Can The Angels AFFORD To Let Taylor Ward Go? | PROS and CONS to Trading Him This Offseason

Can The Angels AFFORD To Let Taylor Ward Go? | PROS and CONS to Trading Him This Offseason

Is Taylor Ward the best trade piece that the Angels have on their roster right now? You are Locked on Angels, your daily Los Angeles Angels podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Thanks for making Locked on Angels your first listen of the day. Should the Angels trade Taylor Ward this off seasonason? We talk about that so much as everydayers and on this show. And we’ve got three reasons why they should. And then we’re going to share three reasons why they shouldn’t. And then we’re going to finish our show today sharing some trade comps that might help us decide if maybe they should trade Taylor Ward or maybe they shouldn’t trade Taylor Ward. Lot to get to, but before we do, I want to thank our sponsor, Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use our promo code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase. Thanks for being here for this episode of Lockdown Angels, where it’s your team every day. You’ve got the first brothers here with you, aka the super Halo Bros. My name is John and that’s my brother Mike. And my name is Mike and that’s my brother John. Hey, we just wrapped up our fourth season as a host of Locked On Angels. We’re getting into the offseason where there’s lots to discuss about our Halos. From the drama on the field to the drama off the field. So, make sure you’re subscribed. Make sure you’re tuned in five days a week, Monday through Friday. Thank you for our 10K subscribers on YouTube. Now it’s like 10 and 18. So there we go. Moving on up. Uh but we appreciate you being here. And on today’s show, we’re discussing is Taylor Ward the most valuable piece that the Angels have to trade this off season. Mike, it’s something that comes up a lot on this show with Taylor Ward considering he is a valuable asset to a lot of teams. On this team, he’s one of the more important assets. On another team, he could be a nice role player. He could be a nice DH, a nice bat for another team. So, we’re just kind of wondering what makes sense for the Angels. But let’s get started with should we even trade Taylor Ward? Yeah, we’ve got three reasons. These aren’t the reasons that we are wholeheartedly sold out on and we’re not saying that they shouldn’t because we have the next segment that says here’s here’s why they should, right? And so we’re going to share three reasons in each of those segments and then in the final segment we’re going to talk about what kind of return they can actually get. We’ve got some I think really good comps. Now John, here’s reason number one why the Angels should not trade Taylor Ward. Should not trade Taylor Ward. Uh he is a known commodity for the Angels. So if you trade Taylor Ward, you’re you’re giving up a really known commodity for possibly one or two unknown commodities. And you also don’t know who’s going to replace Taylor Ward because there are a lot of names in the minor leagues that could potentially replace him. One of those is Matthew Lugo, but he falls into that category of an unknown commodity. You just don’t know what you’re going to get from him. And yeah, I I get it. We You play him to find out what you have, but that doesn’t seem to be the Angels MO. They don’t play guys to find out what they have. And the fact that Bryce Teoddosio was playing more than Matthew Lugo tells me everything that I need to know. Bryce Teodosio was bringing defense. They needed the defense. Matthew Lugo does not have that strong of the defensive metrics that Bryce Teodosio has and obviously has a better bat. At least in the minor leagues, major leagues, there’s about even more power with Matthew Lugo. The point there being is that Matthew Lugo is 5050 on if he’s going to be a quality major league ball player due to his previous performances. Do you think that changes with somebody like Kurt Suzuki in charge now? I think that it does because Kurt Suzuki seems to be at least all indications from what he shared at his press conference and in his interviews, he seems to be a back to basics traditional manager. I want boring fundamental baseball. And so I I really think and that actually could be a really good conversation for us to have on another show. But I think Bryce Teodosio maybe moves up the the the roster when it comes to Yes. when it comes to the priority of who’s going to be on the field. Because as we’ve noticed and talked about on this show, his defense was really, and this is a word that gets thrown out a lot, but I’m going to I’m going to use it, a phrase that gets thrown out a lot, but I’m going to use it. His defense was a gamecher for the Angels last year. We saw the difference when he was on the field and when he wasn’t on the field. If he can perform offensively better than he did last year, and I get it, he’s only had a few opportunities. He had probably the most consistent opportunity last year. Then Teodosio could be somebody that the Angels would slot out there. But right now, if you trade Taylor Ward, it’s probably going to be Matthew Lugo, at