Wednesday Mailbag: A Breather Before the Chaos
July 2, 2025 - Written by Bryan Whitfield
Photo Credit : @Angels - X
Welcome to the first edition of the Wednesday Mailbag, a spin on the typical Fanmail Friday! With June officially in the books and the Angels starting off a new month of play, we figured there’s no better time to open up the inbox and take a look at where things stand as well where we’re headed. If you’re new around here, Fanmail Friday is a series that takes place most Fridays, fans can interact with us directly and a member of the InsideHalos team answers your submitted questions from Instagram or our Q&A Google Form. This time around, with our first mid week Mailbag, I’ll be handling the replies. If you don’t know who I am, my name is Bryan Whitfield, I am the founder of InsideHalos and a longtime Angels fan. With the MLB Draft and Trade Deadline right around the corner, July is shaping up to be a busy month for the Halos. So let’s dive in and talk all things Angels baseball as we turn the page to July.
Q: Who in the minor leagues is a trade candidate if we decide to buy at the deadline? (@shane_gor27)
A: In terms of prospects, there's a couple of guys the Angels could look to trade. Me personally, I would rather not have a repeat of 2023 unloading the farm and trading our top prospects. For me, Caden Dana, George Klassen, Nelson Rada and Ryan Johnson would be untouchable prospects. Some interesting names the Angels could look to trade if they are buyers are SS Joswa Lugo (No. 4), LHP Samuel Aldegheri (No. 5), SS Denzer Guzman (No. 9), and RHP Barrett Kent (No. 10). Chase Silseth is also a name that could be an interesting trade piece that teams could be interested in adding.
Q: Are we buyers or sellers? (@eddiegaming2417)
A: July will be a really telling month for this team. We have a tough schedule ahead having to play the Braves, Blue Jays, Rangers & Diamondbacks then the Phillies, Mets, Mariners and Rangers to round out the month of July after the All Star Break. If the Angels can stay at least 2-3 games back of the final Wild Card spot, I think Arte will look at this team and buy in hopes of making that push to the postseason. If the Angels fall flat this month, Perry likely ends up selling at the deadline. I can also see a buy and sell approach where you sell certain guys with value and bring in other pieces. For example, once Moncada comes back, is there a spot for Rengifo in the every day lineup? You could trade either one of those guys and see what value you can bring in to help you now, in the future or both.
Q: If and when do you think would be a good time to put Reid Detmers back into the starting rotation? (@evankinard04)
A: Right now, I think you likely will see Reid Detmers stick in the bullpen at least until the end of this season. Unless of course there is an injury to someone in the rotation that forces the Angels hand. I have no doubt in my mind the plan is to still have Detmers re-enter the rotation. Ron Washington said not too long ago that because of what Detmers has experienced and learn from his experience in the bullpen that we are going to see him be such a better starting pitcher when he is eventually put back into that position. My personal guess is he stays in the bullpen for this season and we see him transition back into a starter Spring Training 2026.
Q: When will the Angels make moves with Strickland, Newman, etc? (@itschipotle)
A: So I’m assuming you’re asking when will the Angels move on from these players and DFA these guys. Lets start with Hunter Strickland, he’s been really good in the bullpen this season aside from two outings. On June 22nd, he gave up 3 earned runs in 1 inning of work against the Houston Astros. The other bad outing came this past Friday where he gave up 4 earned runs in 1 inning pitched against the Washington Nationals. Outside of those two outings, Hunter Strickland hadn’t given up a single run in any of his other 13 innings of work. Kevin Newman on the other hand has had an overall really poor season. He did hit a 3 run shot on Saturday, but aside from that he hasn’t brought a ton of value to this organization. One thing to note with Newman is he was given a 1 year $2.5MM deal with a club option for a second season also worth $2.5MM. The contract gives Newman a bit of a longer leash than you saw with other players such as Nicky Lopez, Tim Anderson and Scott Kingery (who was optioned after Sunday’s game). You’ll likely start seeing Angels cut bait with players once players come off the Injured List. The Angels currently have Jorge Soler, Chris Taylor and Yoan Moncada on the injured list. Once these guys come back, you’ll see them start to cut bait with LaMonte Wade Jr. and Kevin Newman. Jorge Soler is expected to return today for the start of the Atlanta Braves series, as mentioned before, Scott Kingery was optioned after Sunday’s game likely to make room for Soler.
