Jeff Passan's report on Angels spending makes more sense now after Taylor Ward trade

Angels fans were not anticipating much out of Arte Moreno this offseason, as the team had multiple players whose massive to mid-sized contracts were set to expire after the 2026 season. From the Anthony Rendon albatross Moreno was set to remove from his neck, to Jorge Soler, to Travis d'Arnaud, to Robert Stephenson, to Taylor Ward, the Angels would not necessarily have been blamed if they held pat this winter and prepared to go all the way in on contending for 2027.

With Moreno, baseball reporters get extremely perplexed. They typically make tepid predictions for the Halos given how unpredictable the owner is, and especially this offseason given the ongoing Tyler Skaggs trial. So, many were confused when ESPN's Jeff Passan offered up a concrete take on the Angels' spending yesterday...now, it all makes a lot more sense.

Jeff Passan's report on Angels spending makes more sense now after Taylor Ward trade

Here's Passan discussing the Angels potentially trading Ward or Jo Adell one day before Ward was dealt to Baltimore: "The Angels could be big spenders this winter, one source familiar with their plans said, and while most of those resources will go toward the pitching staff, they could beef up a barren farm system."

Unlike many of the trade assets Passan touched on in his piece, he did not offer up a likelihood on the Angels dealing one of their outfielders. He merely mentioned them as potential trade assets and expressed that they could bolster the farm system by offloading one of those two. Passan saying they are going to be big spenders in of itself felt too good to be true, especially given any Ward trade likely entailed taking back a non-insignificant salary from a bona fide big league pitcher.

Well, the Angels dealt Ward for Grayson Rodriguez. That's certainly not beefing up a barren farm system or spending a significant sum of money of the pitching staff -- it's better than both of those. Rodriguez is now the second most prized asset of the Angels' young core behind Zach Neto, and is making ~$800,000 this year. He has four more years of team control as well. It's bolstering a pitching staff with a young, but also certifiably effective, starting pitcher that has shown he can anchor a rotation when healthy.

Moreover, the Angels has $13 million extra money in its purse to spend on yet another pitching addition. Or a bigger splash position player like Munetaka Murakami? Either way, the Angels sold money so it can more wisely spend money and Angels fans could not be more thrilled.