least somebody that they would consider. And if you trade Taylor Ward, you’re you’re trading a known commodity for a lot of unknown commodities that the way the Angels operate, they need a lot of known commodities. They need to know what they have because remember, they operate in like fiscal years. It’s it’s this year and only this year. We’re not thinking about next year at all. Yeah. And when you have a known commodity like Taylor Ward, who provides what he provides to this team, that’s kind of our second reason here, Mike. Taylor Ward is the greatest offensive threat in this lineup right now. He led the team in home runs last year. He was the RBI leader in 2025. His slash line was a 246 average, 347 on base, and a 472 slugging with an 8/19 OPS with runners in scoring position last year. It’s tough to replace or replicate those numbers. And right now, the Angels don’t really have a guy or two guys who can match what Ward did in 2025. Now, you might say that would open up an opportunity for somebody like Zack Neto or Joe Adele to be hitting in the spot that Taylor Ward was hitting in terms of cleanup because we know that Ward was in the cleanup spot most of this season and he should have close to he should have 100 RBI’s, right? Have those all that stuff. So, it really depends on how the Angels construct their one through nine. depends on how they construct their roster over the off seasonason and what Kurt Suzuki wants to do with these guys as well. But having said that, you know what you’re going to get out of Taylor Ward if you put him in a productive spot in this order. Now, talk to me about that for a moment because when you if you take Taylor Ward out, yeah, you can slot somebody into that cleanup spot and and hope that they can get 100 RBI. It could be a Joe Adele. It could be a Zack Neto, right? Guys that have been shown to produce in this lineup. But then that means to our to our first point, he’s he’s a known commodity. You’re replacing Taylor Ward with an unknown commodity in left field, at least in the fourth spot, too. Yeah. So, let’s say you’re moving somebody that you can count on like a Zach Neto. Probably won’t hit cleanup, but let’s say he goes to clean up for just a moment, right? But you’re still having to fill another spot in your lineup with a hitter that isn’t matching the level of Taylor Ward. So there still is a lacking in the lineup and there still is a lacking for offensive numbers in the lineup even if you trade Taylor Warden and move a Zach Neto to cleanup. Correct. Yeah. And and you have to understand that anybody who’s going to be in that fourth spot should be producing 100 RBI’s and should be producing a lot of home runs. In fact, I think that Taylor Ward has be become comfortable in that spot. Do the strikeouts looking annoy me? Absolutely. Do I think he’s the best option for the cleanup spot? I don’t know. I really don’t know. And and so that is something to take into consideration. While you were talking, I was looking something up. Uh when you look at somebody like, let’s say, Kyle Schwarber, obviously big bopper, big dude, always going to produce for you um when it comes to uh the kinds of production that he’s going to to get. and he had 20 more home runs than Taylor Ward and he also had more RBI’s than Taylor Ward, but he was doing that out of the leadoff spot, Mike. And so for Taylor Ward to get the kind of production that he was getting out of the cleanup spot and still didn’t match a leadoff guy, right? Because Taylor Ward, let me see here. Taylor Ward at uh the the cleanup spot. He’s got I’m trying to look it up here. Uh Taylor Ward out of the cleanup spot. Okay. 103 RBI versus Kyle Schwarber’s 132 RBI. So that makes that makes sense. 20 more RBI for Kyle Schwarber hitting 20 more home runs. So Taylor Ward essentially t 20 less home runs than Kyle Schwarber. about the same production, but he’s in the cleanup spot. And and that to me is like I don’t know. It’s kind of a red flag. So maybe I’m getting into reasons to trade. I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. Yeah. But I’m just thinking about I mean I’m not trying to compare Taylor Ward to Kyle Schwarber. What I am trying to say is look at the production that a Kyle Schwarber got out of the leadoff spot versus what Taylor Ward was getting out of the cleanup spot. I wonder if you could do better. I want I just wonder if you can do better out of the number four spot. which is a great thought, but the point that you’re making and reason number two why you should not trade Taylor Ward is because he is right now the greatest offensive threat in this Angels lineup, right? So, you’re taking out somebody who’s hit 30 home runs and knocked in 100 RBI’s and hit a grand slam in San Diego, right? And came through in those moments. John, reason number three why the Angels should not trade tear the Ward is that he’s still very affordable. He’s in the last year of arbitration. The estimated number is about 13.7 million almost double what he made in 2025. He made 7 million 7.83 million by the way in every day are asked in our comments what happens if Ward asks for a higher number and the angels ask for a