Jo Adell, who was one of the Angels top prospects and blossomed with 37 homers last season, was traded to the Cleveland Guardians as part of an ongoing trade deadline retooling of the organization Monday.
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Adell was traded for catcher Jacob Cozart, who ranked No. 17 in the Cleveland system by Baseball America.
The Angels also traded top starting pitcher José Soriano and reliever Brent Suter ahead of Monday’s 3 p.m. PT trade deadline. Interim general manager John Mozeliak has said he’s looking to make significant changes with a roster that is headed toward its 11th consecutive losing season.
Adell, 27, was the Angels’ first-round pick in 2017 and considered one of the top prospects in the sport before starting his big-league career slowly in 2020. It took until last season for him to flourish, and he did with a breakout .778 OPS and a career-high in homers.
This year, Adell was hitting .239 with a .682 OPS and 16 homers. He had struggled against right-handers, with a .593 OPS. He had a .910 OPS against lefties.
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Adell also made great strides defensively throughout his Angels career. He made history in April by robbing three homers in a game against the Seattle Mariners.
Cozart, 23, was a second-round pick in 2024, as one of the top catchers in the draft. He is considered more advanced defensively.
Cozart was hitting .239 with 10 homers and a .714 OPS this season at Double-A. He has an excellent 11% walk rate, along with a 25% strikeout rate that is worse than average.
Mozeliak said the Angels would look outside the organization to find a young catcher to fill the void left when they traded Logan O’Hoppe to the Texas Rangers last week.
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More to come on this story.