Angels Could Benefit From 'Panic Trade' From NL Powerhouse With $10M All-Star

Despite sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers and winning six straight games, few people outside of perhaps the clubhouse truly believes that the Los Angeles Angels will be a playoff contender.

As of May 21, the Angels are in fourth place in the AL West — five games behind the Seattle Mariners. It's still early enough for the Angels to conceivably make a run at a spot in the playoffs. Having said that, for the front office, reality must be at play here.

L.A. is a perfect ballclub to offload players before the trade deadline in order to recoup younger, cheaper assets. The team is in the midst of what should be a semi-rebuild, and the more young talent it can gain within the system, the better chance it has to sustain success in the future.

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Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report wrote a piece surveying the landscape of the big leagues — specifically expected contenders that could opt to strengthen their team with smaller moves. The Arizona Diamondbacks were mentioned as a possibility to acquire one of the Halos' prominent relievers.

"Washington's Kyle Finnegan, Tampa Bay's Pete Fairbanks and Angels closer Kenley Jansen all figure to be available to the highest bidder, and the Diamondbacks might mess around and try to acquire more than one of them, depending on whether A.J. Puk is healthy and whether Kevin Ginkel can bounce back from his disappointing start to the year."

Jansen is an ideal candidate to be dealt for a few reasons.

First, he's at the end of his career. Turning 38 in September, he doesn't figure to be in the longterm plans moving forward. The one-year deal worth $10 million Jansen inked in the offseason likely was done with the understanding he could be traded midseason.

Jansen has tons of experience. He ranks No. 4 all-time in career saves (456) trailing only Lee Smith, Trevor Hoffman, and Mariano Rivera. For a contending team, Jansen has the chops needed to get tough outs in high-pressure situations. He's literally seen it all during his lengthy tenure with the Dodgers, and he's also considered to be a great clubhouse presence.

Kenley Jansen ha sido muy bueno para este equipo. Aparte de brindar su experiencia, ha sido muy bueno en su rol de cerrador. pic.twitter.com/JlHkYwpnfl
— Angels Latam (@AngelsLatam_27) May 20, 2025

While Jansen's stuff isn't what it once was, he's still effective enough to be of value to a club like Arizona that desperately needs bullpen help. Throwing him into a pennant race could also help in rejuvenating Jansen a bit.

The Angels would be wise to survey the trade market in order to get something for Jansen before he inevitably walks as a free agent at year's end.

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