Clearly Moz is stupid, out of his depth and not a real man of baseball.
Moz has a history of making trades with the Rangers that turn out well for the Rangers:
• Jordan Montgomery & Chris Stratton (July 2023): The Cardinals traded pitcher Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton to Texas in exchange for infielder Thomas Saggese, pitcher Tekoah Roby, and pitcher John King. Montgomery became a vital piece of the Rangers’ 2023 World Series championship run
• Adolis García (December 2019): St. Louis traded outfielder Adolis García to Texas for cash considerations. García was later designated for assignment by the Rangers before blossoming into an ALCS MVP and All-Star slugger for them.
This has me feeling worse than at any time of ever being an Angels fan and I’ve been a lifelong fan of 47 years. Mo has made it clear he has NO F’ing clue about baseball talent. Yea O’Hoppe whatever, he hasn’t been performing, but Silseth has been a valuable relief pitcher this year that isn’t due to be paid a good sum of money for quite awhile so I can’t even view it as an Arte salary dump just a f’ing clueless GM.
Even if you see something in Arredondo his value is as a throw in and not the only f’ing piece you get for a capable reliever.
I saw on instagram that Silseth was one of only 8 pitchers with an ERA+ of over 150 and a K rate above like 10/9. Pitchers like that at minimum are a great asset to pitch in the 6th and 7th innings even if you don’t view him as a setup guy or closer.
Now I’m resigned to waiting another 4 years so that Arte and/or Molly Jolly can realize Mo doesn’t know what he’s doing and they can move on again.
There are reasons guys why Mo was forced out of St Louis and this type of crap player evaluation is exhibit 1.
Levi Weaver of The Athletic is not impressed:
The Rangers get something for, well, not much
Rangers: A-
Angels: D+
Well, we’ve heard that the Rangers were in the market for a catcher with a bit more pop than their current duo of Not-Kyle-Higashioka and Not-Danny-Jansen (both are on the injured list). While they had, as recently as earlier on Wednesday, been rumored to have interest in Marlins catcher (and former Ranger) Liam Hicks, instead they’ve gotten O’Hoppe and a bonus reliever in Silseth.
O’Hoppe isn’t as exciting a name as he would have been in, say, 2023 when he was a 23-year-old with a .796 OPS. This year, he’s hitting .209/.271/.295 (.565 OPS), which is, ah, worse than Elias Díaz or Austin Wynn’s numbers with Texas. Maybe that’s why Texas immediately optioned him to Triple A.
Silseth is the bigger deal, here. After posting a sub-2.00 ERA last year (albeit in just 11 innings), he’s been worth 1.1 bWAR over 47 relief appearances in 2026. The Rangers needed bullpen help, and this is that.
Arredondo, a 19-year-old infielder who plays more third base than shortstop or second, has a respectable .769 OPS in 87 games for Class-A Hickory this year. But he’s not on Keith Law’s top 20 Rangers prospects list, nor MLB’s Top 30. Asked about him tonight, Law said, “best case scenario he’s a utility infielder, but probably not.”
Given that pedigree, you’d think this was a way for Anaheim to get out from under some onerous money. Not necessarily. O’Hoppe was making $2.63 million this year. He’s not set to hit free agency for two more seasons, but the Rangers could always non-tender him at the arbitration deadline if things don’t work out. Meanwhile, Silseth isn’t arbitration-eligible until 2028, so he’s making less than $1 million and is extremely affordable.
So, what exactly are the Angels up to, here? Maybe they see something in Arredondo that hasn’t become common knowledge just yet. — Levi Weaver
A different take : Maybe Moz is playing 3D Chess and all of us don’t get it …. He opens up with a head scratcher where he clearly loses the trade. But maybe this is designed to illicit more calls so he can get what he really wants?? That is, he intentionally loses a low stakes piece to win a bigger piece down the line… just like sacking a piece in chess.
In short, opposing GM’s think he’s gone soft and he’s easy pickens, thus they let their guard down etc..
Hmm. Perhaps he is playing one dimensional tic tac toe, and other GMs are playing 3d chess.
I guess we’ll find out …. If this happens two more times in a row I would be forced to entertain that possibility…. He has a proven track record so we are not talking Perry Minasian here however…
He has a proven track record that forced him out of St Louis no?
Given he’s also playing chess with a supremely cautious owner who hates to trade controllable assets and is sensitive to press ridicule, he better mind his gamesmanship.
I could easily see Arte saying – well, the “experts” hated your first trade, I think we should slow it down now…
That’s a good point… he has to manipulate multiple factors/people/perspectives… but at the highest level I have no doubt that the very best GM’s do manage to do this…
The experts? I cringe when people are considered experts at the talent evaluation level – when the best that ever did it – still missed on players. Legendary scout Roger Jongewaard was the guy portrayed in Moneyball – telling Billy Beane’s parents in their living room – the Mets thought he was going to be special. He missed. But he also hit on some of the games biggest guys. The experts told Aaron Judge when he was in high school he should be a PO (pitcher only). Good advice? Perhaps not. The experts said Mike Piazza was only drafted (in the 62nd round) as a favor to Tommy Lasorda and had no chance. Whether we gained anything in this trade won’t be seen for a long time.
