The Angels have begun “listening to inquiries” on players on the roster and one of them is outfielder Taylor Ward, according to Robert Murray of FanSided. Earlier this week, Jeff Passan of ESPN listed Ward and fellow outfielder Jo Adell as plausible trade candidates but said that general manager Perry Minasian is “asking for giant returns” for either of those two.
It’s unsurprising that the Angels are exploring a selloff this summer. Despite the departure of Shohei Ohtani in free agency, the club still made an attempt to field a competitive roster here in 2024. That has not panned out, thanks to some injuries and some underperformance. Face of the franchise Mike Trout has been on the injured list more than a month due to knee surgery. The club’s biggest offseason acquisition, Robert Stephenson, required Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire campaign. Players like Anthony Rendon, Brandon Drury and Chase Silseth are also on the IL. Meanwhile, Reid Detmers struggled enough to get optioned down to the minors while guys like Mickey Moniak and Nolan Schanuel have also underwhelmed.
All of those elements have combined to chip away at whatever chances of competing the club may have had at the start of the schedule. They are currently 24-38, 11 games back in the American League West and nine back of the final AL Wild Card spot. The FanGraphs Playoff Odds have the Angels down to a 0.6% shot at the postseason while the Baseball Prospectus PECOTA Standings have them down to a 0.1% sliver of a chance.
Last summer, the club was hovering around contention and decided to go for it while they still had a few months of Ohtani left. That ended up being a mistake and several players they acquired at the deadline wound up on waivers, but the move for this year is much easier. Minasian and his team will look to acquire some younger players that can help bolster the farm system and help in future seasons.
Ward is a sensible candidate for such a trade. He can still be retained for two seasons via arbitration but the Halos will have a hard time getting back into contention in that time frame, given that they have a poorly-regarded farm system. On top of that, Ward is a bit on the older side for a guy in his arbitration years since he was a late bloomer. He’ll turn 31 in December and will be on the cusp of his 33rd birthday by the time he reaches free agency.
But all that should make him appealing to clubs looking for an upgrade in the present. Ward has 11 home runs this year and his walking at a solid 9.7% clip. His .253/.322/.445 batting line translates to a wRC+ of 116, indicating he’s been 16% above league average this year. That aligns with previous seasons as well, with Ward having hit .265/.346/.449 over the 2021-23 campaigns for a 121 wRC+.
Defensively, Ward is no slouch either, having racked up three Outs Above Average in his career. His tally of -12 Defensive Runs Saved is less impressive but that metric has had him closer to league average since the start of 2023. He’s making a modest $4.8MM salary this year and, as mentioned, has two years of club control remaining beyond this one.
That salary could fit into the budget of just about any club and the extra control would make him appealing even to clubs that may be looking beyond 2024 to the next two seasons. With his strong work at the plate and solid defense, there should be plenty of clubs calling the Angels about him.
The Phillies have the best record in the National League but the outfield is a relative weak spot, with Brandon Marsh on the injured list while Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas are struggling at the plate. The Royals are 37-26 despite getting almost no contributions from their outfield, something that MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explored in a piece for Front Office subscribers. The Mariners are leading the AL West but their offense is struggling so much that they recently fired their offensive coordinator and took a cheap flier on Víctor Robles. Atlanta’s looking for outfield help with Ronald Acuña Jr. out for the rest of the year. The Cardinals, Dodgers, Rangers, Diamondbacks and plenty of others could make sense as well.
A controllable position player can bring back plenty of value. Just over a month ago, the Marlins were able to trade Luis Arráez to the Padres for a four-player package. One of them, Woo-Suk Go, has already been outrighted off the roster, but they also got three intriguing youngsters who are each now listed in the top 10 Miami prospects at Baseball America. Ward is a few years older than Arráez and is arguably not the same level of hitter, but Ward brings an extra year of control and his salary is less than half the $10.6MM that Arraez is making this year.
With the expanded postseason and several teams hovering around .500, it has been theorized that there could be a seller’s market this summer. With the Halos clearly out this year, they could be in a good position to take advantage, with Ward one of their best chances to do so.
Taylor Ward is ARGUABLY not as good a hitter as Luis Arraez? Arraez has won two straight batting titles and is leading the league this year also. Taylor ward is a .250 hitting outfielder with some pop. I don’t think there is even a basis for a comparison here.
baseball savant has his similar batters as 2023 Jason Heyward….lol
kevro2139…but with more years of team control. So really does that comp really comp? I sense a flaw.
