The Angels' win streak should not make them push chips in at the trade deadline

The Angels return to Anaheim this weekend after a remarkably successful road trip. They went 8-2, sweeping the Dodgers and the A’s to win 7 straight games along the way. The offense, led by Taylor Ward, Logan O’Hoppe and Zach Neto, finally woke up, and they gained ground on everyone in what is shaping up to be a highly winnable AL West. While optimism is running high, their first home game against Miami will be their 50th of the season, and they’ll hit the one third mark (54 games) against the Yankees, which is as good a time as any to ask where this team might be heading, and what effect this recent win streak, if any, could have on the rest of the season.

For inspiration, The Angels should cast their eyes North East to a team who were in a very similar spot just one year ago, the Detroit Tigers.

Entering 2024, the Tigers shared the longest postseason drought in baseball with the Angels. Both teams last appeared in the postseason in 2014 and got swept in their divisional series. At the 50 game mark of 2024, the Tigers sat 4th in the AL Central with a 23-27 record, slightly worse off than the 24-25 Angels.

Those Tigers went on to finish the season 86-76, nabbed a wildcard spot, swept the Astros in the wildcard series and eventually lost the ALDS to Cleveland in five games...and they did all of that by never acting like a team who were going for it.

They were sellers at the trade deadline, swapping out Jack Flaherty, Mark Canha, Andrew Chafin and Carson Kelly for seven prospects. Fast forward to today and they currently sit 5 games clear on top of the AL Central, with the best record in baseball.

The 2025 Angels team have a decision to make, and it’s going to come down to a tussle between the front office’s stated desire to win, fans desperation to be part of the postseason again and the reality of where the current roster stands. The 2024 Tigers had Tarik Skubal en route to his Cy Young Award, but otherwise the team makeup may sound awfully familiar; young studs finding their feet in the majors, veterans attempting to rebound from injury and older journeymen signed mainly for depth. They were close to .500 at mid-season, but restocked their farm anyway. Their surge in the second half was undoubtably welcome, but almost incidental to a longer term plan to build around their young core for 2025.

This season’s Angels need to be wary of getting overexcited by their recent form, take a realistic look at what they have and where their ceiling is. As much fun as this streak has been, is it really an invitation to replay 2023 all over again? That year, the Angels went all in at the deadline, desperate to throw everything into taking Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout into the postseason, only to collapse in August and eventually waive what felt like half the squad in a frantic effort to get under the luxury tax before the end of the year. This year, they have pieces they could, and should, try to trade, no matter how welcome they’ve been in their brief time under the Halo.

Tyler Anderson, discounting his rough outing in Sacramento, has arguably been the Angels' best starter, but he’s on the final year of his contract, and has a history of regressing as seasons go on. It’s still easy to imagine, say, the Dodgers taking him back to soak up some innings while their rotation gets back to full health. Yoán Moncada has quietly made the most of his show-me deal, locking down the cursed third base hole the Angels have suffered under for years.  A switch-hitter who offers good defense should be catnip to a contender.

Maybe the surge continues. Maybe, in a week, the Angels will look up after sweeping the Marlins and Yankees, find themselves within a stone’s throw of leading the division, and decide this really is the year they fulfill Ron Washington’s promise to “run down the West.” Or maybe, without ever calling it such, they continue to rebuild, and any postseason action this year is simply a bonus, and a prelude of far better things to come.

More LA Angels News from Halo Hangout