The Angels could easily repeat their 2023 trade deadline disaster

On July 9th 2023, heading into the All-Star Break, the LA Angels sat 4th in the AL West with a 45-46 record, 7.5 games behind Texas and 4.5 games out of the final wild card spot. They were coming off a rough end to the first half, having lost 5 in a row and 9 of their last 10, but immediately after the break they managed a 7-3 record and had climbed 3 games over .500 by July 25th, with the Aug 1st deadline looming. With a wildcard in sight, they took a leap.

On July 26th, the Angels acquired Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for their second and third ranked prospects, Edgar Quero and Ky Bush. Four days later they sent prospect their eighth ranked prospect Mason Albright and no. 28 ranked prospect Jake Madden to Colorado, bringing back two former Halos in CJ Cron and Randal Grichuk. They also made low-leverage trades to bring in Mike Moustakas, Eduardo Escobar and Dominic Leone.

For a team who held the biggest available deadline trade chip in Shohei Ohtani, and had been widely expected to cash it in, it was a big, win-now move. Well, it turned out to be a complete disaster.

The team went 8-19 in both August and September, finishing the season 73-89, 4th in the AL West, and 15 games shy of that wildcard. Even worse, at least in the eyes of owner Arte Moreno, their deadline signings had put them over the CBT threshold forcing a flurry of waiver dumps in late August, including Giolito and Grichuk, in an (ultimately successful) attempt to dodge the luxury tax. It was shambolic, embarrassing and detrimental to the team. Or, as fans under Moreno call it, “business as usual”.

The Angels could easily repeat their 2023 trade deadline disaster

Fast forward to 2025, and there are red flags flying all over this deadline, and they are not the pennants around Angel Stadium.  

Going into their final series before the All-Star game, the Angels sit 45-48, 4th in their division and 4 games out of a Wild Card. Much more important is what, or who, they don’t have this time – Shohei.

There is no marquee player on an expiring contract to raise the pressure to either trade or try to win immediately -- Mike Trout, Zach Neto and co. are not going anywhere. So, if the Angels decided to go all-in this year, it would be solely be about breaking that postseason drought. It will be a big temptation, but it could come at the cost of the future they have finally started to build.

All four prospects the Angels sent away in ’23 are still with the organizations they went to – Albright and Madden pitch in the Rockies minor league system, and both Bush and Quero have made it to the big leagues with Chicago. Bush made four starts in 2024, before undergoing Tommy John surgery early this year. The biggest loss was the now 22-year-old Quero, who is currently slashing .269/.350/.335/.685 and is one of the few bright spots on that floundering team. There’s no guarantee he would have risen as quickly through the Angels ranks, and if he had then Travis d’Arnaud probably wouldn’t be here. Regardless, either as support for Logan O’Hoppe or a future trade chip, he was and is worth a lot more than a one-month rental of Lucas Giolito.

The Angels 2025 equivalent no. 2 and no. 3 prospects are pitchers Caden Dana and George Klassen. Barring some ridiculous scenario involving Paul Skenes and roughly half of the Angels farm system, they should both be untouchable. The same can’t necessarily be said for no. 8Chris Cortez or no. 28 Dioris De La Rosa. There is definitely a world in which Perry Minasian, under pressure from Arte Moreno, decides to empty the farm in pursuit of a wild card, and young, controllable arms are golden trade chips.

If the current team felt like they were one or two pieces away from completion, it would be justifiable. But they aren’t. They’ve been streaky all season, both as a team and as individuals. They’ve played up to some good teams, but lost to others they should have beaten. They have every chance of going on a great run between now and the deadline, just like the 2023 team did, and then just as much chance of falling apart again, too. The smart play would be to treat this deadline as sellers, offload as many expiring contracts as possible, and then spend the 2nd half identifying where they need to spend over the offseason. But as 2023 proved, the smart play isn’t always the Angel’s way.   

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