Angels Trade Gone Wrong: What Happened and Why It Matters

Sometimes what appears to be a fairly minor move can have a big impact on a team's success or failure. In the case of the 2026 Angels, the ripple effects of a three team trade executed in mid January are hurting the team in all facets of the game and are a big factor in the team's losing record.

Let's back up for just a moment to put the trade into context. Facing an obvious mandate to cut payroll while still filling multiple roster holes, GM Perry Minasian traded slugging left fielder Taylor Ward to the Baltimore Orioles for promising but injury prone starter Grayson Rodgriguez. This added an intriguing pitching prospect but created a hole in left field.

Already thin on bullpen arms Minasian then traded Brock Burke, one of the few solid producers in the 2025 Angels bullpen, in a three team trade that netted him outfielder Josh Lowe. It was a bizarre trade at the time as both Jo Adell and Mike Trout profile best as corner outfielders like Lowe.

The trade has proven to hurt the Angels in multiple facets.

Brock Burke would be the ace of the Angels bullpen.

Death, taxes, the Angels bullpen blowing leads. With the departure of Kenley Jansen in free agency and Reid Detmers moving into the rotation, Burke was the only solid reliever from 2025 still on the roster. Now he is on Cincinnati's roster and excelling.

After posting a really nice 3.36 ERA in 61.2 innings for the Angels in 2025, Burke has only gotten better. Currently he has entered 14 games and surrendered only 4 runs; good for a 0.68 ERA. He has notched 15 strikeouts in 13.1 innings and only allowed 9 hits. Baseball-Reference already credits him with providing 0.4 WAR in value.

Meanwhile, the Angels have blown three 9th inning leads recently and have already designated closer Jordan Romano for assignment. The unit ranks at or near the bottom of MLB in every meaningful statistical category and continues to be a dumpster fire.

Meanwhile, Jose Lowe is providing negative value for the Angels.

WAR is much more applicable to position players than relievers and Josh Lowe's WAR is in negative territory. His mark on BB-Reference of -0.3 WAR means the Angels would be better off with a waiver claim than Lowe.

Offensively Lowe is essentially 40% below MLB average with the bat while playing a position that is typically filled by a masher. He is also a solid contributor to the the team's main problem: strikeouts. Lowe is averaging right at 1 K per game played.

Both Lowe's individual defense and the team's defense as a whole are also well below par. Trout is holding his own in center field but is being lapped by younger players.

All of this was foreseeable and falls at Minasian's feet.

At the time of this trade Kenley Jansen has already signed with the Detroit Tigers. The team has also already announced Detmers return to the rotation. Minasian knew the bullpen was thin yet chose to trade his one solid guy anyway.

He weakened what was already the weakest unit on the team. Minasian signed a collection of older guys hoping they would bounce back and he also hoped that somehow Robert Stephenson would remain healthy. Minasian chose hope over a reliever who had actually performed well for the team.

The fact Josh Lowe is disappointing was also completely foreseeable. His OPS+ has been trending in the wrong direction since his one above average year in 2023. Since notching that career best mark of 128 in 2023, his OPS+ has gone as follows: 98, 80, 63.

Money can not even be used to justify the transaction as Lowe makes $300k more than Burke. With Burke in the fold, the Angels have no need to spend another $2 million on Jordan Romano.

Had Minasian simply done nothing at all the team would be much better.

Thanks to having three corner outfielders and no true center fielder, Mike Trout is now back in center field while Angels fans hope he can stay healthy. Again, hope over a solid plan. Largely thanks to this outfield alignment the Angels rank 23rd in MLB in team defense with both Lowe and Trout credited for -2 outs above average.

Meanwhile, Lowe is generally a black hole in the lineup and the bullpen is desperately missing Brock Burke.

Had Perry not done this trade, the bullpen is better. Mike Trout is a plus defender in left. If payroll is the real concern, then Nelson Rada would patrol center field for minimum wage and save the team roughly $2 million less than Lowe. Also, this would save the $2 million lit of fire by signing Romano.

A free agent would have cost less in aggregate and provided better value.

This is not a case of hindsight being 20/20. Miguel Andujar has been a better hitter than Josh Lowe every year since 2023 and is playing in San Diego on a 1 year, $1.5 million contract. That is $1.1 million less than Lowe is making this season. His .311/.344/.443 line is 19% better than league average and would be a godsend in Anaheim. Plus Andujar has experience at third base which was still open as Yoan Moncada had not yet re-signed with the club.

I admit I was on the Austin Hays wagon as he has also out performed Lowe the last several years. His 1 year, $5 million contract is essentially the same as Lowe + Romano but he's off to a cold start with a similar OPS+ of 62. However, this would still keep Burke in the bullpen. So even an underwhelming free agent signing would be better than what the Angels have currently with no real impact on payroll.

It is tough for a team to weaken its offense, defense, and pitching staff with one seemingly minor move. But that is exactly what Perry Minasian did on January 16th and it is a big reason the Angels are far closer to the first overall draft pick than they are to a World Series title.

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