By Ryan Falla, AngelsWin.com Feature Reporter

The Angels and Dodgers lack of a working relationship is no secret to the baseball world. Their last collaboration ended famously as Angels owner Arte Moreno unceremoniously nixed the deal over impatience due to time taken to complete the deal. There was no easy way to see them working together before this season, but now with the Dodgers super team in need of multiple pieces to hold the World Series picture together there is more reason than ever to relink the bond. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Angels and Dodgers best matchup once again appears to be the combination of infielder Luis Rengifo and outfielder Taylor Ward. 

The Dodgers outfield boasts a near bottom of the league wRC+ amongst outfielders while the Angels, on the other hand, come ready with an outfield full candidates that can immediately upgrade the Dodgers corner production. The 30 year old Taylor Ward currently sits on arbitration while under team control through 2026, making him the fairest value power bat on the market currently. For a Dodgers team that has splurged more than a billion dollars over the last year there are few things more valuable than a offensively productive player who only costs a couple million. Ward rates in the league’s top 10 percentiles in Barrel %, Sweet Spot%, Chase rate, xSLG and xwOBA and would command a fairer haul, both prospect-wise and financially, than big swing for a Luis Robert Jr type. His 11 HRs would put him 3rd on the Dodgers just in front of Mookie Betts (30.5M) and right behind Teoscar Hernandez (23.5M). It's hard to argue against a trade on the Dodgers end for Taylor Ward when you can get near team best offensive production at arbitration rates. 

Likewise the Dodgers backup infield currently hosts a offensive black holes with Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez holding back the bottom end of the lineup. Luis Rengifo comes as a ready remedy as his 140 wRC+ puts him 24^th in the league while his .327 BA has him 4^th overall. Though he is mostly a left-side/middle infielder he has played all parts of the outfield throughout his career, and while his defense ranges from spotty to slightly above average his offensive production balances the occasional defensive downsides. Rengifo is a guy you can plug in at almost any position on any given day, and for a Dodgers team full of veteran hitters there is little else more valuable than being able to rest them without losing the offensive production thanks to Rengifo versatility.

If there was ever a time to bring the Taylor Ward/Luis Rengifo trade full circle, it would be this coming deadline. While the Angels could swing for a home run centered around the Dodgers best prospect Josue De Paula he is more than likely untouchable. What follows is a short look at a handful of fairer value candidates the Angels could either center a deal around or add as complimentary pieces as part of a larger deal.

Payton Martin

Martin should be topping the Angels shortlist for one thing and one thing alone. Confidence. The Angels biggest issue amongst their starting rotation isn’t talent, it’s confidence. Pitchers like Reid Detmers and Patrick Sandoval (though Sandoval has been coming around as of late) teeter on the edge of their belief, and more often than necessary have tanked to the moment. A desire for highly confident ballplayers is the centerpiece of the Angels needs, and a young arrogant bulldog in the vein of early Bryce Harper is a must for a team that often falls down on itself.

The 20 year old RHP burst onto the scene last year as a 17^th round draft pick out of high school who dazzled with his mature mound presence and high grade stuff. His 2023 Low A debut came with a 2.04 ERA and 48 Ks across 39.2 IP with Martin continuing these trends on a 10.6 K/9 rate through 2024. A great portion of his evolutions have come through the efforts of the Dodgers development with org. upping his low 90’s fastball into a high velocity weapon that flirts with triple digits post-draft. Though he has plus stuff there still exists a need to fully learn the delicacies of the strike zone. The brunt of the developmental responsibilities would rest on the Angels to get him across the mechanical finish line, but with the Angels developmental reputations you have to ponder their ability to finish the job. It remains to be seen if Martin will stick as a starter or end up in the back end of a Major League bullpen, but even as a reliever he would come as a great boon to an oft beleaguered 'pen in Anaheim. Despite his high upside the developmental needs makes him a fairer value target than most Dodgers pitching prospects, but if the Angels are able to tack him on as a supplementary piece to a package that would come as a massive win for this organization. Expect proper development to take him towards a Garrett Richards-esque ceiling.