lower number. Well, that’s what arbitration is about. An arbitrator will decide what the higher or what the number is and he will lean in the direction of what players of Ward’s caliber are making right now. So it probably if they if the number is 13.7, Taylor probably will ask for 15. The Angels will probably ask for two million and then they’ll have to meet in the they won’t ask for two million, but they’ll they’ll they’ll probably try to lowball it. It’ll probably be 10 million is what they’ll what the Angels will will submit. And then Ward winning or losing arbitration, this was the main question. It doesn’t impact his place on the team. So, if they trade him away, then he’s off the team. But he is not a free agent and and is the Angels property until after the 2026 season. But one of the reasons why the Angels third reason why the Angels should not trade Taylor Ward is John, $13.7 million for a 30 home run, 100 RBI guy. Pretty affordable, is it not? Yeah. No matter which way you look at it, whether he’s being as productive as he could be out of the cleanup spot or not, uh that’s really affordable, Mike, and with a with the kind of production that he put up in 2025 for just about 8 million. And remember, he accepted the Angels offer last season. He didn’t argue. He didn’t go to arbitration or anything like that. And so, it will be interesting to see if he just uh keeps it keeps it cool and says, “Sure, yeah, I’ll take 10 million.” Right. And so maybe that’s just kind of the person that Taylor Ward is. Maybe it’s not a lot of drama. It’s not a lot of uh back and forth with the Angels. To answer, I think it was Matt Oso who was asking the question in the comments. To answer the other part of his question, the Angels could outright him like they did with Griffin Canning, right? They could just say, “Nope, bye.” And and that could be it. But they’re not going to do that. I don’t I don’t No, they’re certainly not going to do that, especially with somebody of you the the affordability of Taylor Ward and the production that he’s able to uh to put up there. Thanks for making Lockdown Angels your first listen of the day. Coming up, why the Halos should trade Taylor Ward and what kind of return would Taylor Ward get? We got some comps. All those conversations are coming right up. Nothing better than going to an NFL game live. You can be at the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team if you are a Niners fan. You can go to the home game at SoFi where the Rams play because it’s a home game for the Niners when they show up on the road. Uh but getting tickets can be really difficult. There’s cues, login screens, prices jumping at checkout. It’s super frustrating. Why you should use Game Time? It’s the app that’s given the advantage back to you. Game time is fast, easy, and it’s backed by the game time guarantee. 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We’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s discussion about Taylor Warden. We did cover the reasons not to trade him. Affordability. You know what you’re going to get and the kind of production that he offers this lineup right now that is sorely in need of production. So, let’s flip the coin here, Mike, and talk about some of the reasons why Taylor Ward should be traded. Yeah. uh because it’s likely the Halos are not going to resign him in the offseason and they have not capitalized on any of their known commodities in recent years. They didn’t trade Tyler Anderson when they should have and they should have two years ago, not last year. They should have traded him last year at the trade deadline, but they should have traded him two years ago when he was at his peak of performance and at his peak of control. I think they would have gotten a whole lot more for Tyler Anderson, but they did not do that. They didn’t trade Louis Reanhifo and they should have traded Louis Reanho at the deadline this year. Last year a lot of injuries did have a better year offensively last year. This year he struggled a bit although the end of the year kind of didn’t really help the narrative when it came to him being the the guy that only plays really good when the Angels aren’t playing good, right? But they didn’t trade him. They didn’t take advantage of that. And John, sorry this might hurt, but they didn’t trade show Otani when they had the opportunity to do that. And and look at how that has has helped our team. It it it hasn’t. So now with one year left and a very affordable contract, Taylor Ward should be traded for some future pieces. That’s reason number one. Yeah. And they didn’t even offer an extension to somebody like Luis Renheifo, especially when he was being really productive. Now, is that a is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, at this point, it’s unknown what Renhifo is going to be over the next couple of years, but the what I’m getting at here, Mike, is they don’t do anything. They don’t do anything. They don’t trade t they don’t trade Tyler Anderson when his value is the highest in 2024 when it was already a lost season and they knew it was going to be a lost season. Correct. So, what were they expecting