The Yankees are still in ready-to-win mode but now that Juan Soto signed with the Mets the Yankees need another star to pair next to Aaron Judge. The star that will be traded needs to be Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout. This is a PREDICTION, not a REPORT!
The Yankees not re-signing Juan Soto may be the best thing for them, as long as they can capitalize and bring in talent. The Yanks seem to be done with Anthony Rizzo and Gleyber Torres as well, so they must bring in talent through free agency and trades. They are rumored to be looking at players such as Max Fried, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, and Christian Walker through free agency, but should also look into the trade market. Mike Trout isn’t a fit for this young Angels team, which is why the Yankees will trade prospects for him and pair him alongside Aaron Judge.
Mike Trout is one of the best baseball players to play the game when healthy. He has been very injury-prone the last few years only playing over 100 games in one season since 2020 but people forget how truly good he is. 3x MVP, 11x all-star, 9x Silver Slugger, and a 2x ASG MVP. Trout is also a solid defensive center fielder, which will allow Judge to move back to right. If Trout can stay healthy he is the perfect addition for the Yankees.
Angels Love Prospects
The Angels aren’t ready to win now, but they will be in a few years. They are known for bringing up their draft picks very quickly, which hasn’t been too bad so far. The Angels have drafted really well as of late, stacking up young talent like catcher Logan O’Happe who batted .244 with 20 homers, Nolan Schanuel who is 22 and already has a season and a half in the majors under his belt, 23-year-old shortstop Zach Neto who hit 23 homers last year, former #1 overall pick Mickey Moniak who is starting to pick it up with the Angels, and their 8th overall pick from last year Christian Moore who has been dominant at the plate in the minors so far. All this young talent for the Angels will eventually pay off, which is why they should stack even more by trading Trout.
The Angels can acquire #2 prospect Spencer Jones, who went to Vanderbilt and is set to make his debut next year, as well as add pitchers like #12 Cade Smith and #17 Zach Messinger. The Yankees have a loaded farm system, so dealing out prospects for win-now stars would be the best move they could make right now. The Angels are prospect-hungry so this trade makes complete sense for both teams.