Thayron Liranzo

The future home run hero Thayron Liranzo may be one of the more reasonable asks on the Angels end as a few roadblocks currently exist between him and a future Major League starting role. The switch hitting Liranzo is an absolute stand out prospect with strong defensive capabilities behind the dish and league best power to boot. His 2023 Low A debut season saw him lead the Cal League in home runs with 24 as a 20 year old. A great deal of his power success came not from raw strength, but due to a advanced discipline and feel for the zone that manifested as a Top 3 BB% that same season. His consistent command of the zone forces pitchers to meet him with Liranzo wasting very few of these invitations as noted by his league best .290 ISO and 155 wRC+.While these offensive numbers are as gaudy as ever the best news is his lack of potential Major League landing spots as the Dodgers just locked up star catcher Will Smith to a 10 year deal. Liranzo has played a fair amount of games at 1B with 32 starts in the Minors, but he clearly is not as tracked for the corner as more than triple his games played have come at catcher (116). Even if shifted the track towards 1B you have Freddie Freeman locked up for three more years, which would still line up for Liranzo's natural development track, though you still have to consider Will Smith splitting time at 1B as he ages into the back half of his contract. There's not much room at DH either as Ohtani has it locked up for the next decade, leaving little space for Liranzo to stretch his MLB wings come time.  

Patience (and proper development) can easily see Liranzo grow into a Major league bat capable of anchoring the middle of any order. Liranzo is one of the best under the radar prospects across all of baseball and it would benefit the Angels to snag him before the rest of the world catches on and jacks up his price. Adding him as a centerpiece in a package does as much for the Angels culture as it would their on field production, which is why he is a must ask in any cross town deal. The young hitter tracks for a Yordan Alvarez tier ceiling, and even if you have to stick him as a full time DH with reserve outings at C/1B he will still prove to be one of the more productive players across all of Major League baseball before the end of the decade. 

Jake Gelof

The future of the Angels rests heavy on their ability to churn out a third baseman of the future within the next 2-4 years, and one on the cheap. Anthony Rendon’s crippling deal expires in two seasons but so far there doesn’t seem to be a strong vision for what comes after. Perhaps if the Angels come across a JJ Wetherholt type this coming draft they will have a more defined future at the left side of the infield, but for now there is little in terms of hot corner consistency. On the other side of the freeway Dodgers prospect Jake Gelof is campaigning to establish himself as the organizations best 3B prospect on the strength of a monster bat and primal clutch-instinct. Gelof came to the Dodgers in the 2nd round of the 2023 draft after destroying the NCAA with the University of Virginia. His accolades as Virginias All Time Homerun Leader, both in a single season and career, speaks for itself as he built his reputation on clutch, late inning monster swings. These natural borne instincts would come as a great boon to an Angels system that struggles to develop hitters attuned to the legacy moments, and who better to snag than a ballplayer whose young career has been built on legacy moments?

While he is a highly aggressive hitter it does not come at cost of discipline as he maintained a strong BB/K balance of 20/46 across 154 PAs on the 2023 debut season. Gelof still has a bit of refinement to go in maintaining his plate approach and most of this year will likely see him do that at High A. Should the Angels feel confident in picking up the baton on his development there is a great pathway for Gelof to remain a mainstay within the Angels infield. His defense is still a bit up in the air however, there is a real chance he could finish his development at 2B rather than third. The Dodgers are pushing his growth at his natural position as every inning of play has seen Gelof at the hot corner, though his struggles should be noted as he has 9 errors in 45 games played with an .887 fielding percentage on the year. Preferably the Angels would develop him into the Major League 3B he can be, but even if his track takes him towards 2B he will still come as a potential cornerstone. I don't know if I would center a package around Gelof, but if you send both Ward and Rengifo to the Dodgers you can definitely add him as a plus piece and walk away smiling.

Jared Karros

Coming out of UCLA, Karros had a bumpy college experience due to COVID cancellations and personal injury, though when he did pitch (41 IP over 3 seasons) he was electric as he showcased a firm control of the strike zone (7 career BBs @ UCLA) alongside an impressive ability to handle his secondary (10.5 K/9). His 2023 debut in Low A saw him reacclimating himself to a consistent baseball lifestyle with a few bumps early on, but by years end he was dominating High A to the tune of a 0.69 ERA over 13 IP after being called up. Despite having limited, inconsistent experience in college Karros displayed an observable maturity in his debut season. Much of his success comes from a supremely developed ability to spot his secondary all over the zone on a whim and beat pitchers in their head before he beats them in the box. He doesn’t heat up the radar gun with the fastball, but his ability to locate the mid 90’s heater and mix up his off-speed keeps him dominating at-bats. The long, lanky 6’7 right hander brings notes of Jered Weaver as they both maintained a strikingly similar repertoire and approach. Perhaps pitching in front of the waterfall in Anaheim would benefit Karros as much as it did Weaver and see the Angels develop a another MLB Top 10 pitcher after so many years without. On surface level it may seem a bit silly, but it really may be as simple as letting the top organizations identify the best young players out of the draft, and then trade for them. There really is only one way to find out, and we will likely find out this coming Trade Deadline.