Angels’ missed window with Reid Detmers becoming painfully clear (but there is a silver lining)

One of the more fascinating decisions that the Los Angeles Angels made at the 2026 trade deadline was deciding to hold on to Reid Detmers. Given the fact that they landed such a huge return for Jose Soriano and the fact that both hurlers are on similar timelines, it seemed a bit curious that the club didn't cash in a chip that could've netted them even more.

Soriano hasn't been terrible with the Blue Jays, but his 4.36 ERA in Toronto is a step back from what he did in Los Angeles, though the warning signs were already there. It seems clear that moving him was a case of selling high, while Detmers is proving to still be on the upswing.

It's fair to say that Detmers is a true ace, which changes the calculus of where his value stands even as recently as the trade deadline. For the Halos, that's a development to have mixed feelings over.

For one thing, with each dominant outing, the cost of keeping him long-term becomes greater. The Angels missed the boat to sign him to an extension at a below-market rate. Most of the blame for that, and admittedly it would have taken some foresight, lies on Perry Minasian.

With that said, there are two silver linings to this development, and Los Angeles can pick its path and still come away smelling like roses.

Reid Detmers' trade value is rising even higher, and the Angels have options

There were some during the lead-up to the trade deadline who believed that Detmers held more value on the trade market than Tarik Skubal. That may or may not have been true at the time, but after putting together a 1.52 ERA in the second half thus far, he's proving to be one of the best left-handed starters in the game.

He also still has a good amount of team control. The 27-year-old is under team control through 2028, so the Angels could trade him over the offseason or at next year's trade deadline and would likely get more for him than they would've gotten at this year's deadline. Holding was a risk, but it's proven to be a good value play.

But that's not all. While in the past, this development would mean that Los Angeles missed the boat and there would be no way that the club could even consider retaining him. But things are about to be different.

While we don't know for a fact how Stan Kroenke is going to run things, or who the general manager will be, for that matter, we can look at Kroenke's other sports franchises and feel comfortable in that he'll do two things differently than Arte Moreno.

The first is that he's not going to pinch pennies. The second is that he's going to fill the front office with good baseball minds and then stay out of the way. If whoever ends up running the baseball operations believes that extending Detmers is the right move for the Angels' future, we don't have to worry about ownership standing in the way.

One way or another, the Angels have set themselves up to win with Reid Detmers. They decided that holding was the best value play, and while it might cost them more money to retain him, it's given them both certainty and the ability to move him for even more value in the future.

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