he won a Silver Slugger Award.
Teams looking to add pop to their offense will be interested in Drury and when healthy, he still has plenty of that.
Closer Carlos Estevez and relievers Luis Garcia and Adam Cimber could also be trade chips as contenders like the Baltimore Orioles and others, who need back-end bullpen help will be aggressive to add relievers.
Estevez had an All-Star year for the Halos in 2023 with 31 saves but has already blown three saves this season with a 5.68 ERA. However, he has a career-high 30.4 percent strikeout rate this year and still has trade value as contenders will shop for either a closer or a setup man. Estevez is in the final year of his contract making him an ideal rental.
Despite their struggles at times this season, Garcia and Cimber are solid veteran right-handed relievers who could benefit from a change of scenery and would be low risk pickups for teams looking to add bullpen depth.
Left-handed starter Tyler Anderson is having a nice bounce back season for the Halos with a 3-4 record and 2.92 ERA and hasn’t had a start this year where he allowed more than three earned runs.
The Angels should sell high on Anderson as they could net a decent prospect in return considering he wouldn’t just be a rental. His contract runs through the 2025 season and on a team-friendly salary of $13 million.
These four players are probably the most ideal trade chips and the ones that make the most sense for Minasian to deal. However, opposing teams will likely inquire about others like starter Griffin Canning or infielder Luis Rengifo, to name a few.
The Angels might resist dealing some of their younger talents like Logan O’Hoppe, Taylor Ward, Nolan Schanuel, or even Jo Adell and dealing Trout and/or Rendon’s massive contracts could become too complicated to trade at the deadline.
The Angels are clearly better off becoming sellers at this point and landing whatever minor leaguers they can to potentially develop (which is another issue for them). It’s the only plan that makes sense for them in what is bound to be another disappointing season. So don’t wait until July, do it now.
