Angels Q&A: Does a hot June affect their expected role as sellers?

OAKLAND — The Angels are just past the midpoint of the season, and they’ve actually been playing some of their best baseball.

After going 11-19 through the end of April and 10-17 in May, the Angels were 15-11 in June.

Ironically, their improved play lately actually had some of you concerned when we put out a call for questions, so we’ll start there.

Q: There isn’t some internal delusion that they won’t sell and they’ll bounce back right?!?!?! — @4VertsOnNCAA14

A: It’s understandable for fans to be cynical based on what happened last year. The Angels got hot at the end of July, and became buyers, shipping away prospects and failing to add the prospects they could have added by trading Shohei Ohtani.

This year, however, they’re in much worse shape. On the morning of July 1 last year, the Angels were 44-40 and two games out of a playoff spot. Today, they’re 36-47 and 9½ games out of a playoff spot.

Also, Ohtani presented a much different calculation than anyone on this year’s team. There was more to be gained by keeping him (maybe making the playoffs, maybe re-signing him) and more to be gained by trading him (several very good prospects).

This year it’s not going to matter so much for the long-term health of the franchise what they do.

None of the players the Angels could trade is going to yield even a single top 100 prospect.

They certainly could get a handful of young players back, but they’re more likely to simply add depth than get anyone truly impactful.

Q: Please, name the players you think will get traded at the deadline? — @vociferous

A: Closer Carlos Estévez is the top of the list. He’s going to be a free agent at the end of the season, and he’s been pitching very well. Plus, every team is always looking for bullpen help, specifically someone who can pitch the eighth or ninth inning.

Right-hander Luis Garcia also has pitched well for most of the season, minus a couple of blowup games, and his raw stuff profiles pretty well. Left-hander Matt Moore has been better for the last month, so if he keeps that up in July, he could also be moved.

After that, it gets more difficult.

Left-hander Tyler Anderson, right-hander Griffin Canning, infielder Luis Rengifo and outfielder Taylor Ward all could be valuable to other teams. But all of them also remain under control to the Angels for next season, too.

When the Angels are deciding what to do with those players, that’s where a June-July hot streak might make a difference. Even if the Angels believe they’re too far back for 2024, significant progress from their young players could convince them not to give up on 2025. Trading Anderson, for example, would mean a lot of innings to replace next year.

The guess here is that General Manager Perry Minasian would be open to trading anyone, but he won’t be giving those players away for lottery tickets the way he might with an impending free agent. It would have to be for players that he really likes, who could help sooner rather than later. When Minasian traded Brandon Marsh in 2022, it was to get Logan O’Hoppe.

Q: Are the Angels being overly protective and cautious with (Mike Trout) who by most measures has exceeded the normal expected recovery time for the injury he suffered? Or is something else at play? — @JMTLAWYER

A: Trout has now been out for about two months since surgery to repair a torn meniscus. He admitted that the rehab has been slower than he hoped, but he finally seems to be seeing some progress.

The Angels certainly aren’t holding Trout back. It’s all about what Trout feels. He’s been a slow healer in the past, and that’s apparently what’s happening again.

Q: I am sold on Zach Neto as one of the key pieces to the future of the franchise but not so much on Nolan Schanuel.  I see him as an average MLB player. Is it just me, because I do not see anything special. — @FeelNumbRaul

A: Normally, you wouldn’t have seen anything with Schanuel because he would have been in the minors all this time. He’s 22 and he hasn’t even been a professional baseball player for a year yet.

It’s too early to know what he’ll be, but he’s ahead of the curve simply from getting all of this major league experience so quickly.

Also, he doesn’t have to be “special” to be valuable. “Average” major league players are not that easy to find.

Q: With the draft coming up, is 2021 “all pitchers” draft by the Angels seen as a success, failure or not yet decided ? — @taz1601

A: It’s too soon to tell. There are only eight players in all of baseball from the first round of the 2021 draft who have produced a positive WAR in the majors, according to Baseball-Reference, and Angels first-round pick Sam Bachman is one of them.

The total WAR produced by the Angels draft class is 0.5, with Bachman and Chase Silseth as the only ones to reach the majors. The Kansas City Royals picked one spot ahead of the Angels, and they haven’t gotten anyone to the majors. The New York Mets picked right after the Angels, and they have one player who has produced 0.4 WAR.

If Bachman and Silseth become productive major leaguers, that alone will make it a successful draft.

As for the others, the Angels traded left-hander Ky Bush in the Lucas Giolito deal last summer. Right-hander Ryan Costeiu is the only other pitcher from that draft currently ranked among the Angels’ top 30 prospects by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline. He’s pitching in high-A now after missing last year because of Tommy John surgery.

Q: When will Arte sell the team, please !!! — @alvarep

A: This is the question you all have, and the only answer I have is what Moreno told me four months ago.

“I am here long term,” Moreno said.

Q: How long is Perry’s leash? he’s gotta be out come season end right? — @CartiHalos

A: Minasian’s four-year contract expires at the end of this season.

It’s worth noting that 2020 was the last year of GM Billy Eppler’s deal, but Moreno quietly gave him an extension through 2021, even though he hadn’t had a winning season. After another losing record in the pandemic-shortened season, Moreno fired Eppler anyway.

What this tells us is that Moreno can be patient with losing if he feels there’s progress. But he can change his mind quickly, too. So, he still could go either way with Minasian.

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Jose Soriano, 4-5, 3.48 ERA) at A’s (RHP Mitch Spence, 4-4, 4.35), Tuesday, 6:40 p.m., Bally Sports West, 830 AM