Good morning/afternoon/evening inhabitants of CTPGs.
I want to start this with a couple of my own ground rules and limitations:
First, I am not an expert in this format and therefore I will lack the flashy photographs, graphs and charts of some of the other illustrious contributors. This will not be a fancy showpiece. But I will do my very best to get the information across with what I do know how to do and maybe the excellent editors of this site can help out a bit.
Second, I do not view this as a predictive piece where I try to guess what Perry will do. Instead, I view this as a statement of either (1) what Perry should do or (2) what I would do if I were Perry – or both. It is important to make this differentiation since what I propose is way bolder and long term focused than what Perry will do or Arte will allow.
Third, this article is likely to please some (few) and piss off many. Good. As you will see, I tear this sucker down and begin the rebuild for the future while still putting a serviceable team on the field for 2026 that will have its moments. There is likely to be an extended lockout in ’27 so I am building the Farm system to come out of that lockout younger, better and with more potential. Additionally, the AL West is extremely strong with the Mariners, Astros, Rangers and even A’s likely to be competing for the playoffs. I have too many holes to fill and budgetary restrictions and a mediocre free agent class. So, I am not looking to “compete” in ’26 but I also want the fans to have fun.
Fourth, rather than repeat what has gone before, I accept and will not repeat the prior analysis of our revered editor-in-chief Jeff Joiner with regard to non-tenders and the impact of trading Ward for Grayson Rodriguez. I therefore have $40 million with which to work.
Fifth – I am focused on trading the major league assets the Angels have that are actually tradable. There will be no Rendon or Trout trades here – it would take a lot of hits on the Hopium or Crack pipe to really believe that is possible. Instead, to build for the future, I have to trade the players on the major league roster who actually have value – regardless of whether they are fan favorites. That includes Neto (sorry). Emotional attachments to players are for fans, not for GMs. I am attempting to avoid trading any of the decent minor leaguers in the system since my goal is to build up the Farm as much as possible.
Sixth (and finally) – I am using the MLB Trade Value Sim and Fangraphs as my sources. I realize these are not perfect but, again, this is essentially a big simulation and those sites are as reliable as we can meaningfully get.
Okay – are you ready? Here we go….
First up the trades:
TRADE #1 Zach Neto (Trade Value 70.8) in a few different possible scenarios
To the Twins for: Walter Jenkins (OF – Trade Value 53.9 – Ranked 21 in Top 100) and either Aaelen Kulpepper (SS – Trade value 17.9 – Ranked 81 in Top 100) or Emanuel Rodriguez (OF – Trade value 24.3 – Ranked 43 in Top 100)
To the Brewers for: Cooper Pratt (SS – Trade value 28.6 – Ranked 61 in Top 100), Logan Henderson (RHP – Trade Value 29.9 – Ranked 83 in Top 100) and Luis Pena (SS – Trade value 6.9 – Ranked 19 in Top 100)
To the Tigers for: Max Clark (OF – Trade value 61.1 – Ranked 17 in Top 100) and Logan Briceno (1B – Trade Value 18.5 – Ranked 38th in Top 100)
To the Cardinals for: J.J. Wetherholt (SS – Trade Value 59.8 – Ranked 7 in Top 100) and Liam Doyle (LHP – Trade Value 29.9 – Ranked 37th in Top 100)
To the Orioles for: Samuel Basallo (1B – Trade Value 54.6 – Ranked 8 in Top 100), Dylan Beavers (OF – Trade Value 13.5 – Ranked 88th in Top 100) and Enrique Bradfield, Jr. (OF – Trade Value 9.3)
ANY of these trades immediately and greatly improve the Angels’ farm system to likely Top-15 status. Of these, I think I most like the Twins trade as I absolutely love Walter Jenkins. That said, the Orioles trade with Basallo being the long term solution at 1B also looks pretty great. You can choose your favorite but I would make any of these deals and happily (and sadly) say goodbye to Neto who has played great and has allowed me to build up the Farm of the future. Also, Neto is Arb eligible after 2026 and will be due for a big raise – I let that be someone else’s problem.