No where did anyone state Taylor Ward was as good as Luis Arrraez. All that was being stated was players with team control can possibly fetch a higher haul.
You are just arguing to argue with such a nonsensical statement.
To be fair their WRC+ isnt that different and Wards defense is better, soooooo.
What does defense have to do with hitting? We are only comparing hitting ability here. Defensive skill is just as irrelevant to this discussion as spelling or the ability to grow turnips. The only thing that matters is hitting skill.
“Ward is a few years older than Arráez and is arguably not the same level of hitter, but Ward brings an extra year of control and his salary is less than half the $10.6MM that Arraez is making this year.”
This EXACT sentence is in the article right above. So maybe “no where” (no space needed BTW) may have been overstating it just a bit. Maybe you should actually read the article before you make such an all encompassing statement.
Ur the only one saying that here.
Arraez is basically now a DH as his defense sucks.
Arraez at 127 wRC+ is the better hitter (Ward is at 116 wRC+ for the year), but the gap is not nearly as wide as you make it out to be. Their WAR is identical at 0.9 this season.
But the argument is not for the player the two are, it is for the hitter exclusively. WAR includes defense, so it is completely irrelevant to the discussion. Like it or not, batting average is still the best way to determine JUST hitting ability. The more hits you get, the higher your average. There are definite flaws with BA when it comes to seeing overall batting, but for just the hitting skill, there is nothing better
You missed the point. The article referenced years of club control, not hitting stats. GED failing you armchair GM
Arraez has only ONE HOMERUN. Ward is on pace for 30. Ward is also being pitched around in a lineup filled with career minor leaguers and castoffs.
Typically teams look at 3 years of data to make a player comparison, so lets go back to beggining of 2021. A little extra I know, but easier than using exact numbers.
Arraez – 475 games/.326/.376/.423/.799/123 OPS+/4 DRS at 2B in 262 games
Ward – 359 games/.263/.342/.448/.790/118 OPS+/-7 DRS in OF in 341 games
Taylor Ward for Cavan Biggio
Ward is worth more. Adell for Biggio makes some sense. Although I don’t know why Toronto would want Adell. I don’t really know why anyone would want Adell honestly. Outfielders with pop that hit under .200 are not exactly an endangered resource. The Rockies have about 3-4 of them.
Adell is on pace for 30 homers and 30 stolen bases and he’s 25 with his first chance to play every day. How can you compare that to Biggio?
Oh yeah. That .254 OBP is rather enticing too. He has 8 steals (I have no idea how you think that is on pace for 30), but also has been caught 6 times. That’s not really helpful.
Adell for Biggio? More like Jose Suarez for Biggio… who was just DFA’d and won’t get much in return, if anything.
So trade a guy with value for someone that just got DFA’d? LAA is run horribly, but not that horrible.
Taco…don’t take the bait. He is trying to get someone to ague with him.
Jays fan?
Whatever trade Minasian makes he’s going to get fleeced.
If they look down the 405 I think they got their best shot at a strong deal
Taylor and Braiser for Tyler Anderson and Ward
Dodgers looking for a cheapish semi controlled RH OF bat under arb and a 6th SP,
Taking on the Dodger bad money (and 40 spots) gets them more prospect capital in theory than anywhere else, much more probably
*As a Dodger fan I wouldn’t want to trade that much prospect capital (it be a nice haul) but it would be smart for the Angels to tempt them as they have the pieces that would naturally slide right in
Cap…they should get a lot more than that if they are including Tyler Anderson AND taking on bad money. You must be a die hard Dodger fan to propose such a one sided trade. (towards the Dodgers)
idk what about prospect capital is hard to understand? Its the whole premise of the post
This place is rough, hard to find a working brain cell anymore in here
@cap brasier(36) taylor(33) is not prospect capital. You should start a dodgers podcast with your insight and get 5 views
@cap after I saw brasier, and Taylor stopped reading caught me. Either way arte will not be taking on salary. Might be able to trade Anderson to the orioles for something better just straight up
Lol as a dodger fan youre delusional.
Its probably Ferris and 2 10-20 guys for that package.
Always.
I really like Taylor as a person and player but trading him is the intelligent thing to do.
Only if you have a GM that knows what he’s doing. The Angels don’t.
Halo…come on.
Don’t fall back into your darkness.
You are already bashing the trade before anythign has happened.
