5 Angels players most likely to be traded at this year’s Winter Meetings

2. Taylor Ward

Like Anderson, Ward has been in trade talks for some time now. Minasian has refused to pull the trigger on trading Ward or Anderson, as he has not deemed any return to be adequate yet. Ward certainly boosted his trade value when he posted a .286/.386/.520/.906 slash line across 26 games in September. He posted career highs in hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, walks, and tied his career high in runs scored last year. Ward provides somewhere between average and above average outfield defense depending on where you look, but nothing spectacular.

So why trade him? Well, they could upgrade left field via free agency and address either their rotation, bullpen, or infield by swapping out Ward. Tyler O'Neill is essentially a better version of Ward, and would not be that much more expensive than Ward's projected $9 million 2025 salary. If they wanted a left-handed power bat, which they absolutely do, Michael Conforto or Max Kepler are out there as well. Or, they simply slot Mike Trout into left field full-time. Either way, there are myriad replacements for Ward even though he blossomed during the second half of last season.