coming into 2025? I I I’m just frustrated with that notion. Right. Well, and and let me just say it again because they weren’t thinking about that. And I know we joked about not thinking that far ahead, but they are only thinking it’s the fiscal angels. That’s the the phrase we need to start using. They’re fiscal year fiscal angels. It’s just from this point to this point. And so, they weren’t thinking about 2025 and that they had Tyler Anderson on the team and under contract for one more year at the 2024 trade deadline. They were thinking, “Hey, we need somebody to eat some innings after the trade deadline is over, after the All-Star break is over. we need somebody that’s going to be in there in August, in September, because we don’t have great depth to be able to eat those innings. And so that’s why they kept him. They’re not thinking that far ahead because again, they’re the fiscal angels. You know what came up the other day was uh something that you and I have said all the way back to when Shi Otani signed with the Dodgers, and it’s this. the it reportedly the Dodgers because of Showi and all the endorsement deals and all the fans who come to see him, the merch, all that stuff. Yeah. The Dodgers reportedly have made all the money back that they will give Otani over the next couple of years. And we said absolutely that that could have been done. Yep. If the Angels had any foresight whatsoever, but Arty Marino and John Carpino do not have any foresight. And it goes back to They’re the fiscal angels. They didn’t think that far ahead, right? And John, the other thing that’s so fascinating about what they’ve done with Otani, to jump off topic for just a moment, is that they are getting advertisers for other stadiums. Now, the the Dodgers get resource if the if the uh the Japanese media or Japanese market want to advertise when they play the Guardians or when they play the Yankees, they’re getting at least 50% of that because Showi is showing up to that stadium. And so that’s where they’re making their money back. Brilliant strategy from a team that has shown to be very brilliant in their strategy and a very stupid move by somebody who said Arty Marino that he is a brilliant strategist and he’s an advertising guru. He certainly didn’t prove that with Show Otani. And they didn’t prove that when they thought through if we’re going to keep him or not. And I know that there’s debate on if it was the right move or not. In hindsight, it wasn’t the right move at the time. We were excited as fans because they did buy in and it was like the first time we actually were competitive. But in typical Angels lure, they fell off a cliff after the trade deadline and it’s what they do every August and September and they don’t even play in October. So it’s every August and September, right? Well, Perry said they’re going to be talking No, not talking in October next year. They’re going to be playing in October. Come on. Yeah. And he’s not going to be the GM either. So, all right. Back to reasons to trade Taylor Ward. Again, just reiterating the fact that the Angels sit on these players who have something valuable to offer and then don’t do anything with them. That was our first point. Our second point, Mike, Taylor Ward should be traded because teams would be very interested in him currently. His value is at the highest point it’s ever been after a really good 2025. Plus the contract that we discussed earlier, something that will likely be 14.5 million at most and maybe 10 million at least. That’s a really good contract. Yeah. For any team to take on, affordable, and something that anybody would be willing to have to get the kind of production that Taylor Ward is able to put up. Now again, perhaps Taylor Ward is not the cleanup hitter on somebody else’s team, but he is a great number six hitter or seven hitter for somebody else’s team. Teams that know how to field a one through nine and construct a lineup better than the Angels have had over the last couple of years. Yeah, they’ll find a way to use them. They’ll find a way to make it happen. uh Taylor Ward like as a Philly, right? Could could be doesn’t have to be the guy, right? But he’s a he’s a guy in that lineup who offers something really valuable to it. John Taylor Ward in Boston, I think would be an it would be an incredible boon for them. Think JD Martinez when he went there. He was fantastic. that short porch left field him knocking at least offensively knocking balls off of that wall like that’s going to be fantastic left field for him defensively might be a bit of a struggle but he I mean him there I think he would probably lead the league in doubles he would probably have 50 plus doubles if he went there cuz that that’s easy easy for a right-handed hitter to just knock it into the corner or knock it off the wall and I’m just thinking about like okay who do the Red Sox I know they have uh uh Jiren Durant they’ve got uh Saddon Raphaela and then they’ve got Yoshida, but Yosha’s been more of a DH just because he’s been hurt over the last couple of years. So, or not a couple years, but that going into this year, I should say. And so, I’m just thinking about, you