Ranking 3 best LA Angels trades in franchise history

The LA Angels may have made some poor trades in the past that I went over recently, but they've also made some really great ones.

Some of them still have effects on this franchise today. A few of them really stand out, however, and are proud moments in our team's history.

Here's to many more that Perry Minasian will be pulling off. Starting with the most recent gem of a trade, the countdown begins now:

No. 3 best LA Angels trade in franchise history: The Mark Teixeira trade (2008)

Curious as to how the LA Angels' third-best trade was for Mark Teixeira due to him not playing a full season with the team? You're not thinking hard enough. This trade is not just because Teixeira was a key piece to our run to get in the playoffs, as he hit .358/.449/.632 (1.081 OPS) with 13 home runs, 43 RBIs, and 39 runs in his 54 games with us after he was traded for during the year.

It's what happened AFTER that year. And I'm not just talking about his dominant postseason play, where he hit .467/.550/.467 (1.017 OPS) with four runs scored in our four playoff games. It's that he played so well that he scored a MASSIVE offseason deal with the New York Yankees after the season.

How does that benefit the Angels? Well, we got a compensation draft pick from that transaction, which we used on a guy who ended up being the best player in franchise history. Not only did we benefit in our playoff run from GREAT performance from Tex, but the move ended up resulting in our selection of the great Mike Trout.

No. 1 best LA Angels trade in franchise history: The Nolan Ryan trade (1971)

The Nolan Ryan trade is the easy decision for the top trade in LA Angels franchise history. The Halos got Ryan and a few other players for Jim Fregosi. While Fregosi was an amazing player for the Angels, that wasn't the case when he left.

He made six All-Star teams with the Angels, but none with the Mets (who he was traded to), or any of the other teams he played for. As for Ryan, it was the opposite story. He had the best run of his career with Anaheim.

Posting the most wins (138) and the lowest ERA (3.07) of his career with the Angels as opposed to any other team, the fireballer was sensational with this ballclub. He struck out 10 batters per nine frames here, and back in those days that was NUTS.

Making five All-Star teams with the Halos, he really made his mark on our team as well as baseball history.

It goes to show that while a series of bad trades have set our franchise back at times, we certainly have hit on some of them too. It certainly gives hope to what Minasian can do moving forward. After all, he already nailed the Raisel Iglesias trade...