Four Clubs Deemed 'Likeliest' Landing Spots for Angels' Zach Neto

0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto appears to be the headliner of a sizeable group of players who are on their way out of SoCal.

The Angels have an opportunity to reset things by trading off some controllable pieces that could fetch a significant prospect return, and likely will choose that route as they are once again in the basement of the American League West at 42-67 -- with the likes of designated hitter Jorge Soler, outfielder Jo Adell, and pitchers Reid Detmers, Kirby Yates, and José Soriano being secondary to Neto.

Neto, after all, is tracking for his third straight 20/20 season, carrying a 116 OPS+ with 21 doubles, 19 home runs, 13 steals and 2.7 WAR through 103 games for LA. It's not every day that you can acquire someone who could earn a third consecutive 5-WAR season while having three years of club control remaining after 2026, so he'll be coveted by plenty of teams -- with a few in particular expected to make a play.

The New York Post's Jon Heyman pointed toward four teams as the likeliest to acquire Neto: the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves.

Boston being the top possible landing spot is interesting if not wholly unsurprising, as the organization is already looking for a replacement for infielder Curtis Mead after he suffered a broken wrist two plate appearances into his tenure after being acquired from the Washington Nationals.

Tampa Bay could also use some help at shortstop, having been looking for one for each of the last three seasons without much luck. It's also safe to say the organization has the tools to put together the heftiest return, which is the whole name of the game.

Atlanta currently use Jim Jarvis, Jorge Mateo, and Ha-Seong Kim at that spot, so they could clearly use someone who holds down the position night after night.

ESPN's Jeff Passan mentioned the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies as potential fits , with the primary objective being driving up the price for whoever is most desperate. Neto could fetch the biggest return of anyone moved before Monday, and having this many teams interested certainly points in that direction.

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