know, where does Taylor Ward fit into that outfield, right? Uh oh, Abrau Abrau. Uh now, here’s the thing. a DH spot where Yosha has been hitting out of could be something that they do with Taylor Ward. And also, Mike, maybe Taylor Ward isn’t an everyday guy to a team like the Red Sox, right? And so, I think if they if anybody can figure it out, I think it’s them. And I think that they could figure out something to do with Taylor Ward. Last reason why the Angels should trade Taylor Ward is because they just don’t have room in the outfield. They they’re not going to be able to get rid of Jorge Cer unless they just, you know, send him off, designate him for assignment, right? Like if they just totally outright him. They’re they’re not going to do that though because they do owe him 13 million this year. Trout is is going to be here and most likely in the outfield next year. When Kurt Suzuki talked about Trout, he said, “I want I want to do what’s best to keep Trout healthy and playing every day.” It probably means that he’s not in the lineup every day. him and Soler will probably need to switch off at DH if Soler is still on this team. John Joe Adell is going to be in this outfield and they need to tell Joadell what he’s going to be doing right now, not at spring training, but he’s not going to be in right field if you’re going to have Mike Trout out there. Uh because Solair and Trout are probably best fitted for right field and they’re probably going to platoon. So that means that it would be good for the Angels to trade Taylor Ward to open up a spot in the outfield for a guy like Bryce Teodosio. And I’m going to take it back to segment one. I think you made a really good point that Curt Suzuki coming in. I think the priority is going to be on some of the fundamental things that the Angels have just ignored. One of those fundamental things will be defense. Bryce Teodosio is a defensiveminded guy and if he can figure out his offense to where he’s not a hole in this lineup, I think he could bring some real value to the Angels. But that’s the third reason why the Angels should trade Taylor Ward because they just they’re running out of room in that outfield. Yeah, when you think about these reasons, it kind of makes you wonder when you weigh them against reasons not to trade versus reasons to trade. Mike, what do you think outweighs the other here? To trade or not to trade based on the three reasons we’ve given for each so far? I think if I’m the Angels, I’m not trading him because again, they’re only operating within this period to that period. And they want to be a team that is at least looking as though they’re going to try to make a run or they’re going to try to be competitive. If they didn’t trade Taylor Ward at the trade deadline last year, then they’re not going to trade him this off season, that would be my gut. I think that the don’t trade him outweighs the do trade him in the Angels mind. Now, as an everydayer, as a fan, as somebody who talks about this team and has watched this team since I was five, six years old, I say trade him. And I say trade them because I think that there is possibilities of getting some pieces that could do one of two things. could be somebody that could pop off or potentially give you some depth and then allow some of the younger players like a Teodosio and a Matthew Lugo be able to play at the major league level. And if I’m if I’m running this team, I’m communicating to my fans, we’re letting these guys run and go for it. We’re developing these guys. We’re trading a lot of our big contracts so that we can restock our minor league system and potentially restock the major league roster so that we can be competitive, not according to Perry Manassian’s uh mindset or definitions, but competitive that we are actually over 500 and we’re in this thing until the end of September and potentially getting a playoff spot. It’s going to be really interesting considering that this is the second to last opportunity to trade Taylor Ward. this off season, teams will consider him because they want to have a full year of him. But when it comes to the trade deadline, it’s going to factor into if the Angels are in the hunt at the trade deadline. And if they’re not, then you give Taylor Ward uh a look around the league or or teams will give him a look, I should say. But that factors into how do you start this season? How do you start this year? There’s so many unknowns. Yeah, that knowing that you’re going to get something solid and for sure that you can work out, take your time and work with other teams to work out a deal for Taylor Ward. I understand that maybe he’d be more valuable at the trade deadline because teams might be desperate for a bat like that. Having said that, I think you take a risk of what does this team even look like at the end of July? Is it good? Is it bad? Does Matthew Lugo play more than than Taylor Ward or you know what I mean? Like it’s just there’s so many things up in the air that maybe the second to last opportunity to trade him is the time to actually make that trade. Now, we know you have opinions, every dayers, and you probably have already shared those in the