Perrys trades have been fine if the owner isnt forcing him to make them.
What is your pearl clutching coming from?
He got fleeced at the trading deadline last year. He got nothing for Iglesias. The Angels have 2 top 250 prospects according to a latest rankings, I’ve read. the worst total in baseball. The Angels wasted the highest draft pick they had this century, and you bring up O’Hoppe as their best trade?
Marsh bWAR with Phillies, 6.1. O’Hoppe’s, 1.4, and that was his best trade by far.
I don’t trust Minasian. I can hardly wait until he’s gone. Moreno is the cancer, and Minasian is the bad tooth that needs to be pulled.
Those that have different opinions, fine. Feel free to have them. I have mine.
You keep bringing up Minasian as being the problem… but the team has had a string of “bad GMs”… and I just have one question.. who is the GM/President of the Mariners?
(My point is that this is always Moreno’s fault)
Dipoto.. And he quit because of Moreno.
After watching Moreno over the last four years, if you think Moreno is competent, there is nothing I can say to change your mind, and vice versa. And I never felt that way about Dipotp
Moreno is living proof that MLB team owners don’t need to field winning teams to make money. If they did, baseball would be an entirely different sport, and a much better one for fans.
Both things can be true, right? How have Minasian’s drafts turned out? All pitchers in 2021 (except 1) and what pitcher from that draft is in the majors? Which one is dominating in the minors? Bachman has shoulder issues and Silseth is rebabbing. The Angels don’t have a single position player Minasian drafted close to making the big leagues– not one. You can blame Moreno as well– he is a horrible owner, but Minasian is doing the drafting and we are ranked last.
@halo11fan o’hoppe trade was decent, and I say that because catcher is a harder position to fill. He was a late bloomer, and outfielder is easier to replace if we can get a starting pitcher prospect pull the trigger. It’s probably Anderson,ward, and rengifo with the most value. Rest of the guys just trade for a bag of chips. Angels traded their 3rd round in 2021 pick for Escobar. So cimber, Moore, Strickland should be able to bring something like that
Gee imagine the haul of youngsters they could’ve got for Ohtani last year if they weren’t too chicken to make the move.
And most fans have known this team wasn’t going to be “competitive” from Game 1.
They wouldn’t have amounted to anything. Perry makes bad traded and Angels scouts are the worst.
They could hardly have failed to bringing in a haul for Ohtani, but keep in mind he was really the only player Angels fans were showing up for at that point. Trade him and watch tumbleweeds roll through the parking lots in Anaheim.
@blueskies I was against trading ohtani, so they could resign but they were the only team out of the 5 that didn’t match the dodgers offer. If arte didn’t plan on resigning him why did he nix the deal
Rex, I believe Arte did want to resign Ohtani, but he misread the market. I truly believe he thought he could sign him for around 500m. Everybody has there number, and Arte didn’t want to go over 600k, and clearly didn’t want to defer almost all of it.
@plug yeah I saw a report of saying him saying he didn’t think it would go past 500k. The problem is everyone was saying 600k for two years prior.
The team is drawing nearly 30,000 per game this year with as 1 of the 3 worse teams in the MLB.
Artie cared more about the advertising revenue overseas than attendance.
Because he was box office. One of the ways team owners make money without fielding a winning team.
Not only Ohtani, but they should have traded others and stocked their minor leagues. Moreno sold out for the immediate cash Ohtani generated and now we pay the price. Moreno is still making money– he just reduced his payroll to offset Ohtani. We are on pace for 60 wins before the sell off. Anderson, Ward, Regnifo, Drury, Pillar, possibly Adell and Moniak, Sandoval and the entire bullpen– they’re all possibly gone by the end of July. How many games will we win then? Moreno will reduce his payroll significantly and make even more in losing. Trout will be asking for a trade– he has no choice now. With a reduction in payroll the Angels can pay $10M a year on Trout’s deal in order to get something good back in return and be fine. Rendon gets bought out of his final two years at the end of the season.
Yup. Fans often make the mistake of believing that good baseball moves and good baseball business moves are one and the same thing. The structure of MLB virtually guarantees team owners profitibility no matter how poorly they manage the on-field product. In fact they are rewarded for mismanagement. So that’s why we get so damn much of it.
Now we know why Minasian and Washington have been praising Adell’s hard work and great leaps and bounds on defense. Good old fashioned salesmanship.
