The Los Angeles Angels recently supplemented their farm system with trades that brought in young talent who have justified their decisions with their early production.
In a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, general manager Perry Minasian flipped outfielder Brandon Marsh in exchange for catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe. This move signaled that the Angels wanted a fresh start for Marsh due to his recent struggles at the plate, and without a clear future in their own organization behind the plate, it was a perfect swap.
O’Hoppe stepped in as the clear No. 1 prospect in the Angels organization and because of his play with the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas, he was named to MLB.com’s Prospect Team of the Week for Aug. 8-14, via Rob Terranova MLB.com:
The righty-swinging backstop went yard for his first hit with the Trash Pandas in his second game before notching a multihomer game on Tuesday. In fact, the 22-year-old’s first four hits as a member of the Angels were all home runs. O’Hoppe finished the week strong, collecting a hit in each of his past four games, racking up six knocks and six RBIs over that span. He was batting .275/.392/.496 with 15 homers, a triple, 11 doubles, 48 runs scored and 45 RBIs in 75 games with Double-A Reading when he was dealt.
Kyren Paris was drafted by the Angels in the second round of the 2019 Draft but has dealt with injuries in recent years that have hampered his development, and now with the Tri-City Dust Devils, he’s seeing positive results:
Paris returned to the lineup for the Dust Devils on Tuesday and made sure everyone knew he was back. The 20-year-old hit safely in all six games he played in this past week, posting three multi-hit efforts and showing off that speed that made him so highly regarded by Angels brass, notching three triples while going 2-for-2 on stolen base attempts. Paris has five triples and is 26-for-29 on stolen base attempts in 79 games with Tri-City this season.
ESPN Ranks Angels Farm System No. 27 of 30
The Angels have been void of impactful major league-ready prospects in recent years with the underwhelming, or inconsistent production out of their recent crop of young players. They have routinely ranked towards the bottom of farm system algorithms for several years.
After Minasian dealt outfielder Brandon Marsh to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Logan O’Hoppe at the trade deadline, they acquired a catching prospect who is ready to produce as early as this season.
Prior to the deal, Sam Bachman was the club’s top-ranked prospect, but Minasian understood that Marsh was at a difficult crossroads in his development and took a route with O’Hoppe who has yet to tap into his next level. The Angels also added depth in their prospect pool after making a few additional moves to free up salary and banking on a change of scenery for some young players.
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