A new era beckons for the Los Angeles Angels. After 23 years, Arte Moreno finally decided to give up ownership of the franchise — selling it to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment for a reported $4 billion figure. And while the expectation is that, under new management, the Angels will be turning it around, they've been so bad for so long that it's going to take some time to get this team back to playing winning baseball.
To that end, it looks like the Angels, according to this insider, should at least be exploring the trade market for one of their best position players in shortstop Zach Neto, who recorded 27 home runs and 77 runs batted in across 157 games in 2026.
“This is the time to gauge interest in Zach Neto and Reid Detmers,” MLB Network's Jon Morosi said on Hot Stove. “The Angels, I believe, have two of the most appealing names out there. When you talk about Neto in particular, I love his skillset and the way that he could potentially fit with any number of teams.”
Only 25 years of age, Neto has three years of team control remaining, so the Angels should be in no rush to trade him away. But for Morosi, the Angels are so deep into their rebuild that it might be better off to cash in on Neto as a trade asset to replenish their farm system even further.
“The Angels are very much in a rebuilding phase. If you're looking at the Angels, this is a building job. It's not about winning a World Series in 2027. It's about building a consistent winner by the end of this decade. And if you're not gonna sign him long-term, think about ways to trade him now to get prospects,” Morosi added.
Neto is averaging over 21 home runs per season in his career, and he's playing a premium defensive position, so the likely outcome here is that he starts the 2027 season with the Angels. But crazier things have happened in the trade market before.