Red Sox's attempt to trade for young Angels star could be preview of drama to come

With the news that the Red Sox made an attempt to trade for Los Angeles Angels star shortstop Zach Neto before pivoting to Caleb Durbin, this may just be the opening salvo in drama involving the young shortstop.

Boston reportedly tried several times to acquire Neto, but the Angels were not willing to let him go. At the same time, the Halos have been unwilling to commit to Neto long-term so this sets up a bit of a conundrum for the club.

Angels forced to reckon with Zach Neto's future after failed Red Sox trade attempt

The Angels do not really have to rush to extend Neto right now because he is under team control through 2029. There is plenty of time to work on an extension if that's the path Los Angeles wants to take, but there are bound to be other teams that kick the tires on a Neto trade.

Neto is a 25-year-old shortstop with power who has put up solid offensive numbers each of the last two seasons and is not going to hit free agency for a while. That is a dream for a lot of teams, so the Angels could be in a good position to cash in and get a good prospect haul in return if they want to trade Neto.

It seems pretty clear that the Angels do not want to commit a lot of long-term money to anyone right now. Perhaps the club is still a bit gun shy after the disaster that was the Anthony Rendon contract, but Neto is a guy who could be the face of the franchise especially after Mike Trout is gone so they need to figure out quickly how they view the young shortstop.

On the one hand, it would be a no-brainer to extend a guy who hit 49 homers combined the last two seasons and had a collective slash line of .253/.318/.458 while driving in 139 runs and stealing 56 bases. In fact, one could argue that now is the time to extend him before his price tag gets higher if he makes an All-Star team or puts up stronger numbers as he nears free agency.

At the same time, Neto's defense leaves a lot to be desired as he graded out as one of the worst defensive shortstops in the entire league last season. A move to second base it probably in order at some point which could bring his value down a bit.

The Red Sox trade ordeal is just the beginning. Teams are going to keep knocking on the door and the Angels need to figure out quickly what they want to do with the young talent.