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Angels' embarrassing trade deadline capped with Anthony Rendon, Mike Trout injuries

Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Halo Hangout

Tampa Bay Rays v Los Angeles Angels / Kevork Djansezian/GettyImages

Los Angeles Angels fans have been through it with this organization in recent years. With the team supposedly well-positioned as one of the few trade deadline sellers, there was at least some hope the Angels could begin to rebuild their farm system while having to suffer through the rest of the 2024 season.

Unfortunately, that isn't really what happened. LA did well to get what they got for Carlos Estevez and did swing a last-minute trade to send Luis Garcia out of town, but the Angels did not move their bigger trade chips as many had expected. Even worse, Perry Minasian had little explanation for why the team took the path that they did.

However, the bad news did not end there. Not only did the Angels mostly lay an egg at the deadline, but Anthony Rendon found his way to familiar ground on the injured list with a back issue and Mike Trout had another setback during his rehab.

Angels News: Trout and Rendon's latest injuries are just salt in LAA's wounds

This is a low point for the Angels as a franchise without question. To be fair, Rendon getting hurt is pretty much the easiest bet one could make and he isn't any good when he is playing. However, there was at least some optimism surrounding Trout as it appeared he might've dodged a bullet when recent scans of his knee revealed no new issues and the pain he experienced was just scar tissue.

Now, the Angels are going to be without Trout for even longer with his long-term health in serious jeopardy; are paying Anthony Rendon to exist on the injured list; and did very little at the trade deadline to build towards a brighter future. If you are an Angels fan, what do you even hang your hat on at this point to convince yourself to follow this team?

Maybe the front office is right that this group of Angels could take a step forward and make things interesting in 2025. Perhaps Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon can have the curse that has been laid upon them lifted and they can contribute for longer than a third of a season. Based on everything that has happened so far, though, that doesn't seem all that likely.

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Eric Cole

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.