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The Angels find themselves at a crossroads, and will have several difficult decisions to make ahead of the trade deadline. Last season, Perry Minasian had several offers for big league players but refused to do a full sell-off despite what fans clamored for. Things are going well for the Angels right now, but if things go south over the next several weeks than Minasian might have the opportunity to right his past wrong.
Taylor Ward absolutely crushed it last month. He led the team in extra base hits, home runs, doubles, RBIs and SLG, and won an AL Player of the Week award in the process. Ward is cooling off some in June, but this month he still has totaled three XBHs (only Zach Neto and Jo Adell have more) and 11 total bases (only Nolan Schanuel, Chris Taylor and Adell have more). For the year, only four players in baseball have more home runs than Ward's 18 -- Cal Raleigh, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber. His .278 ISO ranks 12th in MLB among players with 100 plate appearances or more.
LA Angels slugger's hot streak coming at absolutely perfect time for trade deadline
A Ward trade would obviously leave the Halos' outfield group at both the major and minor league ranks, but they would likely return at least promising outfielder prospect in return. Adell is showing those promising flashes once again. Matthew Lugo and Kyren Paris both have solid upside. Nelson Rada is waiting in the wings and could be MLB-ready (at least in the Angels evaluators' eyes) as soon as next season. Christian Moore could one day be turned into an outfielder, as Keith Law ofThe Athletic has surmised that left field could be the best spot for him positionally. Then there's Mike Trout and Jorge Soler, of course, and any potential draft pick the Angels make this year.
As much as his teammates and fans love him, dealing Ward might be the best chance the Angels have at finally breaking their postseason drought. The 2025 team is plucky and is showing signs of life of late, but the best path forward might entail trading major leaguers for high-upside prospects. Look at what Minasian got in return for Carlos Estévez and Luis García last season. Losing Ward would be a tough pill to swallow, but the Angels do desperately need to re-tool their farm system.