Q: What are your thoughts on Ray Montgomery, do you think he is a competent manager? In my opinion, he makes a lot of questionable decisions. (@mxbima)
A: I’ve never been a huge Ray Montgomery guy. He takes a much more analytical approach than Ron Washington. You’ll see a lot of our starters no longer face the order for a 3rd time through as you saw Kyle Hendricks pulled from Saturday’s game after only throwing 74 pitches through 5 innings of work. Had Ron Washington been managing the game, you likely see Hendricks go out there for at least another inning if not maybe two. That being said, I’m ok with giving him an opportunity right now while Ron Washington is focusing on his health. Let him be the interim manager the rest of this season. If Wash ends up not returning for the 2026 season, I personally would rather go through the hiring process and see who you can bring in. Guys like Albert Pujols, Torii Hunter, Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker are guys the Angels could hire as the next manager. All four of these guys are looking for gigs. For Pujols, Hunter and Molina, this would be their first managerial job, which I’d be ok with. A couple of other names that have always interested me is former Halo, Darin Erstad, as well as Mark DeRosa who managed Team USA in the last World Baseball Classic in 2023. You can have Montgomery go through that hiring process, but ultimately, I think you have better options available.
Q: Who are some targets the Angels could look to trade for come the Trade Deadline if they are buyers? (@cory.estrella756)
A: The Angels have a decent amount of options available if they are buyers come the Trade Deadline. First and foremost I’m personally not looking to unload the farm system as they did in 2023. I would prefer this team take a buy and sell approach, kind of like a retool. One name that could be interesting if the Angels want to add a starter to their rotation is Zac Gallen. He has had a very poor season with a 5.75 ERA across 97.0 innings of work. He has racked up 88 strikeouts while allowing 42 walks. Now, while he has had a very lackluster season, he has the ability to be an ace for you. He would be a rental as he is a free agent at the end of the year. Maybe he is someone who could bounce back in the second half and you might be able to extend him long term. Gallen’s price tag shouldn’t be too high due to the bad season he has had. He might still have name value though, so the DBacks would still likely get a decent return despite his performance.
Some other starting pitching options for the Halos include Zach Eflin, Seth Lugo, Edward Cabrera, Merrill Kelly, Zack Littell, Tomoyuki Sugano and Luis Severino. Severino might be the interesting candidate of the bunch as he has team control through 2027, pending a player option that season. Severino is in the first year of a 3 year $67MM deal with the Athletics. Severino has recently been outspoken about not enjoying pitching at the Athletics temporary home ball park, Sutter Health Field. He holds a 6.79 ERA at Sutter Health while holding a 2.27 ERA on the road this season. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Athletics “can’t wait” to trade Severino this deadline as they have become agitated after the disgruntled comments about their temporary ballpark. The main reason Severino is an interesting name is if the Angels were willing to take on Severino’s contract, a trade with the Athletics would mainly be a salary dump and if they had to part with a prospect, it likely would be a low-end fringe prospect.
On the reliever side of the market, the Angels could look to add Pete Fairbanks, Aroldis Chapman, Jake Bird, Kyle Finnegan, Phil Maton, Emilio Pagan, or Shelby Miller. Pete Fairbanks likely would be the most expensive of the bunch, so you’d probably want the Angels to stay away from adding him. Aroldis Chapman, Kyle Finnegan, Jake Bird and Shelby Miller are the most interesting of the bunch that could make an impact to the bullpen while not costing an arm and a leg.
