After years of fruitlessly buying at the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Angels are finally pivoting into sellers.
Interim general manager John Mozeliak has had a busy deadline day on Monday, dealing right-hander José Soriano to the Toronto Blue Jays, Jo Adell to the Cleveland Guardians, Ryan Zeferjahn to the Chicago Cubs and veteran reliever Brent Suter to the Atlanta Braves for a much-needed jolt to their farm system headlined by Toronto’s Arjun Nimmala, a 20-year-old shortstop ranked No. 43 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. He immediately slides into the Angels organization as their No. 2 prospect behind last year’s third overall draft pick Tyler Bremner.
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Joining Nimmala from the Jays organization are outfielder Eddie Micheletti Jr. and right-handed pitcher Angel Rivero. They also added catcher Jacob Cozart from Cleveland, who was their No. 18 prospect. In the Zeferjahn trade, Anaheim got back big league catcher Moisés Ballesteros and a prospect in Mason McGwire from the Cubs. They didn’t acquire any prospects from Atlanta for Suter, but rather some infield depth in shortstop and Riverside native Nacho Alvarez Jr.
Earlier in the week, the Halos traded catcher Logan O’Hoppe and reliever Chase Silseth to the Texas Rangers for third base prospect Angel Arredondo, who was outside of the Rangers’ Top 30 but slots in at No. 28 in the Angels system, according to MLB Pipeline.
Mozeliak might not be done making moves either, with Zach Neto and Reid Detmers names to keep an eye on in the final three hours before the deadline. But until then, here are the winners and losers from the Angels’ deals:
Trade deadline: MLB trade grades: LIVE analysis on every major deadline day deal
Winner: the Angels farm system
After years of neglect, the Halos have finally taken the first steps towards stocking up the third-worst farm system in the Majors, according to MLB Pipeline. Mozeliak has added three prospects into the team’s top 30 in his four trades, including the No. 43-ranked prospect in all of baseball in Arjun Nimmala, who immediately slots in at No. 2 in the organization.
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When Mozeliak was brought on in June to lead the front office following the firing of Perry Minasian, one of the most important things he set out to do was establish the Angels’ future.
“I reflect back to when I was first named general manager and that was a turbulent time for the Cardinals,” Mozeliak told reporters at the time. “And so for me, coming in here with an organization that is trying to get back to being a perennial winner, there are some similarities. But clearly when you look at having a successful franchise year over year, it really comes down to how you’re built. … Scouting and player development have to be a major force.”
They still have a long way to go, but it’s a start. And that’s more than the Angels front office has done in a very long time.
Loser: Angels bullpen
For the many holes on this Angels roster, relief pitching was not one of them. They parted ways with real talent out of the bullpen: Silseth carried a 2.72 ERA with 48 strikeouts across 39.2 innings for the Angels this season. Zeferjahn posted a 3.66 ERA with 1.20 WHIP and a career-high 75 strikeouts in 51.2 innings, and Suter had a 1.26 WHIP in 63.1 innings.
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It probably won’t make much of a difference this season since the Angels have lost 69 games even with a quality bullpen, but at first glance the prospects they’ve gotten back for their relievers pale in comparison to their returns for Soriano and Adell.
Winner: John Mozeliak
A World Series champion with the St. Louis Cardinals after 30 years in their front office, Mozeliak knows how to build a successful organization. The Angels have been the opposite of that for well over a decade now. He still has the interim tag and owner Arte Moreno is unlikely to make any long-term commitments with a lockout looming in 2027, but don’t count out Mozeliak as he looks to position himself for a permanent role, whether it be with the Angels or elsewhere.
With yet another teardown and rebuild underway, the Angels might have wasted the entirety of the career of one of the best players of all time. At 34 years old, the Millville Meteor is going just as strong as he ever has with a .845 OPS and his first All-Star campaign in three years. But in his 16 big league seasons, Trout has only seen the postseason once. And with chronic back issues, his best years are behind him — even if this form of him is still better than most Major Leaguers’ peaks.
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To be clear, Trout has never wanted to leave the team that drafted him; quite the opposite in fact. It seems like every year, he has to publicly reiterate his desire to play for the Angels. He’s right where he wants to be. The Halos aren’t seeing October any time soon and unless Mozeliak pulls off some kind of stunner at the deadline to move him somewhere else, the lasting playoff image of Trout might be his lone home run that was also his only hit in three games against the Kansas City Royals in 2014.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Angels trade deadline winners and losers: Halos finally look towards the future
