Thursday, July 23, 2026 — eleven days until the August 3 Trade Deadline.
For a decade, the Los Angeles Angels have been the deadline’s immovable object: never good enough to buy, never willing to sell. That appears to be changing, and the name attached to the change is bigger than anyone expected.
Neto Is on the Table
We already knew the Angels were expected to make starters Reid Detmers and José Soriano available. Thursday brought the escalation. According to ESPN, people who have spoken with interim general manager John Mozeliak in recent days describe him as very open to trading controllable players if the right offers materialize — and that group includes shortstop Zach Neto.
This is not a rental being shopped. Neto is 25 years old with more than three years of club control remaining, which places him in a category of player that almost never reaches the July market.
Why He’d Command a Haul
The numbers make the case. Since the start of 2024, Neto ranks fifth in Baseball-Reference WAR (13.4) among players who have spent at least half their games at shortstop — company that includes the very best players at the position. He has 19 home runs this season, third-most among shortstops behind CJ Abrams and Colson Montgomery, who each have 24.
Timing helps too. This deadline is unusually short on right-handed bats, a problem nearly every contender has flagged. A right-handed-hitting shortstop with power and years of control is the rarest commodity on the board, and there is no comparable alternative.
The caveat is real: Neto’s range at shortstop is limited, and some clubs will evaluate him as a future second or third baseman rather than a long-term option up the middle. But bats like this get moved off positions all the time. Nobody is walking away over the defensive metrics.
The Obvious Suitor
Boston. Per Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox are one of the clubs with interest — and the fit is close to perfect.
Boston has ridden a 14-game winning streak from worst in the American League into genuine contention, and its middle infield is the weakest part of the roster. Red Sox second basemen rank 28th in the majors in wRC+. Marcelo Mayer has yet to establish himself. Craig Breslow needs a bat that helps now and doesn’t evaporate in October, which is exactly what three-plus years of Neto provides.
The price is the problem. Boston’s farm system is strong, but a controllable All-Star-caliber shortstop is priced at the very top of the market — and the Red Sox are simultaneously trying to solve catcher.
The Rest of the Angels’ Inventory
Neto isn’t the only interesting piece in Anaheim:
- Reid Detmers and José Soriano — both controllable through 2028. That control means the Angels feel no urgency, but it also means their value may never be higher than it is right now, in a market where starting pitching is scarce and the alternatives are almost all rentals.
- The buyer landscape — The Cubs, per The Athletic, have Jed Hoyer aiming for a starter with control beyond this season rather than a pending free agent like Tarik Skubal. Detmers and Soriano fit that description precisely, and Chicago has been listed among the clubs considering them.
Will Moreno Actually Allow It?
This is the part that has kept rival executives skeptical for years. Arte Moreno has historically resisted meaningful deadline sales even when the roster screamed for one, and the Angels haven’t reached the postseason since 2014.
Mozeliak, in his first summer running the baseball operation on an interim basis, appears to be pushing a different philosophy: sell the controllable assets while they carry maximum value, and rebuild the farm system that a decade of half-measures has drained.
Whether ownership signs off is the actual story here. Trading Detmers or Soriano is a normal baseball decision. Trading a 25-year-old shortstop who’s among the five most valuable players at his position over the last three seasons is an organizational statement — the kind that says the next competitive Angels team isn’t arriving until 2028 or later.
Eleven days to find out whether Anaheim means it.
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