Bleacher Report tries to get under Angels fans' skin with offseason idea

Bleacher Report really goes for the jugular with their ideas, and they are really trying to rile up Angels fans with their latest idea. In an article that is supposed to get fans upset, B.R.'s Zachary D. Rymer proposed trade ideas for every MLB team. Except for a select few teams, where the writer said they should not make any trades. The Angels were one of those teams.

To quote King Robert Baratheon: "Do nothing? That's your wise advise? Do nothing 'til the enemies are on our shores?!"

The main issue with the idea is that the Angels vowed to increase spending and are not a haven where free agents are just dying to sign. Sure, they can overpay a mid-tier free agent, but they are not getting any top-tier free agent even with an overpay. They cannot get a mid-tier free agent at face value, only an overpay. Players just do not want to play with the Angels anymore, it's not very chic or trendy. They need to make trades if they want to increase payroll and attempt a bid at contention anytime soon.

Rymer, like Perry Minasian, proposed that the Royals model could be achieved by the Angels in 2025. Unlike Minasian, Rymer believes that the Angels will be able to sign a free agent pitcher who can even slighly replicate what Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha did for KC in 2024. Minasian was quoted as saying, “You look at Kansas City. You can look at multiple teams that have made huge jumps. I believe for this organization to do that, we needed to have a young core to build around. And I believe in this young core. We finally have it.” Moving past the fact that the Angels most likely will not possess a player in the same stratosphere as Bobby Witt Jr. in the next decade as a part of their core, the main issue is that they have been trying and failing to build around their core for a decade now. Minasian saying they finally have their core, when they have rostered Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani together is laughable. Angels fans love Zach Neto and co., but come on.

Lastly, Rymer stated that the Angels do not have any "hugely valuable trade chips." He likely meant that they do not have highly valuable trade chips that Minasian is willing to put on the table, because they certainly have talented young players who 29 other teams would love. You have to assume Minasian is holding onto Caden Dana, Christian Moore, Neto, José Soriano, and Logan O'Hoppe, and then they run out of hugely valuable trade chips. They certainly have players who are not valuable on their own in a trade, but if they were to be packaged then they could legitimately bring back a talented player.

Anyway, do something, Perry. Do not do nothing.