Kent Bewley's News Story Collection

As the trade deadline expired at 3 pm PDT, the Los Angeles Angels made some bold trades on Deadline Monday. They traded José Soriano to the Blue Jays for three prospects, including top shortstop Arjun Nimmala. Then, they dealt Brent Suter to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for third baseman Nacho Alvarez Jr. Jo Adell was dealt to the Cleveland Guardians and the Halos got catching prospect Jacob Cozart in return. Now, John Mozeliak might have made the best move of the deadline for the Angels as he traded reliever Ryan Zeferjahn to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for catcher Moisés Ballesteros and right-handed pitching prospect Mason McGwire.

Zeferjahn had formed himself into a high-end reliever for the Halos after having a shaky beginning to his big league career. Over the past few months, Zeferjahn was one of the more reliable bullpen pitchers in Anaheim in a very unstable pen with no set closer. Zeferjahn has 75 strikeouts, four saves, nine holds and only two blown saves after blowing six save opportunities in 2025. Along with now-departed Chase Silseth, Zeferjahn has given up very few base runners over the past few months and looked like the best relief pitcher in the Halos bullpen. Now on the Cubs, Zeferjahn joins a bullpen with Daniel Palencia as the sure-fire closer, but Palencia is currently on the 15-day injured list and Zeferjahn could be eligible for some save opportunities going forward. Chicago currently holds the top Wild Card spot in the National League and they could make a deep playoff run where they seek to challenge top-tier World Series contenders such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers.

Ballesteros made his big league debut last season for the Cubs and has hit .249 with eight homers and 34 RBIs over 213 career MLB at-bats. This season, Ballesteros hit six home runs and 23 RBIs, but he got sent down to Triple-A Iowa in mid-June. Whether he is elevated to the big league roster for the Angels or transferred over to Triple-A Salt Lake is unknown, but he is certain to be the catcher of the future for this franchise in replacing Logan O’Hoppe, who was traded to Texas along with Silseth. At 22 years old, Ballesteros is the same age that O’Hoppe was when the latter was acquired four years ago from the Philadelphia Phillies. With Travis d’Arnaud and Tyler Heineman being low-hitting catchers currently on the big league roster and Sebastian Rivero attempting to return from a wrist fracture on a minor-league rehab assignment, Ballesteros could potentially be in the mix to be a prime catcher for the Angels in the near future.

The other piece acquired in the Zeferjahn deal, McGwire, is a prime pitching prospect who was pitching for the Cubs’ High-A affiliate in South Bend, Indiana. The son of the slugging home run hitter from the late 1980s and 1990s Mark McGwire, Mason grew up in Irvine and attended Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo. The younger McGwire is off to a rocky start in his minor league career as a 22-year old hurler, with him having a 4-14 record with a 5.77 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP, but he also has 138 strikeouts. So far in this season, McGwire is 3-4 with a 3.64 ERA and 1.23 WHIP through 15 starts. The High-A affiliate for the Angels in the Tri-City Dust Devils, who are located in Pasco, Washington, could be where McGwire heads to pitch for the rest of this season. Whether he turns into a high-end big-league prospect for the Angels is unknown at the time, but getting two intriguing players in exchange for Zeferjahn was a bold move by Mozeliak.

Before the deadline expired, the Angels traded Kirby Yates to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for minor-league pitcher Kyle Robinson, who was drafted by the Athletics in the 2024 draft before going into the Pirates organization. Robinson has a career record of 11-14 and has 174 strikeouts with a 4.65 ERA. Previously pitching for the Double A affiliate Altoona Curve, Robinson is 23 years old and has a record of 5-2 in this minor league season. As for Yates, he had some struggles in the Halos bullpen in failing to be a reliable closer in the three months that he was active and healthy. Yates blew a lot of saves in close-game situations and was responsible for some blown holds that had the Angels lose some games as well. Signed to a one-year deal by Perry Minasian in the offseason, Yates will add another team to his list of teams that he has pitched for in his big league career. Yates was the last man standing among a group of four veteran relievers acquired by the team in the 2025 offseason. Jordan Romano lasted as the closer until late April and has since gotten save chances with the Colorado Rockies. Drew Pomeranz was cut in June and Brent Suter was traded to the Braves on Deadline Monday. Yates was one of three relievers acquired by the Pirates, who also acquired Luke Weaver from the New York Mets and Lake Bachar from the Miami Marlins. For the Halos, their closer situation is gutted for the moment with the trades of Zeferjahn and Yates but Ben Joyce is still rehabbing and is currently pitching with the Salt Lake Bees. Joyce hasn’t appeared in a game at the big league level since April of last season and he was shut down with a shoulder injury in early May 2025.

The Angels couldn’t trade all of their assets as Reid Detmers and Zach Neto were not able to be traded before the deadline. Detmers will remain on the Angels and be a key part of the starting rotation for the rest of the season. Neto will continue being the leadoff hitter and occupy the shortstop position in spite of Denzer Guzman being a more natural shortstop than a third baseman. Detmers’ win-loss record wasn’t good enough to be traded unlike Soriano, so he will attempt to improve that while also having a chance to break the all-time mark for most consecutive appearances by a starting pitcher without a win at home in franchise history(or prevent himself from breaking Jim Abbott’s mark). Neto is still the team-leader in home runs and has 47 RBIs, with that mark being good enough for second place on players on the active roster. Jorge Soler leads the team in RBIs with 49 RBIs after Adell was traded, with Soler not being able to get traded. Soler could be cut if his offensive struggles continue or a DH spot opens up on the roster of a contending team and then he would be placed on waivers.

This trade deadline was probably the most active one that the Angels have been committed sellers in a super long time. Mozeliak did all he could to try and bring prospects to Anaheim in return for trades that took away some of the better players on the team this season. At 43-69, the Angels might potentially lose 100 or more games for the first time in a regular season. Or they might finish with a record similar to two years ago(63-99). The Halos also have a chance to not finish with the worst record in MLB and even in their division as the Athletics have lost by even bigger blowout margins in having the worst run differential in all of baseball. But for now, the Angels plow on as they seemingly have committed to a soft rebuild at the very least. A potential trade of Neto could occur in the offseason before a possible lockout happens in December. Detmers could possibly leave in free agency after this season is over, as he is stuck with Walbert Ureña as one of two reliable starters in the rotation.

Potential minor league prospects might get an extended look such as starting rotation options George Klassen and Caden Dana. Sam Aldegheri has made quite a few starts at the big league level this season and could be put into the rotation for the rest of the season. There could also be bullpen prospects called up(there already have been with the additions of Luke Murphy and Brett Kerry to the roster) and another star prospect could make his big league debut later in these last two months of the regular season. So, the Halos sold off more pieces in this trade deadline than they have in a very long time and got as many as seven minor league prospects and two major-league ready players as well. Let’s see where this leads them in the near future.