3 Angels players who have their big (and only) chance after John Mozeliak’s fire sale

The Los Angeles Angels had a long overdue fire sale at the trade deadline. Interim GM John Mozeliak did what had to be done and sold off some key players like José Soriano, Logan O’Hoppe, and Jo Adell.

Now the last few months of the season will serve as an audition of sorts for the players who will see increased playing time as a result of the trades. These three players may only have one shot to impress Mozeliak enough to be part of the team’s future plans so they need to take advantage of this opportunity.

3 Angels who have to step up after trade deadline provides opportunity

Tyler Heineman

No one has any illusions that Tyler Heineman is going to become the catcher of the future for the Halos. Still, the Angels clearly don’t have a catcher of the future right now and if Heineman can impress the rest of the season he could earn himself a job in 2027 with Los Angeles. He’s hitting a paltry .172/.226/.233 on the year between his stint with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Angels. Yet, his offensive numbers have improved since joining LA.

What will be more important is how he handles the staff behind the plate. Mozeliak clearly felt O'Hoppe was lacking in that department. If he at least proves to be competent as a catcher and can hit just a little bit that could be enough to earn him a backup job with the Angels next season.

Ryan Johnson

After trading away one of their best starters in Soriano, that means some other pitchers are going to get some runway the rest of the season. Ryan Johnson has not pitched well in his two seasons with the Halos as he has a collective 7.16 ERA in 65 and 1/3 innings pitched the last two years.

Still, Johnson's last outing was respectable as he went 4 and 2/3 innings and only allowed one earned run. If he can have more performances like that maybe he can prove to the front office that he has more promise than his ERA would suggest.

Jose Siri

Without Adell roaming the outfield anymore, Jose Siri has a chance to earn a job next season as well. He’s hitting .267/.328/.474 with six home runs and 19 runs batted in on the year. He can at least be a solid fourth outfielder for the team next season with numbers like that so he needs to keep it up these last few months.

It’s been another bad year for the Angels and it may seem like the rest of this season will consist of meaningless baseball, but while the final score may not matter a ton, how these three players perform will have big ramifications for them going forward.

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