3 teams Yankees can flip Alex Verdugo to after shocking trade

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

What are the Angels doing? What have they been doing for the better part of five years? Your guess is as good as anyone's, but odds are they're about to enter "Licking Their Wounds After Losing Ohtani Mode," which is a bad mode.

At the very least, they need a platoon partner for Taylor Ward in left field, who took massive steps back following his 2022 emergence. Mike Trout, who won't be traded but also might not be himself anymore, is the lone "sure thing" in an outfield that also includes Mickey Moniak -- and even the certainty of Trout's production has begun to fade. One year after the Angels collected several mid-tier names, from Brandon Drury to Hunter Renfroe to Gio Urshela, they very well might need to do it again, especially considering their low-ranked farm system continues to come up short.

Verdugo played at a near-All-Star level to begin 2023, but fell off significantly as the year continued -- much like the Angels, as a whole. Acquiring the swaggering lefty outfielder wouldn't solve all of Anaheim's many problems, but, again, they're in "name collection" mode and Verdugo possesses an edge and a clutch gene that could help galvanize an odd clubhouse (or, again, turn them off entirely).