I was friends with the late Calvin Jones – (another 1st round miss by Jongewaard by the way) – Calvin was the scout that signed Clayton Kershaw. He went to every one of his games his senior year. Tommy said to him before the draft – “Calvin we can’t fuck this up.” Calvin told him, “If you don’t take this guy you’re gonna fuck it up.”
Most of the evaluators get to see a guy once or twice ( especially as you slide down the board) and make decisions based on very little information. Sometimes only on video and metrics believe it or not. I heard a scout say – as long as we have the Trackman or similar data – that will tell us a lot. Maybe so, but how does he compete? How does he handle adversity?
Now – do I think we won? Probably not. Time will tell. Will it be a big win or miss? Probably not. Most aren’t. He hired the guy he thought was the expert. Hopefully the little man lets him do his job.
This is somewhat true…. though I hate “you never know” as the best reason to do something. Sure. Every now and again lightning strikes and then jumps into a bottle and that bottle comes with a diamond ring around it…. but also generally nope.
On the other hand, young position player. We need more of them in the system. Could have gotten more from this trade, but we didn’t. At least it’s not a AAA relief arm.
And for the classic humans in the audience who hate compooter. BTV is also flummoxed on this trade. We didn’t give up much (2.1) so we can calm down on the ‘Silseth is the new Shields” moaning but we got…..? The big machine literally can’t find and list this prospects value. There just nothing there. Zero.
So this literally could be a case of Moz sending a scout out to Hickory who laid eyes on this kid, liked the cut of his jib, Moz likes this scout, now he’s a 3B in Rancho. Who knows? It’s not like his slash lines is HORRIBLE. Maybe he really does develop…. though likely not.
Yup. Sadly this trade is one of those “Either this is really dumb…. or I’m really dumb and there’s something I don’t see happening here…” type moves.
In other news, the Angels just traded Detmers for a bullpen golf cart.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Angels bullpen imploded again tonight.
MLBTR:
The aptly-named Arredondo is a 19-year-old who is playing mostly third base in Low-A. He’s batting .243/.371/.392 with eight home runs across 357 plate appearances. The righty hitter has taken walks at a strong 14.3% clip against a lower than average 18.2% strikeout rate. It’s a decent but unexceptional statistical profile, and Arrendondo hasn’t made much of an impression on public prospect evaluators.
None of MLB Pipeline, Baseball America nor FanGraphs ranked Arredondo among the top 30 prospects in a weak Texas system. Mozeliak tells Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com he thinks Arredondo is underrated publicly and should immediately slot into the top 10 in the Halos’ pipeline. It behooves him to say as much — he’s not going to blast a player whom they just acquired — but it’s also very likely true that the Angels like Arredondo more than consensus. They otherwise simply wouldn’t have made this trade, as this doesn’t come with huge financial savings or a pressing service time motivation.
That’s not to say the Halos are necessarily correct in their evaluation, of course. That’ll be determined over time, and Arredondo is a low minors lottery ticket at least three years away from the big leagues. Mozeliak’s comments are a good reminder that teams can rank prospects (their own and those in opposing systems) quite a bit differently, especially those in the lower levels who have less of a statistical track record off which to base decisions.
Advanced data on Angel Arredondo:
– 99.6 mph EV90
– 27.0 HardHit%
– 20.0 Whiff%
– 22.6 O-Swing%
Very ‘mid’ profile, as the kidz would say.
Arredondo just really feels like the sort of guy you’d ask for as an add-on to a package, not the target himself.
I don’t disagree. If I didn’t know you had a teenage son before, I would now after reading you use mid in a sentence haha
I have two teen kids, son and daughter – and I’m a former lexicographer, so we review and rehearse Gen Z and Gen Alpha lexica all the time. 🙂
Lexicographer – just learned a new word.
As lexicographer, you learning new words is/was my primary job responsibility!
Love it.
You are the expert here Turks Teeth, I am certainly not, but how does a 19 year old in single A in a weak farm season, not highly ranked by said weak farm system, become in the top ten in the Angels farm system?
Not sure – I’m as baffled as everyone else. That’s like saying Arredondo is the talent equivalent of Klassen or Nelson Rada.
Don’t see it – and it makes me nervous about Moz’s talent evaluation skills – but he’s clearly listening to someone in the scouting dept who has strong (and very contrarian) opinions.
probably the same type of people that convinced the Angels to sign Roberto Baldoquin, lose their intl FA money when literally no scout of the Angels organization ever said anything positive about that pos.
