An early look at 4 Angels players most likely to be traded by the trade deadline

Pitchers and catchers have already reported to Arizona. The Angels are still lingering in the market looking for upgrades, and some fierce battles for roster spots are about to be underway. While the team is working on forming the Opening Day roster it's important to remember the squad that ends the year will look much different than the one that starts it.

Besides injuries, depth shuffling, and the arrival of top prospects, the trade market will play a large role in how the roster evolves throughout the season. In fact, it would not be surprising to see the Halos make a trade during spring training, and it's a foregone conclusion that they will make more deals by the trade deadline.

Four players stand out as likely trade candidates, and depending on how the first half of the season plays out, they could find themselves eventually playing in a different uniform at some point in 2025.

1. Infielder Luis Rengifo

The versatile Luis Rengifo is entering his last season of team control and over the last three years has proven himself to be a valuable player. A switch-hitter who can play second or third base, Rengifo has shown that he can add value on the diamond in many ways.

In addition to his positional versatility, the soon-to-be 28-year-old has shown that he can do a little bit of everything at the plate. He has 20-homer potential after clocking 17 in 2022, and 16 in 2023. In 2024, he showed off a new level of contact prowess as well, hitting .300 in the 78 games he played prior to being shut down with a wrist injury.

Add in some speed, he stole 24 bags last year to go with wRC+ marks of 102, 114, and 117 from 2022-2024, and you have a nifty player that can fill several needs.

Of course, his relative youth, upward trajectory, and versatile skills should make him a prime extension candidate with the Angels, but there's been no news on that front and the Angels just took him to arbitration.

The skills he brings to the table, his $5.95 million salary and impeding free agency make him a cheap rental for a team in need of infield help. It seems like a foregone conclusion the Angels move on from him at some point this season. It wouldn't be a surprise if he didn't even make it out of spring training as his position on the roster faces pressure from new additions like Yoán Moncada and Kevin Newman, as well as top prospect Christian Moore.

Moore and Moncada could easily claim the starting spots at the second and third, while Newman figures to be the primary utility infielder which puts the squeeze on Rengifo. There are teams that still have holes in their infields and others that may come calling should an injury strike, so Rengifo will likely be a highly sought commodity.

2. Starting pitcher Tyler Anderson

Last season, trade rumors swirled around veteran southpaw Tyler Anderson as the trade deadline approached, though the Angels ultimately decided to hang on to the two-time All-Star. Now in the final year of his deal and making just $13 million, a real bargain in today's starting pitching market, those rumors could resurface depending on how the season plays out.

At 35-years-old, it would appear that Anderson won't return to the Angels in 2026, and with a plethora of young arms waiting in the wings, it might make sense to move Anderson in-season rather than lose him for nothing in the offseason.

His time with the Angels has been a little uneven. After a stellar 2022 campaign with the crosstown Dodgers that saw him post a 2.57 ERA in 178.2 innings, the crafty lefty struggled to the tune of a 5.43 ERA in 141 innings in 2023 before having that campaign ended prematurely thanks to a knee injury.

2024 was a rebound of sorts. Last year he threw 179.1 innings and posted a 3.81 ERA. That's not ace-level production, but it does have value on the open market.

For the Halos, the arms of the future will make Anderson expendable, and if he pitches more like the 2024 version of himself than the 2023 one, he'll likely have a robust market come July.

3. Outfielder Taylor Ward

Unlike the first two on this list, outfielder Taylor Ward seems a bit less likely to move given the Angels' recent trade-deadline decisions. The team seems to only consider moving players in the final year of their deals, opting to hang on to the likes of Rengifo and Anderson last year despite falling out of contention.

After signing a below-market contract to avoid arbitration earlier this offseason, Ward has one more year of team control left after 2025, meaning the team doesn't have to move him. Over the last three seasons, Ward has been one of the Angels' best and most available performers.

While he won't win any gold gloves, he's about an average defender in left field with 20-25 homer potential every season. Overall offensively he's a complete player who has posted wRC+ numbers of 134, 107, and 111 in each of the last three seasons, respectively.

On top of that, the Angels don't have a ton of outfield depth to push him out the door. Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak will both play prominent roles as they fight for the starting right field spot. While both players are younger than Ward and have potential, neither has reached a level where they can truly be counted on.

An X-factor could be Matthew Lugo, 23, who was acquired from Boston last year. Lugo only played one game in the Halos' system last season before going down with injury, however, his combined line between AA and AAA last year was a sparkling .287/.376/.578 with 17 dingers.

Trade rumors have enveloped Ward for some time dating back to last season and at times intensifying throughout this offseason. While a Ward trade doesn't fit the Angels M.O. and there aren't a ton of in-house options ready to replace him, the value he could provide in a trade may be overwhelming.

4. Starting pitcher Reid Detmers

Reid Detmers who turns 26 in July is the most out-of-the-box trade candidate on this list. The former tenth-overall pick is one of the front-runners to claim the fifth-starter job, and unlike the others, is under control through 2029.

At one point in time, Detmers was the Angels' top prospect, and the promising lefty has been given several opportunities to establish himself at the big-league level over the past three seasons. Despite his pedigree and experience, however, he's not a lock to make the 26-man roster out of spring training.

Detmers, who has two minor-league options remaining, put together a nightmare 2024 season that featured a mid-season demotion and persistent struggles even when he resurfaced during the season's coda. On the year, he finished with a stomach-turning 6.70 ERA over the course of 17 starts and 87.1 innings pitched.

His issue isn't stuff, he recorded 11.23 K/9 in the bigs last season paired with an acceptable albeit not great 3.92 BB/9. His issue appeared to be mental as he failed to execute pitches in crucial moments, leaving far too many offerings in the middle of the plate waiting to get crushed.

His minor league demotion was supposed to give him the opportunity to get his head right, and the hope was that when he returned his mental block would be cleared. That turned out not to be the case.

While he still has all the potential in the world, the longer he goes without realizing it the more likely he is to become a lost cause. Regardless of whether or not he wins the fifth starter job, the Angels should and very well could look into trading him before he struggles again and his value turns into dust.

LA Angels News from Halo Hangout