2 reasons the Angels will be trade deadline buyers, 2 to make them sellers

LA Angels will be trade deadline buyers because they will be relevant by August 1

The one way the Angels will become deadline sellers is if they're completely out of the playoff picture. It feels like they're out of it in the AL West as the Halos sit nine games back of the first place Rangers, but they'll always be good enough to be relevant enough in the Wild Card hunt.

The Halos are five games back of the New York Yankees for the third Wild Card spot, and that's with a soft part of their schedule coming up. With the Angels having success against poor competition they will in all likelihood gain ground over the next couple of weeks.

Twice this season we've seen the Angels get as high as five games above .500 while we've seen them be as low as one game below .500 a handful of times. With the Angels not being worse than one game below .500, it feels like they'll always be just relevant enough to buy.

Moreno has gone on the record saying if the Angels are competitive, Ohtani isn't going anywhere. As long as Ohtani isn't going anywhere, the Angels aren't selling.

All you need to do with this playoff format is steal the third Wild Card spot. The Phillies did that last season and made it all the way to the World Series. Their opponent in the NLCS, the Padres, were the second Wild Card team. All you have to do is get in. If the Angels are relevant enough, this will be the argument they'll make. All signs point to them being just relevant enough.

LA Angels can become trade deadline sellers because the risk with Ohtani is too great

Let's say the Angels continue to play how they've played all season and continue to hover around .500. Do you really think adding a starting pitcher and a reliever gets this team where they want to be? They have to outlast four of the Astros, Orioles, Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and Mariners just to make the postseason assuming Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and Texas win their respective divisions.

With the way the Angels have played this season especially against quality competition, it's hard to see this happening. Is the risk worth it?

Shohei Ohtani is a free agent at season's end. You won't get a Juan Soto type of package for him, but you can absolutely get a couple of high-end prospects from a team trying to win right now. You're going to risk potentially missing the playoffs and watching Ohtani leave for nothing when you could add multiple key pieces to help your franchise turn this thing around?

I love Shohei Ohtani. He's the best player I've ever seen and is the best player on the planet. Nobody will do what he's done in an Angels uniform. As hard as it'd be to see him go, it'd be 100-times harder to watch him walk in exchange for nothing more than a draft pick.

It's unlikely Arte Moreno sees this based on how he's continued to answer Ohtani-related questions, but the one thing they cannot have happen is watching this team miss the postseason and watch Ohtani leave for nothing.

LA Angels can become trade deadline sellers because their window is too short to compete

The Shohei Ohtani situation looming over the heads of the Angels should have them thinking long and hard before making any big moves.

Perry Minasian has done a fine job trying to make what once was a pathetic farm system into somewhat of a relevant one. We've seen guys like Logan O'Hoppe, Zach Neto, Mickey Moniak, Ben Joyce, and others make an impact already. You want to risk trading away some of this youth just for this season?

If the Angels were where Texas was at, sure, I'd be down. The Rangers are sitting comfortably in first place in the AL West and have been all season long. They're an elite offensive team and their pitching has even been great despite Jacob deGrom being sidelined. The Angels have been pretty healthy compared to the Rangers and Astros yet they're very far behind both teams.

Shohei Ohtani is a free agent after this season. That means this season is their window. It's the only year left that you're guaranteed to have Ohtani.

You want to trade away a ton of young talent to try and make a remarkable comeback just for one more run with Ohtani? Why not trade away Ohtani to extend your window by many years?

This season is the window. They're already behind the pack, it's just not worth the risk. It's unfortunate they've blown so many games they should have won because the talent is there for this team to be competitive. They put themselves in this hole, and with how short the window is, they don't deserve the opportunity to dig themselves out of it.