Angels Rumors: MLB insider details which players' days could be numbered in Anaheim

" 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.' -William Shakespeare" -- Angels fans.

The Halo faithful are once again getting battered and bruised amidst this up-and-down Angels season. When fans tune into an Angels game on any given day, they might see what appears to be the best lineup in baseball belt home runs like few other teams can do. However, during those very same games, fans will also see some questionable defense and pitching either dig themselves into a hole or blow big leads. The best example of that occurred in the Angels' series opener against Boston, where they took a 6-0 lead in the first inning and wound up sweating out a 7-6 victory. Two games prior, the Angels blew a four-run lead to Cleveland and lost 7-5.

Another unfortunate aspect of the Angels' season is that their hitters deploy an unsustainable boom-or-bust approach at the plate. They can catch fire one day then get blanked the next because they score more runs via the long ball than any other team in baseball. Similarly, it feels like when the pitching and defense catch lightning in a bottle and actually shut down opposing teams' offenses, the run production unit cannot scrap together a sufficient amount of runs to win that game. Then there's the issues of the atrocious K:BB numbers from both the pitchers and hitters and durability concerns surrounding integral members of the team (Trout, Moncada, Stephenson and Jansen namely).

The Angels find themselves in an awfully familiar spot here in early-June: they are not as bad as the worst teams in the league but are not as good as the contenders ahead of them in the standings. Their 27-32 record definitely feels indicative of what this roster is -- the team's floor is higher than last year's and the inevitable bottoming out will not be as dramatic... but the ceiling is almost definitely not higher than that of teams like the Red Sox, Rangers, Rays, Royals, Blue Jays, Twins, etc.

ESPN's senior baseball writer Jeff Passan feels that way, as he grouped the Angels alongside the Rockies, White Sox, Nationals, Pirates, Orioles and Marlins as the teams he feels will be "unloaders" in the weeks before the July 31st trade deadline. Let's dive into who exactly Passan feels the team could unload in exchange for prospects.

Angels Rumors: MLB insider details which players' days could be numbered in Anaheim

Tyler Anderson

Like they do every year, the Halos boast a roster that does have players with high-end trade value. Due to the thin market, Perry Minasian might be able to net a solid amount of future value in return for Anderson's expiring contract. Passan ranks the lefty as one of the best available starting pitchers on the trade block, and Minasian should be more willing to right his wrong from last season by trading him this time around to one of the many organizations that have both a better major league roster and farm system than his.

Despite being a 35-year-old rental with suboptimal strikeout and walk numbers, Anderson has maintained his trade value by avoiding hard contact. Anderson's 7.85 H/9 is the best mark on the team, unless you count Robert Stephenson and Hunter Strickland's small sample sizes. He is a desirable innings-eater with veteran know-how and a competitive edge.

Yoán Moncada

Moncada recently hit the 10-day injured list due to a knee injury, and has been dealing with a thumb issue all season as well. However, when he is on the field the switch-hitter has displayed a solid power stroke and great underlying metrics for a player only making $5 million. As Passan laid out, Moncada is rocking a 135 wRC+ this season in his 113 plate appearances. His oft-successful at bats have made him an above average third baseman, despite problematic defensive tendencies, and many contenders could use his services (looking at you, Yankees and Royals).

Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo

Just like with Tyler Anderson, Passan has placed Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo back on the trade block again. Ward's 16 home runs this season are tied with Eugenio Suárez, James Wood and Corbin Carroll's total, and only surpassed by Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh and Kyle Schwarber. Passan gracefully called Rengifo a "change-of-scenery candidate" which feels nice. To think that he has even a modicum of trade value feels incorrect.

Kenley Jansen and Ryan Zeferjahn

Lastly, Passan threw out the Angels' closer and set-up man. Wait, what?

Jansen, sure. He is on an expiring contract and the Angels are jumping for joy over the players they received back for Carlos Estévez and Luis García last year. However, one of those players they got back was Zeferjahn, and it feels like an awfully big stretch to think that Minasian would be willing to part with a cost-controlled, pre-arb reliever who is solidifying an atrocious bullpen. He could be their closer for the next two seasons, and trading him now would be non-sensical.

Trade rumor season is officially here, and the Angels are once more leaping into the breach to, as Passan lovingly put it, "escape the endless cycle of mediocrity."

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