Happy New Year everybody. I was going to do a factual, analytical introduction to this piece but let’s be real: the Angels need an influx of talent at all levels and I had just enough time on my hands to go down a rabbit hole on the trade simulator so I figured I’d share it.
Like all rabbit holes, it started off as a casual look then went deeper and took on a life of its own. All in all, for the cost of about $23 million in payroll, I was able to completely remake the Angels in a way I think helps both this season and with the rebuild.
Let’s start with the big guy.

The Diamondbacks are clearly going for a chip this season and need a right handed hitting outfielder and some financial wiggle room. This achieves both of their goals. The Angels, meanwhile, need to hit on a lottery ticket or three for any hopes in 2025 and Montgomery is an expensive but promising one. He comes with a solid bullpen piece in AJ Puk who costs minimum wage and comes with 4 years of control.
Druw Jones is the son of Andruw Jones and comes with 70 grade speed and a ton of tools but also injury risk. Caden Grice was a two way player who is now focusing on just pitching and has the look of a back end starter.
This adds $13.3 million to payroll but now our rotation looks nice with Kikuchi, Montgomery, Soriano, Anderson and Kyle Hendricks as the top 5. Puk adds nicely to the bullpen and Jones adds the type of position player upside sorely lacking on the farm. Jones would likely be our top position player prospect and no worse than 2 behind Moore. He’s that toolsy.
At this point I have to accept the fact Reid Detmers might be great but he also might never be great here. So I cash him in now.

Chayce McDermott is the opposite of Detmers in that he likely does not posses front of the order stuff on a good day. He also is a lot less volatile and likely has fewer bad days. Enrique Bradfield is a Vanderbilt kid with 80 grade speed, a decent batting eye, and no power. At his best he’s a Peter Bourjos who actually gets on base about 35% of the time and will steal more bases. His floor is likely a solid improvement over Moniak as the fourth outfielder. Again, this is an upside play bringing in tools our farm currently lacks and hoping they develop. Griff O’Ferrall is currently a shortstop who likely ends up at second base or as a utility guy. Another college player, he’s 21 and looks pretty close to developed.
So the Orioles get the upside in Detmers as they push for the playoffs. McDermott has options and joins Silent C, Caden Dana, Chase Silseth, and George Klassen in a potential battle for a sixth starter or first man up from AAA.
Now I need an outfielder and still haven’t addressed third base for 2025 or beyond. So trade number three:

This is probably the least realistic of the trio but this is my rabbit hole and I’m not stopping now. The Mets need a first baseman and are knee deep in luxury tax territory (not that they care). Nolan Schanuel gives them a lefty with solid contact and on base skills. Nowhere near the power of Alonso, but the Mets did sign Soto and have an otherwise deep lineup. And considering Nolan has options, the Mets can stash him in AAA if the trade deadline brings about an upgrade.
Tyrone Taylor is a switch hitter without major platoon splits who can cover all three outfield positions. He’s league average with the bat and solid with the glove. Trout in left, Taylor in center, Adell in right should be a good defensive alignment. Taylor will make $3 million next year before becoming a free agent.
Brett Baty is a man without a home in NY. He might be a solid third baseman. He might not. The Angels could give him a season of at bats to find out. Baty has fared quite well in the minors including slashing .252/.349/.504 across 269 AAA plate appearances last year. I think he can be decent, Turk’s Teeth doesn’t believe in the bat which has not produced at the MLB level. His minimum wage salary replaces Schanuel’s and doesn’t impact the math.
Jesus Baez is a nice third base prospect. He’s 19 so adds some intrigue to the lower minors. Given the improvement on the farm lately, he might fall outside of our top 10 prospects but would certainly slot in the top 20.
Here’s where the rabbit hole goes rabbit hole and leaves one glaring weakness: first base. Ideally we’d coax Fullerton legend Justin Turner out to the Big A for one season at about $7 million, making this a $23.3 million net exercise. The dude put up a wRC+ of 117 last year and should be a solid bat for another season.
So where would this leave us?
Starting rotation: Kikuchi, Montgomery, Soriano, Anderson, Hendricks with McDermott, Silent C, Caden Dana, Chase Silseth, and George Klassen each having multiple option years remaining so they can go up and down to AAA as needed for injury coverage and development.
Bullpen: Joyce, Puk, Stephenson, Quijada, Suarez, and some camp battles to fill it out.
Outfield: Trout LF, Taylor C, Adell RF with Moniak as the 4th outfielder/pinch runner.
DH: Jorge Soler and hopefully Trout on 2 days per week.
Infield: Baty 3B, Neto SS, Rengifo 2B, Turner 1B if we can swing it. If not we have to gamble on Aaron Noda or Nico Kavadas (who just tore up the AFL).
Bench: Kingery, Newman, d’Arnaud, Moniak
Prospects added: Druw Jones, Enrique Badfield, Chayce McDermmott, Jesus Baez, Caden Grice, Griff O’Farrell.
That’s a really nice mix of prospects with very high, could be here quickly upside in Jones and Badfield, further away upside in Baez and some safety in McDermott being a big league contributor as soon as he’s needed. Grice and O’Farrell are lower on the promise scale but both do have positive attributes as well. Adding the second and 45th selections in the 2025 draft to this group and the promising arms mentioned above and you just might have yourself a decent farm.
Overall I think this is a better Major League product and it adds much needed upside and depth to the farm. $23.3 million (all of which is off the books after 2025) to try to win more now and later seems like a smart investment to me. Now there’s zero chance all this actually gets done. But it made for a fun afternoon for me and hopefully brightened up your day a bit.
Give me your thoughts below.