comments. We’re going to read those. We promise. But before you uh fully flesh out your opinions on if they should or should not trade Taylor Ward, we got to talk about the potential of who they could bring back because that I think really determines and dictates what we would want the Angels to do and really what the Angels would want to do. So, we we’re going to speculate wildly and we’re going to use some previous trades as our baseline for if we should or should not trade Taylor Ward specifically what they could get if they traded Taylor Ward. So, we’ve got a couple of of of options here, three options, uh, John. And so, I want to start with maybe not the best option, but a a comp to Taylor Ward. Adam Duval traded from the Marlins to the Braves in 2021. Duval was a 32-y old guy at the time, was on a one-year deal, was a power bat, 22 home runs at the time that he was traded at the deadline. The return that the uh that the Marlins got was catcher Alex Johnson. He was aa depth piece. Jackson. Alex Jackson. Jackson. Yes. Uh Alex Jackson. And it was it was somewhat of a low return. Yeah. But Atlanta benefited because Duval helped them win the World Series that year. Now, you look at that and you’ll go, “No, we’re not trading Taylor Ward because that doesn’t look too exciting.” But that’s just one of three comps for a potential Taylor Ward trade. Give us number two, John. Yeah, here’s something that uh everybody, including our everydayers, will be familiar with if you’ve been following this team and are a sicko like us. Uh Hunter Renfro traded from the Brewers to the Angels in 2022. That was during the off season, Mike. And he was coming off a decent season. Basically a mere image of Ward with power hitting corner outfielder, one year of control, right? The average, not spectacular, but production, production-wise, it’s who you want. The return was three pitchers from the Angels, Jansen Junk, Elvis Pagarro, and Adam Simmonys. Now, none of those guys were high-end prospects, but two became really serviceable bullpin arms for the Brewers. That’s Elvis Pigo and Jansen Junk. Now, have you seen what Jansen Junk has been able to do with the Marlins? Yeah. This year. And look how good he was against us. Yeah. And that’s the thing, Mike, is the Marlins know what they are. They know who they are. They know what kind of season they were going to have. and they said, “All right, we’re going to figure some things out. We’re going to let the the Kobe Meos and those guys play. We’re going to let Xavier Edwards kind of lead this team as the, you know, one of the older guys on the team. Jesus Sanchez, a veteran. Let’s build up his trade value so that we can get something from the Astros at the trade deadline.” Right? That’s the way you do it. And in this kind of season where the Marlins knew where they were going and look, they were somewhat compet. They didn’t get officially eliminated until way late in the season. it went on a run. It it wasn’t going to it wasn’t going to happen, but it was like, hey, at least you hung in there for a while. And so to to have somebody like Jansen Junk pitch the way that he did and also look really good while he was doing it, that’s the kind of season that the Marlins were having. And it just makes you wonder, will the Angels ever decide to just let people play and have the Matthew Lugos play and let some of the young starting pitchers sink or swim? That’s the definition of letting the kids play. I think the Marlins did that this year. Obviously, they’ve got a lot of good prospects because of some of the trades that they’ve made. Yeah. Over the last few seasons. And uh they’ve they’ve got guys that I I wish that we could have gotten from other teams. And the Angels sat on their prospects or not on their prospects, but on their tradable contracts and didn’t do anything. And now here are the Marlins. I’m sorry, not I said Kobe Milo. I met Connor Norby. Remember he was with the Orioles and they’re both those corner infield guys. So Connor Norby is from the Orioles, not Kobe Mayo. But it it just goes to show that Hunter Renfro got those three pitchers not spectacular until they were with another team. I think that’s kind of the issue here. Right. Right. Now, here’s probably the best option, the best comp. T Oscar Hernandez was traded from the Blue Jays to the Mariners in 2022. Hey, remember the Mariners did make the World Series. Uh, T Oscar was 30 years old at the time and was one year away from free agency. Very similar to Taylor Ward. Did have similar power numbers to Taylor Ward was more consistent over a longer period of time. The return John was Eric Swanson which was a high leverage reliever and Adam Adamo. He was a low single A prospect. Now the Jays got a big league reliever plus a projectable young arm. something that I think the Angels could certainly benefit from. You get a major league caliber guy and then you get a guy that could potentially marinate a bit in the minor leagues for you. So, do any of these examples, do they intrigue you, John? And ultimately, the big question is, will Taylor Ward, we’re not in charge of it, Angels are. Will the team that’s in charge of Taylor