A couple of other names for a position of need is Luis Robert Jr. and Cedric Mullins. The Angels are in desperate need of a center fielder and Mullins, while not having a good season, would be a rental and someone who would provide great defense in CF. You could then move Jo Adell back to RF if Mike Trout is stuck at DH the rest of the season. Jorge Soler could be a name you could maybe see the Angels trade if they are able to move off his salary. Luis Robert Jr. on the other hand has a $20MM club option for both 2026 as well as 2027, the White Sox are also reportedly willing to include money in any sort of deal. If the Angels wanted to see if Robert Jr. could benefit from a change of scenery, he could be an option to add and you’d be buying pretty low.
Q: Who are we taking in the draft? (@capt.creep, @ferny_bueno27)
A: With the MLB Draft only 12 days away, the Angels have quite a big draft on their hands being the No. 2 overall pick. They do also have three picks within the Top 100 and five within the Top 110. Now I know most people generally pay attention to the first round so lets stick with that. First and foremost, this draft there really isn’t a consensus top pick in this draft. Before we get into who I think they should take, we know the Angels have held private workouts with multiple prospects. Seth Hernandez, Liam Doyle as well as Eli Willits have all had some sort of confirmed private workout at Angel Stadium. Eli Willits, son of former Angel, Reggie Willits, actually had his private workout confirmed just earlier this afternoon by his father Reggie in an article for ESPN. Ethan Holliday, son of former major leaguer, Matt Holliday, and brother of current Oriole, Jackson Holliday, was seen at Angel Stadium on Saturday with his father and agent, Scott Boras. Now of course, the Angels were playing the Nationals who hold the number one overall pick, so this doesn’t exactly show Ethan’s hand in terms of what team he may rather get drafted by, plus Boras’ office is in Southern California not far from Angel Stadium.
Okay, now lets get to my pick. Personally if I’m the Angels, I’d be taking either SS/3B Ethan Holliday or RHP Seth Hernandez, in that order. Now of course, the Angels aren’t known to draft players out of high school in the first round and haven’t done so since drafting OF Jordyn Adams in the 2018 draft. So with that being said, I can very easily see them turn to the college route. They have been very heavily linked to LHP Liam Doyle out of Tennessee in a lot of Mock Drafts, and Doyle himself confirmed he had a meeting with the Angels that lasted about two hours during the Draft Combine a couple of weeks ago. Doyle however comes with a lot of reliever risk with his unnatural delivery but is one of the most high energy and animated players in the draft. He has been comped to Garrett Crotchet who began his career in the bullpen and has since transitioned to an elite starter.
If the Angels take a college player, I personally would much rather them take Kade Anderson who just won the College Baseball World Series with LSU. Jamie Arnold out of Florida State is another interesting lefty that could make a lot of sense for the Halos at pick 2. If the Angels go a college bat, SS Aiva Arquette makes a lot of sense out of Oregon State. The Halos could transition him to a 3B and he’d fit pretty nicely in an infield made up of Nolan Schanuel, Christian Moore and Zach Neto with Logan O’Hoppe of course behind the plate. Another interesting high school option for me that I would be happy with is SS JoJo Parker.
Here’s my current order in who I’d like the Angels to draft on July 13th…
SS/3B Ethan Holliday - 18 yrs - Stillwater HS (OK) - No. 1 Prospect
RHP Seth Hernandez - 19 yrs - Corona HS (CA) - No. 3 Prospect
LHP Kade Anderson - 20 yrs - LSU - No. 2 Prospect
SS Eli Willits - 17 yrs - Fort Cobb-Broxton HS (OK) - No. 5 Prospect
SS Aiva Arquette - 21 yrs - Oregon State - No. 6 Prospect
LHP Jamie Arnold - 21 yrs - Florida State - No. 4 Prospect
SS JoJo Parker - 18 yrs - Purvis (MS) - No. 9 Prospect
OF/C Ike Irish - 21 yrs - Auburn - No. 11 Prospect
LHP Liam Doyle - 21 yrs - Tennessee - No. 8 Prospect
SS Billy Carlson - 18 yrs - Corona HS (CA) - No. 7 Prospect
Thank you all so much for those who participated this week, if we didn’t get to your question or if you have any questions you want to submit to InsideHalos.com, please click the button to submit your questions for next weeks Fanmail Friday! Thanks and see you next Friday for more!
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