This thought exercise was admittedly more amusing before the Braves traded for Tyler Mahle (whose online handle in places is somehow MahlebusMostWanted, what a guy), but anyway, here goes.
You are Alex Anthopoulos or his proxy, and connecting with John Mozeliak of the Angels, or his proxy.
For some reason, you have been told that you must trade for both Jose Soriano and Reid Detmers together. This makes no sense to you, but here you are, seeking rotation help nonetheless. In addition, you have been informed
that you must send over one of Eric Hartman or Tate Southisene, but just one; the Angels will not require both.
What the Angels will require, however, is a list of all pitching prospects in your organization, including those that have been largely “down” this year — so yes, this list includes JR Ritchie, but does not include Didier Fuentes — and they will pick three. This may be in your favor, because the Angels tend to target arms that need less development given their own issues in that arena… but you can’t be certain.
So, in other words: you get Soriano and Detmers, the Angels get your choice of Hartman/Southisene, and the three pitching prospects they like the most out of this system. Without any ability to modify this framework (blame it on Arte Moreno being a weird guy if you want), do you go ahead and submit the list and bite the proverbial bullet to get two arms for 2026 and beyond, or do you hang up the phone/leave Mozeliak & company on read?
That’s it, that’s the question. Have at it.
