Mike Trout’s injury setback robbed Angels of unique trade deadline opportunity

The Los Angeles Angels got a bit of bad news earlier this week. Mike Trout, who began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday, was pulled from his first game back after only two innings. Trout had been recovering from knee surgery, and left Tuesday's contest with soreness in that same knee.

He was sent back to the team for testing and didn't play Wednesday despite there being belief he could DH.

Of course, this is a major blow to the Angels' organization and their fanbase. While few, if any, expected the Angels to compete for a playoff spot down the stretch, having Trout back on the field would have brought some level of entertainment back to The A for the final two months of the season.

But Trout's setback is not only disappointing to the fanbase who hasn't seen him on the field in months, it also may have cost the Halos a unique opportunity to capitalize on one of their red-hot assets at the trade deadline.

Mike Trout’s injury setback robbed LA Angels of unique trade deadline opportunity to deal Jo Adell

No, Jo Adell has not been mentioned by any MLB insiders as a potential trade candidate at the deadline. But that doesn't mean other teams weren't inquiring about his availability. In the wake of Adell's recent surge, the possibility of opposing GMs giving Perry Minasian a phone call or the Halos dangling the outfielder as a potential trade chip certainly existed.

Adell's 2024 season has been his best in the bigs — though that's not saying a lot. The former first-round pick has been seen as a bust throughout most of his career, but tapped into some of that raw power this season and has stayed off the IL. In 90-plus games, the 25-year-old has a career-high 15 home runs this season to go along with 46 RBI and 13 stolen bases.

Adell has also been riding a hot streak since just before the All-Star break. Over his last eight games, Adell is hitting .375/.500/.542. In a trade market starved for offensive upgrades, the Angels may have been able to get something in return for Adell's services before he inevitably turned back into that .200 hitter fans throughout Anaheim know him to be.

But with Trout now out of commission once again, the idea of striking while the iron is hot has all but expired. The Angels have to have somebody patrolling the outfield with Taylor Ward and Kevin Pillar (if they're not traded, too), and that's likely to be Adell — at least for the rest of this season.

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