The worst Angels trade for a second baseman in franchise history

The Los Angeles Angels have made their fair share of mistakes in trades like we saw at this past trade deadline. The team went all in trying to make the postseason in Shohei Ohtani's final guaranteed year with the team by trading prospects in exchange for rentals. Every trade they made aged extremely poorly, and the Angels wound up winning only 73 games.

Some of the worst trades the Angels have made in their history have been made with the Toronto Blue Jays. The one more modern fans remember is the deal that netted the Angels Vernon Wells and his entire contract for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera. As bad as that one was, this trade with the Blue Jays might've been even worse.

With the Angels searching for a second baseman, they opted to trade Devin White, one of the best defenders in the game, along with two other players in exchange for Luis Sojo, Junior Felix, and a player to be named later (wound up being Ken Rivers two days later). This was the first deal these tems had made with each other, and it couldn't have gone much worse for the Angels.

The worst Angels trade for a second baseman is the one for Luis Sojo

The Angels made it very public that they were looking for a second baseman after Johnny Ray's time with the team was up. Their top target was Yankees second baseman Steve Sax, but New York wasn't interested in a deal for White. The Angels settled on the unproven Sojo to try and give them their long-term second baseman.

Devon White had his limitations at the time of this trade. He was an outstanding defensive center fielder but his bat never quite came around. He hit just .217 with a .633 OPS in the season before the Angels made this deal. While the bat was disappointing, he was still a two-time Gold Glove winner and an all-star in 1989.

Immediately after the Blue Jays got their hands on White, things finally clicked offensively. He still wasn't a superstar offensively, but he went from a liability to a tick above average at the dish. White played five seasons for Toronto and had a .760 OPS with a 102 OPS+. He remained an elite defender, winning a Gold Glove in every season he played for the Blue Jays.

The most frustrating part of all was that White was a key piece to Toronto winning back-to-back World Series championships. He was worth over six bWAR in each of his first three seasons with Toronto and was worth 22.3 bWAR with them overall. White developed into a star with the Jays, while the Angels got virtually nothing.

Sojo played just two seasons with the Angels, posting a .650 OPS and an 81 OPS+. He was a good defender, but his bat lagged behind, much like White's had. What makes this trade even more laughable is the Angels wound up trading Sojo back to Toronto after the 1992 season.

Junior Felix was another player the Angels got in this trade and expected to play a contributing role, but he was limited to just 66 games in 1991 missing two months of the season, and he too lasted just two years with the club. Ken Rivers was the player to be named later, and he'd last just one year in the Angels minor leagues.

To sum up, the Angels traded a guy who was immediately a six-win player for the Blue Jays in Devin White in exchange for two subpar position players and a prospect that didn't amount to anything. White spent more time in Toronto than these three players spent in Anaheim combined. White wound up leading Toronto to two World Series championships. The Angels organization has one.