The Angels May Have Handcuffed Themselves When it Comes to the Trade Market This Winter

Where do the Halos go from here?

After another season of missing the playoffs, the Los Angeles Angels are determined to field a winning team in 2024. However, that could be much more difficult than they would like.

The Angels made a late-season effort to reach the playoffs right before the trade deadline, and they moved some of the better assets that were available. The moves all backfired on them, and the team ended up falling even farther behind in the standings.

A few weeks later, the Halos put the players that they had traded for up on waivers. This was them essentially waving the white flag on the season, and it makes things complicated for them to upgrade the roster this offseason.

“The Angels depleted their farm system with a series of trades aimed at getting them in the playoffs in 2023, but Minasian said he still believes the organization has assets to move this winter.”

Per Jeff Fletcher of The OC Register

The Angels already had a weak farm system, and with the moves, it became even worse. Minasian spoke about how the team can upgrade, saying that there are players that other teams could be interested in this offseason.

“We have a lot of desirable players,” Minasian said. “That’s something we’ve done over the last few days, talk to teams and see if we match up. … It’s hard. Making trades is hard. But we do have some pieces that people like.”

Per Perry Minasian via The OC Register

This feels like the front office trying to justify things if the Angels aren’t able to upgrade their roster, especially via the trade market. They dug themselves into this hole, and now have to live with the results that come from it.

Maybe they can get creative this winter, but that remains unlikely with their depleted assets. The team has a few young players that could be of interest to opposing teams, but the Halos may elect to keep them, so they have some pieces to build their future on.

This offseason could see the team head into a transition period, especially if two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani does leave the organization. This is a crucial winter for this franchise, but they may not have a lot of cards to play.