Ranking the five Angels trade chips by likelihood of being dealt

The Los Angeles Angels have been incredibly quiet this offseason so far, doing nothing more than signing a trio of middle relievers to cheap one-year deals. It's safe to say that this team that went 73-89 last season and just lost Shohei Ohtani is going to have to do a whole lot more than take risks on middle relievers to be competitive in 2024.

While the Halos would love to do most of their damage in the free agency market, the reality is the class is just weak from top to bottom. There're some big names still left like Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, and Josh Hader, but even those free agents come with massive question marks.

With that in mind, the trade market has been a place teams have been turning to, and the Angels don't appear to be an exception there. Perry Minasian has not made a trade yet, but has been receiving interest in these five players in particular according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required). While it's possible the Angels do trade all five of these players, some appear to be more likely than others. Let's rank them from least likely to most.

5) Mickey Moniak

Mickey Moniak finally broke out and showed why he was selected first overall in the 2016 Draft this past season for the Angels. In a season that began with him in the minor leagues, Moniak finally got his chance in the majors in May and what was supposed to be a short stint turned out to be a season-long look for the young outfielder.

Moniak simply never allowed the Angels to send him down thanks to his play. He slashed .280/.307/.495 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI in 85 games played. Impressive numbers for sure for a guy who had never found his footing in the majors prior to this season, but there are causes for concern as well.

Moniak fanned 113 times in 323 plate appearances and drew a grand total of nine walks. Plate discipline was an issue, especially as the season progressed. He's going to have to be much better in that regard. Moniak also had an absurd .397 BAbip. The league average is .300. He was getting incredibly lucky on balls in play. Additionally, his numbers against lefties left a lot to be desired when it comes to him being a full-time outfielder.

His weaknesses are very glaring, but Moniak did display impressive power, speed, and defense in the outfield. If he can improve on the weaknesses, he can easily be this team's center fielder of the future. The reason I think it's highly unlikely Moniak goes anywhere is he has four years of team control. The Angels would need to get back more than they'd realistically be able to get in order to give him up at this point.

4) Taylor Ward

Taylor Ward looked like he was on a path to stardom following his breakout year in 2022. Unfortunately, he took a big step back this past season, but was still a productive player for the Angels. The 30-year-old slashed .253/.335/.421 with 14 home runs and 47 RBI in 97 games for the Halos before getting his in the face by an Alek Manoah fastball.

Ward was playing some of his best baseball of the season before his season-ending injury, which is something we could say about far too many Angels players unfortunately. The injury and regression from his monster 2022 year could be signs that the Angels should move him, but it also could deplete his value on the open market.

What makes Ward a valuable commodity is the fact that he has three years of team control remaining. The Angels can keep Ward around for the rest of his prime through his arbitration years and have a productive corner outfielder. When right, Ward has shown he has an all-star ceiling.

The only way the Angels should consider moving him is if they can find a legitimate frontline starter in return, and one that is not a rental (unless it's Corbin Burnes). Teams will covet Ward's years of control as Rosenthal points out, but I'm not sure the Halos can get their hands on a controllable starter (Dylan Cease type) in return, making a deal at least in my view unlikely.

2) Matt Thaiss

Against all odds, the Angels traded Max Stassi away this offseason clearing the path for Matt Thaiss to re-claim his role as Logan O'Hoppe's primary backup catcher. While Thaiss appears to be in the driver's seat for now, that doesn't mean the Angels will go through with it.

Thaiss began last season as O'Hoppe's backup and struggled at the start, but then really took off when O'Hoppe landed on the IL. Thaiss was one of the best offensive catchers in the American League for a couple of months but then really struggled down the stretch. His overall numbers didn't turn out to be so great, as he hit just .214 with a .659 OPS and an OPS+ of 80.

Thaiss is an intriguing piece to keep around as he did show signs of improvement this past season, but is also an inexperienced catcher. Having two inexperienced catchers in Thaiss and O'Hoppe playing every day catching a young pitching staff probably isn't the best recipe for success. While Stassi was extremely underwhelming in 2022 and overpaid, he did provide the veteran presence and strong defense that teams value behind the dish.

I don't think trading Thaiss is a must, but I wouldn't be shocked to see the Angels part with him and his four years of control for a different player, and then turn around and add a veteran backstop to pair with O'Hoppe.

1) Jose Suarez

This should be an easy one. Teams are expressing interest in Jose Suarez and the Angels should have absolutely no issues giving him up. He showed this past season that he's not a pitcher the Angels can rely on in the future out of the rotation, and the bullpen isn't a much better spot either.

Suarez is receiving interest following a rough year for a variety of reasons. He's a left-handed pitcher who can start, has solid stuff, has had success in the past, and has three more years of club control. If there's anything teams value the most, it's team control.

The 26-year-old has been a decent back-end arm in the past and getting him in front of better pitching coaches could turn out to be a great thing for him. Even if he succeeds elsewhere it'd be the right move for the Angels to make to deal him.

Even if the Angels don't add another starting pitcher this offseason, Suarez still has no chance to crack the Opening Day rotation barring injury. A guy like Chase Silseth has certainly jumped him on the depth chart. Keeping him around as a long reliever wouldn't be the worst thing, but he'd have more value to the Angels with what he can bring back in a deal.

Suarez being out of options is what makes keeping him around so difficult. The only way the Angels could send him back down to the minors would be through waivers, and he'd certainly be claimed. Rather than lose him for nothing down the road, trade him for whatever you can get now. Of the five players on this list he's by far the most likely to actually go.