Taylor Ward should be a member of the LA Angels for the rest of his career

With the Angels and their fan base on the brink of quitting on the season, Taylor Ward saved the city of Anaheim once again when he sent a walk off home run into the left field bleachers on Sunday afternoon. In a season of highs and lows -- from eight game winning streaks, to consistently failing to get above .500, to constant trade rumors surrounding the roster -- Ward has been as good as ever for the Halos.

Taylor Ward should be a member of the LA Angels for the rest of his career

As soon as the deadline passed, fans and media members alike began scoffing at the Angels and their denial in seeing themselves as sellers even as Ward breathed a sigh of relief. Given the monumental returns seen this trade season, Ward would have gotten the Angels a fantastic return on the market especially considering the extra year of team control through 2026. With the Angels stuttering as soon as they made their "win-now" trades, the idea of trading Ward this winter likely will become an internal conversation in the coming days.

The Angels should instead take this moment to extend Ward and ensure his career starts and ends in Anaheim. Since he debuted in 2018, Ward has been the personification of the Angels as an organization. He would struggle, he would get hot, he would change positions in order to keep his bat on the field. There was a constant belief between fans and coaches that Ward had the potential to be a great Angels player. Outside of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, there is no more important Halo this decade than Taylor Ward.

So instead of trading him for a strong return, why not extend him? Ward is a sure thing for this franchise. Steady enough defense and an OPS+ above 100 for five straight seasons means something, and extending Ward instead of trading him for question marks in prospects - no matter how promising they are - would be a strong choice by Perry Minasian (or whoever is running the front office this offseason).

On top of it being a great baseball decision, outside of Trout there is not a player that means more to the fans than Ward. With several fan accounts dedicated to Ward on social media, he is a player that the Halo faithful rally behind, more so than any free agent Arte Moreno may want to sign to replace Ward. One fan account stated "(Ward) gives me hope for this franchise, the fact that he wanted to stay at the deadline after we have failed to give him a competitive team for so long makes me think that he has hope (for the Angels) as well...His good days are always when we need him to show up most."

Extending Taylor Ward makes sense in every way. The team needs him. The fans love him. And at this point, he is the definition of an Angels baseball player.

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