Angels' deadline fate will be decided by daunting July schedule

For most of the season - and the past two months continuously - the Angels and their fan base have been trying to figure out just how real of a team this is...and we still have no idea. While every baseball expert expects this team to eventually sell given the obvious holes in the roster, there still seems like there is something special about them. The team always seem to play up and down to the competition they share the diamond with, but this is the same team that swept the Dodgers, the Athletics (twice) and taken series from the Guardians, Giants, and Mariners. However, this same team also just lost a series to the Nationals and was swept by the Orioles two weeks ago.

Angels' deadline fate will be decided by daunting July schedule

In July, the Angels are going to have to reveal themselves for what they truly are. The month starts off with a series against the Braves who, despite their 38-45 record, have some of the best talent on their roster. To finish up their first half, they have a rematch series against the Blue Jays (who the Halos took two of three against earlier this season) before returning home for an American League West match-up against the Texas Rangers and playing host to the similarly average Arizona Diamondbacks. The Angels will then head into the All-Star Break,where voting is, unsurprisingly, snubbing Angels stars.

The Halos will need to come out of the break locked in, as they immediately face two of the National League's best. The Angels will head up to Citizens Bank Park for a series against the Phillies before taking on the Mets in New York. Both of these teams feature some of the best starting pitchers in the league, and the Angels' offense will need to be firing on all cylinders.

The schedule makers did the Angels a favor after that, gifting them a 13-game home stand after that. They will host the Mariners and Rangers in the first half of that, giving them two series against divisional rivals to decide their fate as July ends.

With the mix of elite teams and AL West foes on the schedule for July, the Angels are going to be forced to sink or swim until the trade deadline. They sit 2.5 games back of the Mariners for second in the division as July starts, as well as for the sixth Wild Card spot. The Angels are slowly getting healthy and, despite a disappointing series against the Nationals, their fate for the trade deadline and 2025 season at large will be decided in July. Buying or selling, one can be assured Arte Moreno will want Perry Minasian to be among the most aggressive as the deadline nears.

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