Angels Interim GM Starts To Lay Out Trade Deadline Strategy

The Los Angeles Angels are expected to be sellers at the trade deadline, but we still don’t know what the team’s strategy will be. Interim GM John Mozeliak edged closer to providing something more conclusive when he talked to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com earlier this week, but he still hasn’t offered anything concrete. 

“I reflect back to when I was first named general manager and that was a turbulent time for the Cardinals,” Mozeliak said. “And so for me, coming in here with an organization that is trying to get back to being a perennial winner, there are some similarities. But clearly when you look at having a successful franchise year over year, it really comes down to how you're built. … Scouting and player development have to be a major force.”

This is a turbulent time for the Angels as well, and Mozeliak seems to be developing an understanding that the Halos problems run deep. 

"We are going to have to be very open-minded,” Mozeliak said. “Obviously, we're not having the year we hoped to. When you think about the trade deadline, you think about the offseason, there's certain times where you have the ability to get better. And so understanding the market and where that's going, that's first and foremost my biggest thing.”

The market is moving toward starting pitchers, and the Angels are sitting in a hypothetically ideal position with two of the best ones. The Halos recently showcased starters Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano coming out of the break, and both did well. 

“I'm not going to mention names, but what I am going to stick to is we know things have to change,” Mozeliak said. “And what that looks like, who that looks like, that's to be determined. But not going into this with an open-minded approach, I think, would be a failure on my part.”

Mozeliak’s open-mindedness may not jive with the thinking of his owner, Arte Moreno, whom Mozeliak has said he hasn’t met yet. But Moreno is known for holding onto players to extract every last bit of dollar value for them rather than do the obvious and rebuild, and that’s part of the trade equation as well. 

“That's the question we're trying to answer, right?” Mozeliak said about the possibility of a full rebuild. “So that's what we are asking for a little time and grace for, so we can understand what it looks like. But I don't want to ever think like we don't want to think about next year either. If we can find a way to do both, that would be awesome.”

The rumor mill is heating up, and there’s an opportunity here for the Angels if they’re bold enough to take it. Mozeliak doesn’t have answers right now, so he’s trying to buy some time to answer the questions. 

“That's a challenging task,” he said when he was asked if the Angels can contend next year. “Can I answer that like in a week and a half? I'm working through some things to sort of understand how to get there, and I don't know.

"I definitely feel like Mr. Moreno is trusting me to get this right,” Mozeliak said. “And so, that's what I'm certainly going to try to do."