TRADE #2 Jose Soriano (Trade Value 41.1) and Jo Adell (Trade Value 13) to the Reds:
For Sal Stewart (2B/3B – Trade Value 14.6 – Ranked 31 in Top 100), Rhett Lowder (RHP Trade Value 19.7 – Ranked 69 in Top 100), Tyson Lewis (SS – Trade Value 11.6 – Ranked 85 in Top 100) and Cam Collier (1B/3B – Trade Value 9.3 – Ranked 91 in Top 100)
Or if the Neto deal to the Orioles does not happen then to the Orioles for Samuel Basallo (1B – Trade Value 54.6 – Ranked 8 in Top 100) and Dylan Beavers (OF – Trade Value 13.5 – Ranked 88 in Top 100)
TRADE #3 Nolan Schanuel (Trade value 30.2) and Christian Moore (Trade Value 20.4) to the Tigers:
For Bryce Rainer (SS – Trade Value 30 – Ranked 26 in Top 100) and Jose Briceno (1B – Trade value 18.5 – Ranked 38th in Top 100
If I can pull Trades #2 and #3 off (or anything similar) the Farm is moving into the Top 10 systems in baseball. It will be loaded with talent at key positions like SS, 1B and the Outfield to go along with the pitching prospects such as Bremner, Dana and Klassen.
Okay, now that I have traded off the tradable players of value within the MLB roster, I focus on some signings. It should be noted that by trading these players I have another approximately $7 million to play with bringing my total for free agents to $47 million.
So….how to invest the $47 million. My focus will be on short term deals especially with the lockout looming in 2027.
Free Agent Signing #1 – SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa – 1 year $6 million
This should secure SS for 2026 and allow the young talent in the Farm to continue to develop so that the Angels can emerge from the lockout with a rookie at the position.
Free Agent signing #2 – 1B Carlos Santana – 1 year $6 million
Again, this is a placeholder for 2026 but a pretty decent one who can provide some good moments and please the fans with a recognizable name.
Free Agent Signing #3 – 2B – one of the following: Luis Arias, Dylan Moore or Jose Inglesias – all predicted at 1 year and $4 million
This will add infield depth and, again, provide a placeholder for 2026. Of these, I would prefer Arias but could live with any of them.
Free Agent Signing #4 – 3B – Paul DeJong – 1 year $3 million
Infield depth and a place holder until we get through the 2027 lockout.
Free agent Signing #5 – OF – Mike Yastrzemski – 1 year $10 million
This is my favorite signing. Love this guy. He fits right into the outfield and provides some fun moments for 2026. He will be a fan favorite.
Free agent Signing #6 – OF – Randal Grichuk – 1 year $4 million
Grichuk comes home and will fit right into the mix. The 2009 1st round draft will be back on display again. Frankly, this is a placeholder but will provide some nice moments for the fans in 2026.
Free agent Signing #7 – Starting Pitcher Michael Lorenzen – 1 year $8 million
A serviceable pitcher to fit in with the starting staff while the kids continue to mature.
Free agent Signing #8 – Starting pitcher Aaron Civale – 1 year $8 million
See above – serviceable for 2026.
SUMMARY
I accomplished my goal of building up the Farm for whatever remains of the 2027 season and beyond. The Angels farm system is now likely a Top 10 with lots of positional and pitching talent developing to emerge like in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I spent $49 million (which is $2 million over budget) but if this is an issue then I can always back away from signing DeJong and save that $3 million.
I also will put a team on the field that will win probably 65-70 games which is in line with the last decade of performance. There will be some fun players – notably Yastrzemski who will be a fan favorite. My boss may not love me for another mediocre season, but he will love me in a few years (after I am likely long gone). And if things really go wrong, who knows, I may have another top-3 pick in the draft.
Finally, to all of you diehards who really believe that “this is our year” or some other mantra or opiate of the masses – wake up. This team has so many holes and problems and has no Farm to fix it. The value of the players who are traded herein are near or at their peak. As they get more expensive, their trade value will plummet. The Angels have missed trade opportunity after trade opportunity over the last five years to try and support the fallacy of “compete”. This tear down makes up for a lot of those missed opportunities to build the Farm (although the missed Ohtani opportunity cannot ever be made up for). The Angels are playing in a brutal division where each of the other 4 teams has a legitimate claim of being a playoff contender. No matter what happens, with the budgetary restrictions, this team is headed for 5th place in the Division in 2026.
So, let’s do something BOLD and look beyond the immediate horizon to a time where the Angels farm supplies quality position players and pitchers and we build something great here. Like the mighty Phoenix arising from the ashes!
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
