Bold trade deadline prediction for Angels is equal parts intriguing and depressing

When John Mozeliak arrived on the scene, it finally looked like the Los Angeles Angels had an adult in the room. He said all the right things, but we needed to wait and see if he was ready to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. The first test was the 2026 MLB Draft, and Mozeliak delivered exactly what he promised.

Credit where credit is due, but the draft and the trade deadline are two different animals. Drafting talent above all else is logical, unless you're Perry Minasian, but the deadline provides many more nuanced challenges. The Angels will be sellers, but to what extent and what sort of assets they seek is up for debate.

One scenario we've been presented with comes from Sam Blum of The Athletic, who posited that Los Angeles could seek to add major league talent at the deadline. That would seem counterintuitive to the rumors swirling around the likes of Zach Neto, Reid Detmers, and Jose Soriano.

"Even if the Angels trade several players off their team, it’s hard to imagine them fully embracing a rebuild. Even if they should. Even if it’s needed. It’s not in their vocabulary. It doesn’t matter who is running the baseball operations department; they still answer to Moreno. And it was notable during a Mozeliak scrum on July 20, when he alluded to the hope of being a playoff-caliber team next season," Blum wrote.

This feels like the trap the Angels typically fall into this time of year, when they typically aren't willing to wave the white flag completely. Minasian often held onto players well past their peak value, dealing only rentals at the deadline. Then there's the rumored Shohei Ohtani-Tampa Bay Rays trade that fell apart because Arte Moreno was dead set on trying to compete down the stretch.

Angels focusing on adding MLB talent at the trade deadline would be a grave mistake

There are two main things to consider here. First is that, even with guys like Neto, Soriano, and Detmers, along with Jo Adell and others in the fold, the Halos are a long way from actually contending despite the overall weakness of the American League. A full reset should be the plan, as the Angels have the leadership and the chips to truly run the trade deadline.

The second is the shadow of Moreno. The meddlesome owner never wants to pack it in for a full rebuild, though he also holds back funds to make the team a true contender, leading to the baseball purgatory the Angels have suffered through the last several years. Mozeliak gave the initial impression that he could keep Moreno at arm's length. That might have been true in an interim capacity, but if he decides to stick around long-term, then he may succumb to the owner's whims.

The thing is, the Angels have players like Detmers, who some speculate could generate a larger return than Tarik Skubal. Then there's Neto, who could possibly be dangled to extract Boston Red Sox super prospect, Franklin Arias.

These are the kind of returns that could make the future very bright. It would require patience to see the payoff, but after so many dark years, it is a price most Angels fans would be willing to pay. However, the idea that they might want to compete in 2027 indicates that Mozeliak might actually stay on, but that Moreno is up to his old tricks again. If the deadline plays out this way, there's a high probability that the current doldrums will continue.

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