Angels being mystery team for Max Scherzer proves they’re not giving up

Evan Desai

Jul 29, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The LA Angels reportedly emerged as a ‘Mystery team’ for Max Scherzer here during trade deadline season.

Mystery team has shown interest in Max Scherzer. But this time I’ll end the mystery: It’s the Angels. That would make 3 Southern California teams in on Max. Of course, with the Angels only on the cusp of the race, they seem like quite a long shot. Padres and Dodgers more likely.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 29, 2021

After that, however, the Dodgers seemed to swoop in even harder, so the chances may really not be that great.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are making progress on a deal to acquire Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals, as @JeffPassan reported. Deal is not done, obstacles remain.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) July 30, 2021

Either way, however, it tells us a little bit about where the Angels’ heads are at, and that they’re serious about buying.

The LA Angels going for Max Scherzer shows that they are willing to be aggressive at the deadline.

If the LA Angels weren’t serious about trying to make major upgrades to their roster, they wouldn’t be entering discussions for superstars like Max Scherzer.

And I don’t think the Nationals wanted Scherzer in exchange for, say Andrew Heaney and Alex Cobb. That’s obvious, so they were clearly willing to send over bigger pieces, like maybe a Jo Adell, Brandon Marsh, or a Reid Detmers type.

We weren’t going to land Scherzer if the Padres and Dodgers were the other two options. They’re much better teams than we are right now, but the fact that we were in on him is absolutely a good thing.

It shows that this team has decided to go all-in on making the playoffs this year, and giving us the best product they can at the moment.

Don’t be surprised for us to go after other big-name impact players tomorrow. Remember, we weren’t even expected to make any moves today.

We didn’t land Scherzer, but this is absolutely a good sign. Our front office is taking this team and this season seriously.

Evan Desai

Evan Desai has covered MLB with FanSided for 3 years, first as a contributor for FanSided's New York sports publication--Empire Writes Back--and now as the expert at Halo Hangout, the Angels publication for the network. He also runs Reign Of Troy, the USC FanSided publication, and has covered college sports since 2019--most notably USC and UCLA for the Pac-12 Network, University of Arizona and Grand Canyon University for Arizona PBS, and Arizona State University for Sports Illustrated's ASU publication. He has also run the Clippers FanSided publication in the past, Clipperholics, and has made two stops at NBC Sports.