Angels' Owner Unwilling To Pull Trigger On Trades That Would Finally Bring Hope To Club

The end of the road for the Los Angeles Angels is already clear in terms of the 2026 season. With a record of 32-48 as we near the halfway point of the year, it’s abundantly clear that this will be the 11th consecutive season that Halos fans are treated to losing baseball.

That in and of itself is already enough for fans to be furious about, but a report by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale has only further frustrated Angels fans.

On Sunday, Nightingale reported that Angels’ owner Arte Moreno is unwilling to involve any of its younger stars in a deal at this year’s trade deadline. This means that left-handed pitcher Reid Detmers, right-handed pitcher Jose Soriano, and outfielder Jo Adell will stay in a Halos uniform past the August 3 deadline.

The frustration doesn't come from the fact that these three will still be producing for the Angels, but rather the fact that Moreno is once again showing an unwillingness to make the necessary moves to finally drag this franchise out of the depths of baseball poverty.

Moreno is choosing to keep these three, each of whom could bring back multiple valuable prospects that can finally build the organization’s farm system, which has been neglected over the years due to repeated poor drafting, development, and trading.

Instead of accepting the fate of the team who haven’t had any hope in several years, Moreno is essentially choosing to keep the club in the same direction that has left them without postseason baseball since 2014.

It is this stubbornness from Moreno that has tanked the Angels franchise into one of the biggest laughing stocks in all of professional sports. Now, the Angels will continue to hoard these talents on their roster without any chance of them actually being able to do anything while in Anaheim because of the lack of talent around them.

Detmers’ and Soriano’s values are at an all-time high right now, and Adell still has solid interest despite not quite being at the same level as 2025, but the Angels are unable to cash in on said value.

Knowing the Moreno way, he’ll either wait until the last season of team control to finally pull the trigger on a trade, where their value is significantly lower, or simply just let them walk in free agency, leaving the Angels with nothing to build their future around.

It was the same story with Shohei Ohtani in 2023 when the Angels refused to trade the two-way superstar despite being offered packages including young stars like outfielder Jackson Merrill and Junior Caminero at that year’s trade deadline. Moreno, of course, blocked the deals, leading Ohtani to inevitably flee town in free agency to the Los Angeles Dodgers after not making a single postseason appearance during his time in Anaheim.

Detmers, Soriano, and Adell are not Ohtani by any means, but the unwillingness from Moreno remains just as strong. Now, Angels fans will be forced to watch the second half of the season with zero hope for the future, which has been the case season after season. Expect more sell the team chants from Angels fans.