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"Wild" Trade Proposal Has Angels' Zach Neto Going To Rare Trade Partner
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- "Wild" Trade Proposal Has Angels' Zach Neto Going To Rare Trade Partner
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
The actual on-field 2026 MLB season will come to a conclusion no later than Saturday with either the Milwaukee Brewers or Tampa Bay Rays being crowned champions.
Off the field, the "adjective-and-speculation" season has been going full force for a month now.
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This is the phenomenon where MLB-media types - with not as much in-stadium action to write about - engage in a game of creating "can you top this" moves teams could or should make during the offseason, i.e. floating the most "bold" free-agent signings or "audacious" managerial hirings or "curious" ownership decisions or "crazy" contract extensions.
The latest entry in this oeuvre came on Wednesday when Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report published his list of seven "wild" trade ideas for the 2026-27 offseason.
Perhaps not surprisingly, one of those bits of "wild" speculation includes Los Angeles Angels ' shortstop Zach Neto, who has not been immune to being the subject of trade rumors, especially during the season , and also because he has been growing into one of the more offensively competent shortstops in the AL.
What may cause Angels' fans to sit up and take notice about Rymer's speculation is not that Neto will be traded, but where he will go.
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His mooted deal has Neto traveling 30 or so miles up the I-5 from Angels Stadium to Chavez Ravine to become a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Of course, the most famous instance of a player heading north from Anaheim to LA came when free agent Shohei Ohtani spurned the Angels for the bright lights of Hollywood in 2024.
Long-time Angels' supporters will also instantly know how rare a trade between the teams is. In fact, it's so rare that the only time the teams completed a deal with the Angels under the ownership reign of Arte Moreno was on Dec. 11, 2014, when they acquired infielder Howie Kendrick from the Dodgers in exchange for pitching prospect Andrew Heaney.
At the time of that deal, it would be nearly another two months until Zach Neto turned 14.
Rymer acknowledges the rarity of Angels-Dodgers deals in his piece, while also noting that the most famous transaction between the franchises actually ended up being a non-transaction.
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That's when Moreno personally nixed a February 2020 trade that would have seen his team acquire outfielder Joc Pederson, right-handed pitcher Ross Stripling and outfield prospect Andy Pages for infielder Luis Rengifo and another prospect.
Instead, the Dodgers pivoted and acquired shortstop Mookie Betts and starting pitcher David Price from the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Alex Verdugo and a handful of minor-leaguers; Betts would go on to play a pivotal role as the Dodgers won the 2020 World Series, their first title since 1988 (Price would opt-out of the 2020 season because of Covid-19).
Rymer lists the Angels' prospective return for Neto as starter Justin Wrobleski, an All-Star in 2026, catcher/first baseman Daulton Rushing and pitcher Roki Sasaki, who has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen since the Dodgers signed him from Japan in 2025.
"The Dodgers have lots of trade capital...and the 25-year-old Neto is an ideal candidate to make their offense younger and more athletic," Rymer reasoned, noting he could either replace Betts at short or slide in next to him at third base. "Wrobleski has already been an All-Star, while Rushing and Sasaki have teased that kind of upside. All three are in their 20s and controlled through at least 2030."
An Angels-Dodgers trade constructed like that, especially given the rarity, would not only be "wild," it could also "make perfect sense."
