The trade deadline was different than originally expected for the Los Angeles Angels because the moves general manager Perry Minasian made —- and one big one he didn’t make — signaled a shift towards the future.
It was an optimistic deadline for the Angels considering their place in the American League West standings. That fact, coupled with the health of Mike Trout, made this a tough, but an essential group of moves for Minasian.
The Angels traded for longtime Cincinnati Reds closer, Raisel Iglesias in the offseason last year, and he was rewarded with a four-year $58 million extension to remain the team’s closer for years.
However, Minasian understood that having a highly paid closer on a team that isn’t in a position to win now wasn’t ideal and made the decision to deal his closer to the Atlanta Braves, via Sam Blum of The Athletic:
“It’s tough to leave, I wish I could have stayed here for a long time,” Iglesias said through an interpreter. “But this is baseball, this is what happens.”
The Angels received pitching prospect Tucker Davidson in return, and he immediately became the organization’s 11th best prospect and could see time with the big club this year. They also received an old friend, Jesse Chavez, to give them another arm.
Brandon Marsh being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies was another move that turned some heads because at one point he could have been penciled in as the club’s long-term center-fielder.
Although the start to his 2022 has been rough, including the highest strikeout rate in all of Major League Baseball, Marsh is still young and has a lot of time to develop.
“I can’t thank this organization enough for taking a chance on me and letting me fulfill my lifelong dream,” Marsh said. “This place holds a very special place in my heart.”
Minasian was able to make a one-for-one swap with the Phillies for their No. 3 prospect in Logan O’Hoppe, who becomes the Angels’ top prospect.
Moving both Iglesias and Marsh gave the Angels not only payroll flexibility as the Braves took on the entirety of their former closer’s contract, but it gave them their potential backstop of the future.
Minasian reflects on deadline deals
In a vacuum, the Angels did well in all three of their deadline deals. And yet, there is a clear disappointment coming from Minasian and the Angels. Largely because if you had asked four months ago, there’s no chance Minasian would have ever predicted the 2022 season playing out this way.
He reflected on the difficulty of this trade deadline and what spurred him to make the moves he made, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“It’s tough,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said. “It’s not fun trading really good players. We just haven’t played well, and looking at where we’re at and where we want to go going forward and looking at our needs, we felt this was the best way to go.”
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