Angels beat writer dishes out cold dose of reality regarding trade deadline hopes

Eric Cole

Milwaukee Brewers v Los Angeles Angels / Ronald Martinez/GettyImages

As difficult as the Los Angeles Angels have been to watch at times this season, fans have at least had some solace that the organization was going to be adding some minor league talent soon. They have the eighth overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft where there is likely to be some really talented players available to them, and the trade deadline should provide an opportunity for a bit of an infusion of talent.

With guys like Tyler Anderson, Taylor Ward, and Luis Rengifo, all of whom appear to be in high demand (and would come with some team control), fans were hopeful that the trade returns for those types of guys would help rebuild was is an Angels farm system that is in a pretty rough state at the moment.

However, Angels beat writer Jeff Fletcher threw cold water on the idea that the Angels could get difference-making talent at the trade deadline this year and believes that none of the players that LA could make available would yield even a single top-100 prospect.

The Angels could still face a long road back to relevance even after trade deadline sell-off

Fletcher does make an interesting point here. Guys like Anderson, Ward, and Rengifo are good players, but they aren't really "stars" in their own right and won't command the top-end premium returns as a result. As for the guys on expiring deals like Carlos Estevez, they would be rentals and were never going to warrant a heavy return.

However, it does feel like Fletcher may be underestimating the value of team control here. While the Angels don't have anyone that the Yankees are going to give up Jasson Dominguez for (although the Angels shouldn't turn that down if if happens somehow), including a fringe top-100 guy like Chase Hampton as the centerpiece of a deal isn't out of the question. Again, that is one example, but you get the idea.

So should the Angels expect to get a top-25 prospect at the trade deadline? Absolutely not unless they make one of their young, high-upside players with a lot of team control available, which doesn't seem likely. But that doesn't mean the trade deadline won't yield talent that could help LA in the years to come. The harsh reality is that the proper take here lies somewhere in the middle.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.