Alfredo Griffin did the primary evaluation on Baldoquin. They sent him to the DR to scout him and give a thumbs up/down on the acquisition.
“he thinks Arredondo is underrated publicly and should immediately slot into the top 10 in the Halos’ pipeline”
That’s insane. Even if one were to take the bleakest possible view of the Angels’ farm, he’s not a Top 10 org prospect.
I guess the Moz honeymoon is officially over!
I’ve been reading the Rangers blogs, beat writers and dozens of Rangers reactions to this trade. The reactions have been 100% that the Angels got taken. The reactions range from “We got a good middle reliever and a serviceable catcher, with lots of team control” to “The Rangers pulled a heist on the Angels” to “The Angels have crap for brains”.
🎯
There is a solid chance of that happening to be honest if they fix O’Hoppe. Silseth for Single A player seems reasonable, but it pretty clear they just threw Logan in the deal. Given that the Rangers sent him down, I don’t think they were targeting him, but Moz threw him in as a favor to himself.
My first read was the opposite – they wanted to shop a catcher with very negative value as D’Arnaud was being reactivated, and Silseth was the sweetener.
This trade would have made so much more sense if it was O’Hoppe + Suter.
Isn’t D’Arnauds contract finished at of this season?
Indeed, but I think they plan to acquire a young catcher, and their estimation of O’Hoppe was very low.
Logan appeared to have much more bat control when he first came over, Wondering if the Angels hitting instructors messed with his swing.
Considering the fact that our current hitting instructor and the last few before that were no great shakes I think it is a distinct possibility…. I mean, Logan did look pretty good with the bat when he first came up ….The other side to this is that opponents may have discovered his weakness/es.
That’s a good possibility
According to the Rangers beat writers, bloggers etc, O’Hoppe is targeted as a mlb back up catcher. Their catching situation is in disarray now, with injuries.
That would explain the match. Just feel like the team got pantsed by letting timing dictate adding Silseth to the trade.
Yep. It seems a straight trade for O’Hoppe for Arrendando would be possibly more equal, possibly, but tossing in Silseth? Weird.
Luke Murphy didn’t get the save opportunity tonight in AA. I think he’s gonna get the call-up and take Silseth’s spot
Well, I guess we could say that the Angels made an effort, arguably a headscratcher.
How do y’all take your nothing burgers?
Arredondo, at first blush, fits the mold of hit-tool-first profiles that Angels scouting heavily emphasized in their first post-Minasian draft. His contact % is well above average for his age against much older A ball pitching, but A ball pitching is pretty bad these days as well.
We know little about who Moz is listening to, though. I’ve yet to see many dissenting voices I know and respect that don’t think this is something of an overpay. We’ll see.
This is why so many fans are hesitant on the Angels trading guys. It’s not because we don’t want to see moves, it’s we get bullshit like this.
It doesn’t matter. Unless of course you’re dream is to get back to the Halcion days of winning 77 games and being “almost there” for years and years.
This was a hockey trade. You give up something of value for a team to take something of no value and get a prospect that likely won’t do anything in return.
Once a salary cap is in place in the MLB, these types of trades will happen a lot to rid teams of unwanted salary.
Also – enjoyed your article Jeff. Always post the links if you can. I read every one. 👊
This response from 3rd party evaluator is strong comedy…
https://x.com/jjcoop36/status/2082649165054534128?s=20
That’s a rough assessment from Cooper, who I respect.
I doubt Moz is identifying the talent, so this is a wild lark from the Angels’ scouting group, which we should be rightfully skeptical of.
Angel Arredondo is not even in the top 30 but I feel this is more about turning over the roster. I like the move from this standpoint and it feels like now, there is much more to come.
O Hoppe already sent to minors by the Rangers.
Something the Halos should have done in 2024. The ex-GM just kept rolling him out there.
Today the #Rangers acquired RHP Chase Silseth ($3.0M surplus trade value) and C Logan O’Hoppe (-$0.9M) from the #Angels in exchange for IF Angel Arredondo (not yet in system).
The deal is tentatively accepted by our model, pending Arredondo’s addition.
O’Hoppe is making arb money now and has been well below replacement level since the start of 2025. Silseth’s peripherals have him as more of a middle reliever than a late-inning arm, and he’s out of options.
Angels Trade Chase Silseth and Logan O’Hoppe to the Rangers
While all eyes were on Reid Detmers, Jose Soriano, and Zach Neto the Angels swapped out Chase Silseth and Logan O’Hoppe for a 19 year old prospect.
Combine this with Mozeliak dumping Alek Manoah today and it looks like the bloodletting from the Minasian era is in full swing.
Shameless plug, I did a longer take over On SI. The Reader’s Digest is that Mozeliak trading 6 combined seasons of Silseth and O’Hoppe for a 19 year old really looks like a deep and complete rebuild project.
The trio above should probably pack some bags if they have not already.