Mickey Moniak’s current hot streak could influence Angels’ trade deadline plans

While the degree has yet to be determined, the Los Angeles Angels are certain to be trading away some players at the July 30 deadline. If the team finds a way to make a bit of a run, they may not go into the full fire sale mode that some are predicting for them, but there is no denying that this Angels roster is going to lose players by the end of the July.

At this point, the only question is which players the Angels will keep and which ones will be let go. At this moment in time, outfielder Taylor Ward is getting a lot of attention as a trade deadline target given his track record and the fact that he is one of the few decent bats going to be available that would come with team control.

However, another Angels outfielder with team control, Mickey Moniak, could be playing his way into the same conversation, especially after his first career grand slam against the Athletics.

Mickey Moniak's torrid run of late is going to make the Angels' deadline plans pretty tricky

It wasn't that long ago that many thought that Moniak's run of success last year was a thing of the past and that the Angels needed to cut him loose. To be fair, that skepticism was extremely warranted as Moniak had just a .450 OPS through the end of May which looks a lot like what a decent hitting pitcher would put up instead of a big league outfielder.

However, Moniak has seemingly found his stroke again of late. Over his last 15 games, Moniak is slashing .304/.396/.565 with seven extra-base hits which is an even better pace than his impressive numbers from 2023 with LA. Given Moniak's pedigree as a former first overall pick and the fact that he was pretty good last year, LA may be forced to make a real choice here.

Both Ward and Moniak have multiple years of team control remaining, and it does seem unlikely that the Angels would trade both players as someone has to play in the Angels' outfield the rest of the season.

Ward's more consistent track record makes it likely he would command the better return even with one fewer year of team control, but selling high on Moniak instead may not be the worst idea. Moniak's track record in the big leagues is not great overall, so trading him to a team that is willing to bet this turnaround is real and sustainable could be a smart move and allow the Angels to kick the decision on Ward down the road.

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