Ward trade Taylor Ward? I don’t think they’re going to trade him, Mike, but I look at some of the comps here. I don’t see a starting pitcher that is like a sure thing. Yeah. And I know a lot of people say we need to, you know, move ward for some starting pitching. That makes sense to me and I agree with you. But the problem is the kind of starting pitching you’re going to get is questionable. Yeah. Starting pitching. You might get a guy that you can plug in the rotation and see if he sinks or swims, but it’s going to be somebody like Jans and Junk, right? Which is the angel’s rotation, right? Hey, is this going to work? We’re not sure. Let’s find out. Yeah. Right now, I think I brought this up a little while ago, but it was uh with uh the Pirates. Carmen Mjenski, I think, is somebody that is expendable to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is losing a lot of their offensive production. that wasn’t really coming from their young guys anyway. It was like Andrew McCutchen and uh who’s the bozo who, you know, flipped off our fans in the outfield this season with Pirates. He always he’s always getting in trouble. Um but anyway, it was it was him and then it was uh oh, he punched uh he punched Jose Batista. That’s who it was. Um it he’s the guy those are the guys that were productive for this Pirates team. And so they’re going to need to one trust their young guys to step up and two they’re gonna have to get production from somewhere. So how about an an affordable productive contract like Taylor Ward for an arm like Mjensky who has a lot of potential. I think the years of control outweigh anything that the Angels could offer just for Taylor Ward. They would have to add something else. Yeah, I think as well. But I say all that because I’m I’m not sure if if one, the Angels can get the value that is out there for Taylor Ward. Correct. But two, I’m not sure that the value of Taylor Ward will get us anything that we need at the moment. Right. Great point. Were you thinking of Tommy Fam? Yes. Thank you. Bozo, I think you’re right. And that’s the that’s always the big what if, right? The tension. Oh man, if we could just trade Taylor Ward for Paul Skiings, then that would work out fantastic, right? That that typically is where these conversations go. Angels Reddit, if you if you scroll deep enough, you’ll find some of those conversations. Truth is, we’re just not sure and I’m just not sure. Maybe the Angels aren’t sure that they could get somebody of quality for a Taylor Ward, especially looking at these comps right now. The comps say no, they’re not going to get somebody that could potentially lead this rotation and be a strong quality starting pitcher for them. I resent that remark about Angel’s Reddit. They’re smarter than that. You’re you’re talking about like Angel’s Facebook. That’s what you were looking for. Thanks for making Locked On Angels your first listen of the day. Now for your next listen, check out Locked on MLB Game Night. You can find Game Night on the Locked On MLB YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, be sure you give us a follow on Twitter at Lockdown Angel Halo Bros on Twitter, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Whether you’re watching or listening, come on over to today’s show. Get in the comments section because we’d love to hear from you. We read all the comments. We do our best to respond to everybody. Mike, what do we have on deck for tomorrow’s show? So, we’re talking about moves and trades and all that stuff for the offseason. How will the Angels off season go? Well, there’s an indicator that will tell us if it will go well or if they’ll just sit on their hands. We’re going to tell you what that indicator is tomorrow on Locked on Angels. All right, looking forward to that conversation. We hope you’ll come back and join us. Until then, my name is John and that’s my brother Mike. And my name is Mike and that’s my brother John. Thanks for being here with us everybody and we’ll see you back here on Wednesday.

Should the Los Angeles Angels trade Taylor Ward? This burning question takes center stage as the Super Halo Bros. explore the pros and cons of moving the outfielder. From Ward’s impressive 30-homer, 100-RBI season to his affordable contract, we break down why keeping him could be crucial for the Halos’ success. But with a crowded outfield and Ward’s value at an all-time high, trading him might be the smart play. Mike and Jon analyze potential trade scenarios, comparing Ward’s situation to recent deals involving Adam Duvall and Hunter Renfroe. Plus, we discuss how new manager Kurt Suzuki’s emphasis on fundamentals could impact roster decisions. Tune in for an in-depth look at the Angels’ roster construction and the potential ripple effects of a Taylor Ward trade!

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0:00 Intro: Should Angels trade Taylor Ward?

5:22 Three reasons not to trade Taylor Ward

14:24 Three reasons to trade Taylor Ward

20:20 Potential trade destinations for Ward

26:36 Comparing Ward trade to past MLB trades

32:05 Will Angels actually trade Taylor Ward?

35:03 Preview of next episode on Angels offseason