It seems that a recent hot streak may have done enough to make believers of the Los Angeles Angels front office because the team is reportedly now looking at being buyers before the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline instead of Shohei Ohtani sellers.
This has been a wild last month for the Los Angeles Angels. Not long ago they were legitimate contenders for one of the American League Wild Card spots and the AL West title. However, a long-term injury to superstar Mike Trout, and then a short stint on the sidelines for MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani created a mid-July swoon as the team plummeted down the MLB standings.
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They lost six straight, were swept by the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, and seemed dead in the playoff chase waters. Unsurprisingly it led to a massive amount of speculation about the team being sellers at the trade deadline and possibly unloading Ohtani in a historic move. However, things have changed over the last week.
Los Angeles Angels now looking to add instead of subtract before Aug. 1 trade deadline
The team recently won seven of nine and is back in striking distance of a Wild Card spot. For a front office and ownership group that has been resistant to be sellers, this recent strong play may have been all that way needed to help make up the minds of decision-makers that this team should not be broken up just yet.
Despite rumors of the team listening to calls on Ohtani recently, The Athletic’s MLB insider Ken Rosenthal reported on Tuesday the Los Angeles Angels have actually “reached out to potential sellers, expressing interest in certain available players” recently.
Adding potential fuel to the rumors of trades to add stars is the fact that top prospect Edgar Quero was reportedly removed from a recent game despite no expected plans to promote him to Triple-A.
Injured impact players like Trout, Brandon Drury, and Logan O’Hoppe will eventually return, and it seems despite a difficult schedule over the next month, the Angels may be looking around to see if they can bolster their pitching staff for one last push to reach the postseason in 2023.