ANAHEIM — John Mozeliak still doesn’t have the answer to the question that will nag all Angels fans between now and the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
The Angels’ interim GM has been on the job for less than a month, but he’s only been able to turn his attention to the trade deadline in the week since the draft ended.
To that end, he’s still in the process of figuring out what teams might want to give up for the Angels’ assets.
“Understanding the market and where that’s going, that’s like first and foremost, my biggest thing,” Mozeliak said on Monday. “We can talk about X, Y, and Z, but if we don’t understand what the ROI should look like, we’re not quite there yet. We also don’t know what people are really willing to give up. So over the next two weeks, that is 100% our focus.”
The Angels’ two most attractive trade chips are starting pitchers Reid Detmers and José Soriano. Because both are under club control for two more seasons, there is a sense that the Angels could get a haul of prospects for either or both of them.
However, the Angels also don’t need to trade them.
Mozeliak was asked flatly if the Angels would be willing to make the kind of “aggressive” trades that might lead to taking a step back in order to take two steps forward.
“Possibly,” Mozeliak said. “But the real answer is what are we getting in returns, right? We could be presented with lots of deals that we just do not feel are in the best interest of this franchise. But my responsibility is to really understand what that looks like. Once we get there, I think we have to do what’s best for the franchise.”
The other question hanging over all of this is how much autonomy Mozeliak will even have to make deals. In the past, owner Arte Moreno prevented his GMs from depleting the major league roster of controllable players.
“I definitely feel like Mr. Moreno is entrusting me to get this right,” Mozeliak said, “and so that’s what I’m certainly going to try to do.”
The Angels began play on Monday with a 39-61 record that was the worst in the major leagues.
When asked if he could get the Angels turned around to be contenders in 2027, he said: “That, I think, is a challenging task. Can I answer that in a week and a half? I’m working through some things to sort of understand how to get there. I don’t know.”
Mozeliak went on to say there are ways the Angels can improve on the margins.
“Having patience in regard to what we’re trying to accomplish is going to be needed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t win a few more baseball games,” Mozeliak said. “Even if you just dissect this year, what’s the one-run won-loss record?”
It’s 11-17.
“It doesn’t take much to just change that,” Mozeliak continued. “If your run differential is -100 at this point, well you probably have more than just one thing to fix.”
The Angels’ run differential is -62.
Mozeliak said improving the bullpen and adding some “left-handed thump” to the lineup could make a difference.
He also said the farm system is “stronger than maybe public perception. But it’s still not top 10 in baseball. Ultimately I felt like we had a really good draft. I think we added some exciting depth. But in the end we’ve got to keep doing that. One draft doesn’t change the franchise.”
NOTES
Manager Kurt Suzuki said he had a talk with outfielder Wade Meckler to encourage him to stay sharp even though he’s not getting regular playing time. “I’ve got a job to do of mixing and matching and putting him in when I can,” Suzuki said. “I just explained to him that he’s doing a great job. I know there’s going to be times where he doesn’t play for a coupe games. I don’t want him to get stale.” …
Outfielder Jo Adell is hitless in his last 24 at-bats. “He’s grinding and he’s putting in the work,” Suzuki said. “He’s working every day in the cage and and trying to get that feeling back. I think hitting’s a lot feel, and Jo’s trying to get that feeling. You see him take BP and it’s pretty awesome watching him hit BP. Now he’s just trying to keep that feeling going into the game.” …
Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi is scheduled to face hitters on Tuesday. It will be the first time he’s done that since he went on the injured list in May. …
Right-hander George Klassen struck out 11 in six innings at Triple-A on Sunday. Klassen has a 2.67 ERA in his last 10 starts at Triple-A.
UP NEXT
Cardinals (LHP Matthew Liberatore, 5-6, 5.00 ERA) at Angels (RHP Walbert Ureña, 5-7, 2.88 ERA), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM