3 LA Angels prospects who should not be traded and 2 who should

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The 2023 season has been a rollercoaster filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows for the Los Angeles Angels. We've seen this team go as high as eight games over .500, doing impressive things like winning series in Texas. We've also seen this team win a game 25-1 and lose the other two games of that series against the lowly Rockies.

Throughout everything, the Angels are right where they were when they started the season. An even record. The Halos are 48-48 on the season after taking the first two games against the reeling Yankees. They're nine games back of first in the AL West but just 4.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot.

A postseason appearance is unlikely for this team, but the Angels have made it abundantly clear that if they're within striking range of a playoff spot they're going to go for it. A 4.5 game deficit is within striking range. That means some of the Angels top prospects will be available, for better or for worse. Some of these prospects can be moved, but others the Angels should be holding on tightly to.

LA Angels prospect Logan O'Hoppe should not be moved at the trade deadline

Logan O'Hoppe isn't really a prospect anymore, but he doesn't have enough at-bats in the majors to exclude him from prospect rankings. This gives me the opportunity to say that the Angels should not, under any circumstance, trade this guy away.

O'Hoppe was their number one prospect entering the season and remains in that first slot. O'Hoppe began the year as the starting catcher and got off to an unbelievable start, slashing .283/.339/.547 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 16 games.

O'Hoppe was leading the Angels in home runs and RBI throughout a good portion of the month of April before landing on the IL with a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. This was a big blow as the Angels lost one of the better hitting catchers in the game.

The Angels have treaded water at the position thanks to Matt Thaiss and Chad Wallach playing well for a while, but both have struggled of late. Wallach in particular. The Angels need O'Hoppe back and healthy, and they should get their wish sometime down the stretch.

Regardless of whether the Angels are buyers or sellers, O'Hoppe shouldn't go anywhere. He's the catcher of the future, and I couldn't be more excited.

LA Angels prospect Edgar Quero should be available at the trade deadline

This is rather simple. If you don't trade O'Hoppe, Edgar Quero is a luxury. The 20-year-old is the Angels second-best prospect according to MLB.com, and for good reason.

He's a switch-hitting catcher with elite athletic ability who had a monster year last season and has had another good year in 2023. Playing as one of the younger AA players, Quero has slashed .246/.383/.339 with three home runs and 34 RBI. The power hasn't been there, but Quero has shown an elite eye. He's walked 49 times compared to just 52 strikeouts.

Quero is probably a year or two away from debuting and could net the Angels an awesome return if he was traded. It's never easy to move on from a prospect with potential like this, but when you have so many holes and a clear luxury, it's fine to move on from it.

Quero is the 67th ranked prospect on MLB.com's top 100 list, and will only climb from there. The Angels don't really have great prospect depth, so if they really want to acquire a difference-maker at the deadline, Quero will have to go.

LA Angels prospect Ky Bush should not be moved at the trade deadline

Things haven't gone quite as smoothly as the Angels hoped it would with Ky Bush. The southpaw was a second-round pick in the Angels all-pitching draft of 2021 and is clearly the Angels best pitching prospect.

Bush is ranked as the third-best Angels prospect overall, and their best pitcher. The next best is Ben Joyce, a reliever, at eight. Caden Dana is next at nine. The dropoff is steep, and for an organization starved for pitching, Bush is a guy who can't be moved.

I'm not under the belief Bush is a future ace or anything, but I do believe his future is in a starting rotation. Last season he made 21 starts for AA Rocket City and posted a 3.67 ERA in 103 innings of work. The most encouraging part about Bush is he only walked 29 batters (2.5 BB/9).

Bush's numbers aren't great this season and he did miss substantial time due to injury, but I believe he's a guy who can contribute at some point next season and be a quality back end starter. With the Angels farm system lacking quality arms, Bush isn't a guy they can really afford to move.

LA Angels prospect Denzer Guzman should be available at the trade deadline

The Angels signed Denzer Guzman, one of the best infielders in the 2020-21 international free agency class, and he's become their fourth-ranked prospect. Part of that has to do with the Angels not having a very good farm system, but there's definitely some potential here.

The 19-year-old has played the entire season in Single-A Inland Empire and has slashed .246/.315/.347 with two home runs and 33 RBI. The numbers don't jump off the page, but remember, he's a teenager.

Guzman hit .287 last season in Rookie Ball and projects as a player with a plus hit-tool. He can hit the ball to all fields and could even develop some power as he gets older.

The Angels do believe Guzman projects long term as a shortstop, which should give him some value on the trade market. The Angels have Zach Neto of course, and don't have the luxury of waiting for Guzman to be ready. His MLB ETA is 2026 according to MLB.com.

He has potential, but with him being so far away and playing a position the Angels are set at, it makes sense to move on and acquire someone who can help for the near future.

LA Angels prospect Ben Joyce should not be moved at the trade deadline

If the Angels do indeed buy, I'd expect teams to ask about Ben Joyce. The Angels selected Joyce in the third round of the 2022 Draft and have to love what they've seen from their right-hander.

The 22-year-old was one of many relievers from Rocket City to debut this season, and showed the outstanding potential he has. His first two appearances were dominant. The next two were a bit iffy, but when Joyce locates his pitches he can be unhittable. He needs to develop a breaking pitch to go with his 100+ mph fastball, but that should come over time.

Joyce is the eighth-ranked Angels prospect and should not be moved. He's a guy who projects easily as the team's closer of the future and when he comes off the IL he should help a lot in what's turned out to be a struggling bullpen of late.

The Angels do have other young arms who have excelled in the bullpen at times like Jose Soriano and Sam Bachman, but Bachman is a guy the Angels hope will be a starter and Soriano simply doesn't have the potential Joyce has.

The Angels have had bullpen issues for years mainly because they've failed to develop any good relievers. Now they have developed a good reliever, and they need to hold onto him.

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