I could see ward to the royals, renfroe is unserviceable now
Damn the angels gave up on adell he’s their potential guy that strikes out a million times
At this point you just count Trout and Rendon as dead money and neither of them will play another pitch. Get what you can and reboot.
@james but you can’t trade either of them unless they want to leave. But definitely trade Anderson, ward and the rentals and hopefully you get some diamonds in the rough
Jo Adell has almost 800 PA and has a .259 OBP and 76 WRC+… not sure why he’d get a “giant return.”
@cincyfan85 I don’t think they will trade adell, he’s starting to figure it out. Just sucks at base running.
He sucks at hitting for average, drawing a walk, striking out, and defense too.
You don’t think Trout wants to leave now? In Spring training it was the first time Trout opened the door to leaving if the Angels couldn’t compete. Well, he’s going to be another year older and this team is on pace for 60 wins, 13 less than the previous two years, and this estimate is before they sell off half the team for prospects. Trout is going to come back, start hitting homers again, and the Phillies or Dodgers or Braves are going to want him. The Angels will eat $10M a year on the deal. The Phillies will give the Angels Andrew Painter and Crawford– something like this. The Angels won’t be ready to win for three-years as they rebuild. Trout is leaving for sure.
@carlafong yeah he said that three weeks into spring training. Do you think he thought perry ensembled a world series team. I would take interviews with a grain of salt. If trout wanted to leave he would’ve already. He’s comfortable in socal.
Nope. Both Trout and Rendon will return. I would guess by end of June. That makes Ward tradable. Just hope for a fair return that nets a couple of good prospects.
What do you think about this proposal?
To KC Royals:
OF Taylor Ward
IF Luis Rengifo
RHP Hunter Strickland
To LA Angels:
3B Cayden Wallace
RHP Chandler Champlain
RHP Brandon Johnson
Wallace seems to be more of a gap power hitter and Champlain a back-end starter. I’d probably like to see the Angels get a little more for both Ward and Rengifo. But I’d consider that deal for Ward/Strickland.
Funny how when trout was injured yet again (fragile guy), it was immediately assumed and understood that his recovery time would be maxed out for this type of injury. It’s an injury with a typical recovery time of around 6 weeks and as little as 4, but everyone just automatically knew that trout would miss at least 3 months. Remember: ‘Worst Calf Strain Recovery Time In MLB History’.
lol, he tore his meniscus you dumb ox
Meniscus tear with surgery.
sports-injury-physio.com/post/treatment-torn-menis…
Trade Arte moron Moreno
Taylor Ward may not be the only Angel gaining trade interest. I believe the Angels trade Mike Trout albeit he is on the IL. Somehow I think the Phillies end up with him at a very discounted price. If it doesn’t work out they still got that clown Rojas to try and make diving plays when not necessary and possibly dump Castellanos off in the deal
Trout is going to ask for a trade– he has to. Time is running out for him and with this team on pace for only 60 wins before they start selling off players he has no choice. But…. I think he comes back and has to be productive and he will be. He’s going to hit bombs and someone will step up– most likely the Phillies. Angels pay $10M a year off his $36M salary, making $26M very doable for big market clubs. I believe the Phillies would part with Andrew Painter and Crawford. Angels save $26M a year and get two excellent prospects. Phillies get a huge right-handed power bat for the playoffs. It’s a good deal for both and something I think Trout will seek through his agent.
Free Mike Trout trade him even at a discount even if we don’t get much for him We didn’t get nothing for Shohei Ohtani. I’m a big Mike trout fan, but I can’t Arte Moreno so free Mike Trout
Anaheim could offer trout for no players at all in return and no team would take on his albatross contract. Only if Anaheim covers a huge amount of the remaining quarter of a billion dollars (!) of trout’s albatross contract while not expecting any players at all in exchange, would any team even consider it.
Absolutely not true. He’s going to come back this year and hit another 20 homeruns and still wind up with more than 30.
This has to be one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever read on this site…
Rosenthal, as well as any other thinking observer, sees that trout’s contract is basically unmovable. Anaheim would have to cover at least $15 million per year just to move him at all. It is widely understood at this point by Rosenthal and every other thinking observer that Anaheim could offer the 33 year old trout for nothing at all and no team would be stupid enough to take on his albatross contract that still has a quarter of a billion dollars (!) left on it.
You contradict yourself. First you say that Trout’s contract is unmovable, then describe exactly how it could be moved. You were right the second time. I’ll add another way of buying down Trout’s contract: taking on another bad contract in trade. So maybe you should be a little more careful about who you describe as a “thinking observer.” Not that I believe Moreno will try to shift it. With Ohtani gone, Trout is just about the only reason remaining for fans to show up in Anaheim. So he will probably continue to make the business move over the baseball move.
Ward is 30….and this team is not going to be competitive any time soon. Set him free and get what we can in future talent.
It’s nice that he is available, but who would want him?
Was that a joke? your post will make you look stupid trade to the Braves or Kansas City Royals
Does your mom know you get online?
A ton of teams need a a consistent power hitting left fielder.
“The club’s biggest offseason acquisition” was Robert Stephenson. Even if he had been healthy how much of an impact would he have had with this roster? They’re not calling it a rebuild, but that’s what it is. It’s just 5 years too late.
The Angels have lost a ton of one-run games. Having Stephenson might have made a difference in a handful of those games.
In the grand scheme of things, probably wouldn’t make a ton of difference as they are destined to finish in either 4th or 5th place.
Because of so many close games, I think Stephenson would have made a large impact
Moreno talked about selling the team but then came to his senses. Why would he sell such a steady cash cow? 30,000 fans show up every game to watch this AAAA team.
I heard he didn’t sell the team simply because he can make more money by delaying the sale.
I don’t know when that deadline is, but when it passes, I expect him to sell.
The only “giant” return AAAAdell will command is an 8×10 of Andre the Giant.
“general manager Perry Minasian is “asking for giant returns” for either of those two.”
Seriously?? Jo Adell has proven that he can’t hit his way out of a paper bag. Occasionally, a pitcher makes a mistake and he sends one over the wall, but there’s 100’s of similar players in baseball like that already. Agree that Ward is a quality player, but his name isn’t Mike Trout. That’s the only player on the Angels’ roster that would warrant a “giant return”! And granted, Trout is often hurt (as he is now) so teams would still be reluctant to give away their farm for him.
No team would be stupid enough to take on trout’s albatross, quarter of a billion dollars remaining contract even if he were offered for no players in return. You couldn’t even give trout away at this point without Anaheim covering a huge portion of his albatross contract.
He’s on pace for 30 homers and 30 stolen bases despite barely playing the first month of the season.
trout stole a whopping 6 bases and will *never* try again after this latest injury and he was also a non-factor as a base stealing threat in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Absolutely delusional to think any team would take on $26 million per year of his $36 million albatross salary *and* give up any meaningful prospects for him. he has averaged 3 WAR per year (that’s it!) beginning in 2019 and he’s only getting older and more fragile and his permanent back condition *still* has not been tested over the course of a full season (since other injuries always come up for his fragile body before his fragile back could be fully tested). Best case scenario for Anaheim would be that they cover around $15 million per year while also not expecting anything (meaningful) in exchange in terms of a trade. Nobody would be stupid enough to do that for a 33 year old fragile quickly declining/diminishing mike trout.
Beginning in 2021, not 2019.
Nacho, Hackenberg & Maier from the braves would land him
Ward would be a great target for the Mariners, as he’s consistent (which most M’s hitters aren’t), get’s on base at a reasonable clip (which the M’s need), has some power, and plays good defense. He’s CLEARLY a better option than Victor Robles.
If the Mariners can get him, they should make that deal NOW.
Of course, what LAA wants in return would be the deal-killer.
But the M’s have:
***** #9 prospect 2b, 3b, SS Michael Arroyo (who would probably be a LAA Top 5) and
*****#10 prospect OF Jonatan Clase (who might also break into LAA’s Top 5).
*****On the M’s 40-man roster is also OF Cade Marlowe, who’s blocked in Seattle and could rebound with a change of scenery.
*****Want a pitcher? Modesto SP Will Schomberg, 6-1, 2.55 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 53 IP, only 32 H, 71 K’s.
GET ON THE PHONE MARINERS. BEAT THE TRADE DEADLINE.
Not sure what they are talking about. A player hitting .194/.254/.436/.691 like Adell is, is not one that you get a huge return for. He is a guy that you DFA if you are a normal organization.
Marlins paid all of Arraez’s salary to get 3 prospects outside of the top 100 and took on the 2 year contract of the aforementioned Go. Not exactly a huge haul. The Angels would get less for Ward even if they paid down his $5 million salary.
Angels kept Ohtani most likely will keep this guy. He won’t restock the farm like Ohtani could have.